Jerry Izenberg’s new’s boxing book chronicles golden age of the heavyweights

Muhammad Ali and Jerry Izenberg in 1991. (Jerry Izenberg)

Hall of Fame boxing writer Jerry Izenberg, who lives in Henderson, has written a book called "Once There Were Giants" about the golden era of boxing's heavyweight division. (Skyhorse Publishing)

Hall of Fame boxing writer Jerry Izenberg is shown with Muhammad Ali in 1991. Izenberg, who lives in Henderson, has written a book called "Once There Were Giants" about the golden era of boxing's heavyweight division. (Jerry Izenberg)

Jerry Izenberg, the Hall of Fame sportswriter who lives in Henderson, will be signing his latest book, “Once There Were Giants — The Golden Age of Heavyweight Boxing,” at 5 p.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble, 567 N. Stephanie St., in Henderson.

He’s bringing Earnie Shavers with him.

“The Acorn,” which is what Muhammad Ali called him back in the day, and what a day it was, mostly makes his home in Las Vegas — and mostly looks like he still can throw right hands that could stop an ocean liner. So if I were you, I’d buy the book.

“He fought all the great ones who were brave enough to fight him, and not every one of them was,” Izenberg said of his latest sidekick.

Patterson, Liston, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Holmes, Tyson, Holyfield and even gap-toothed Leon Spinks — it was never better in the heavyweight division, and never for so long. The punches were felt from here to Manila in the Philippines and back again to ringside at Madison Square Garden, where Jerry Izenberg was writing it all down, and Frank Sinatra was taking photographs for Life magazine.

Izenberg was asked if he knew that era of heavyweights would be regarded as epochal and singular, fistic sport’s equivalent of when Willie, Mickey and The Duke roamed center field on the baseball diamond.

“Yeah, sort of,” he said. “It just took me a little while to realize it.”

Jerry Izenberg is 86, and still writes columns about the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby and other seminal sporting events for the Newark (New Jersey) Star-Ledger. He has written 13 books. When asked why he wrote this one, he responded with the straightforwardness of Joe Frazier’s boxing style.

“I lived it.”

Another vote for Desiree

In addition to the 17 members of the search committee that recommended her, there’s another Las Vegan with firsthand knowledge of the situation, or at least the subject, who thinks UNLV did a fine thing by hiring Virginia Tech deputy athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois as its new AD.

“Desiree is the best,” said Ally La Rocque, a former Durango High basketball star who works as a football recruiting assistant at Virginia Tech. “I’ve really enjoyed her leadership style. She is a visionary. UNLV is lucky to have her.”

Coyotes howl anew

After a middling start to the season, the College of Southern Nevada baseball team is rolling again. The Coyotes have won nine games in a row to improve to 30-10 and are back in the national junior college poll, slotted at No. 25.

The Coyotes, with a roster comprised primarily of Southern Nevada players, will play four games at Utah State Eastern this weekend before returning home against Salt Lake (Utah) Community College in doubleheaders April 28 and 29 at Morse Field in Henderson.

Martell hits paydirt

Bishop Gorman’s Tate Martell, a true freshman quarterback at Ohio State, scored on a 5-yard touchdown run during the Buckeyes’ spring football game Saturday.

It was only a spring game, and the youngster has at least three guys ahead of him on the depth chart. But scoring a touchdown in front of 80,134 spectators still had to be a major thrill, even if nobody was keeping score.

0:01

Of all the anecdotes Jerry Izenberg tells in “Once There Were Giants,” his new book about the glory days of boxing’s heavyweight division, my favorite is in the prologue. Izenberg tries to explain the bond between fighters, a connection that outsiders do not understand.

It’s about Joe Louis keeping Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. and a car that would take them to Sonny Liston’s funeral waiting, because Joe was on a hot streak on the craps table at Caesars Palace.

“Joe, we’re late,” said Abe Margolis, who founded the Zales jewelry chain.

“Abe, I just made six passes.”

“Joe, we’re late.”

Jerry Izenberg said Joe Louis held up the dice, blew on them, raised them toward the ceiling and smiled.

“Abe, Sonny would understand.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.