The Impossible Dream

Written in 1976, this is the story of Larry Gains, the Coloured Heavyweight Champion of the World.It tells of his life in the rings of the world . . . riding the night trains of Canada . . . working the cattle boats . . . gambling in the casinos of the Riviera . . . Paris in the Twenties, Cologne and the Charleston, Leicester and the long Indian Summer.It reveals the secrets of the champions . . . the twilight world of the Boston Tar Baby . . . the amorous ways of Harry Greb . . . how Battling Siki saw the light . . . the feuding with Jeff Dickson . . . and the chasing of Jack Sharkey.It recounts the stories behind Gains' greatest fights . . . the big breakthrough against the smooth-as-silk Bud Gorman . . . the magic night with Camera . . . the tactical battle with the wily Mike McTigue . . . the taming of Big George Godfrey . . . and the denting of Jack Dempsey's ten-thousand dollar nose.And finally it explains how the pride and the politics of the day combined to end Larry Gains' quest for what had become the impossible dream . . . the winning of the official heavyweight championship of the world.