Fat City

The third installment in writer Andrew Rihn's #HittingTheBooks series is Fat City by Leonard Gardner.

Ernie Munger, an up-and-coming boxer, and Billy Tully, a washed up veteran trying to hang on to his career, struggle through life in their own ways. Neither lives life; both seemingly exist in a dreary continuum. Their only agency comes in the form of self-sabotage. The fleeting moments of boxing triumph are quickly washed away by low-paying jobs, strained relationships, and low-rent living accommodations in Stockton, California. They are trapped in a perpetual rut.

Munger's career essentially begins when he out-spars a faded Tully. To save face, Tully vouches for Munger's talent. But the young prospect doesn't have Top Rank, Matchroom, the PBC, or Zuffa setting him up with patsies to pad his record. Trainer Ruben Luna gives his time and money to his fighters for nothing more than a dream at the big time. He's no power broker though, and puts Munger in fights that turn out to be losing propositions.

Both Tully and Munger begin to resent the women in their lives. Tully drinks to numb the pain, but his alcoholism only causes him more trouble. In many ways, boxing isn't much different; it provides a brief high, but in the end, it literally leaves Tully stranded in the desert at night.

After the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Miami Dolphins by a score of 24-7 in Super Bowl VIII, defensive end Carl Eller explained, "It seemed I could hear Scottish bagpipes in the distance, keeping time as they came after us, wave after wave, gaining ground so easily, they seemed to be floating in suspended animation. It was a weird surrealistic scene, as if we were on the sidelines watching our own struggle yet being powerless to do anything about it."

Munger, Tully, and Luna would have fit in well with the Purple People Eaters on that day. But instead of Jim Kiick, Larry Czonka, and Mercury Morris crashing down on them in waves, the main characters of Fat City faced something more existential.

The last book as part of this year's #HittingTheBooks is The Slip by Lucas Schaefer.

"King" David Blyumkin: Boxing and Caviar

"King" David Blyumkin had a brief two-fight career as a 19 year old in 2021. Following a notable amateur career, he took a hiatus before winning both of his professional fights, one by knockout.

Born to Alexander and Polina, David was a slick boxer from Beverley Hills, California.  At 5'11", he was very tall for the junior welterweight division. He used his plus hand speed to counter opponents.

In 2018, Blyumkin made the quarterfinals of two national youth tournaments, the US Junior Olympics and the Youth National Championships. The 15 year old fought as a lightweight.

After about 18 amateur fights, Blyumkin took a couple of years off before returning to boxing and turning pro. Coached by former Ukrainian light heavyweight contender Anatoliy Dudchenko, David was set to make his debut on April 22, 2021 on a Ring City card headlined by heavyweight Jermaine Franklin. Instead, he and his team changed course and traveled to Palmito, Sucre, Colombia for an April 23 fight against Franki Vides (4-8, 4 KOs).

Goading Vides to charge forward, Blyumkin countered with some quick left hooks off the pivot. He had no problem touching the Colombian's body with quick combinations. Fighting off the back foot, David connected with a quick right counter that stunned Vides. The Californian pushed Vides back to the ropes and unleashed a sustained flurry that forced referee Edgar Alvarez to stop the contest with two seconds left in the opening round.

On November 20, David traveled back to Colombia, this time to Tolu, Sucre. He fought Jader Esquivia (2-11-1, one KO), scoring a picture perfect knockdown off his patented check hook. Blyumkin won by unanimous decision with three scores of 40-34.

Five years later, David is in the Los Angeles area and running a caviar company called Golden Reserve Caviar, which he founded with a couple of his friends.

Speaking with the Legends: Binnie Klein's Boxing Journey

In her memoir Blows to the Head: How Boxing Changed My Mind, Binnie Klein imagines conversations with three-fourths of the Jewish boxing Mount Rushmore: Daniel Mendoza, Benny Leonard, and Barney Ross. The accomplished Renaissance Woman has adapted these conversation for her Substack Open Tuning.

A psychotherapist by trade, Klein has also been a songwriter, DJ, Yale lecturer, author, and almost anything else you can think of. She took up boxing in her 50s, first as part of her physical therapy in recovering from an injury, and then because it was a way to discover more about herself.

Boxing allowed Klein to face her self-perceived physical inadequacies, which were partly tied to her Jewish heritage. Her training with coach John Spehar allowed her to discover her physical, mental, and emotional strength and develop a toughness she never realized she had. Spehar's selflessness is remarkable in its ubiquity in boxing; the trope of the coach who sacrifices tremendously for the betterment of his/her boxers. Most fighters have encountered the like.

Though Blows to the Head has a smattering of annoying historical inaccuracies, Klein gets boxing. She understands the discipline required, the notion of competitive violence, and the intimacy of working with a coach or sparring with a partner. She learns of the longline of Jewish toughs who overcame antisemitism, poverty, and family tragedy to reach heights their people never dreamed imaginable. Her conversations with the greats of yesteryear may feel a bit contrived at first, but the dialogue is tremendously insightful. Each fighter teaches Klein something about boxing and about life, all of which reinforces Spehar's philosophies. She captures the fighters' distinct voices so beautifully that their unnatural entrances become faded memories.

Boxing gave Klein a greater appreciation of her Jewish heritage. The sport was a portal into ethnic pride in a Bikelesque sense: not at the expense of other groups, but as an understanding in the stereotype-busting power of pugilism.