My own ambition in the ring had always been skillful boxing, speed and defense - on the order of Mike Gibbons.

I did six years of planning to win the championship from Jack Dempsey.

In youth, we get plenty of exercise through games and running around, but as middle life approaches, we settle down, literally and figuratively.

As a West Side kid fooling around with boxing gloves, I had been, for some reason of temperament, more interested in dodging a blow than in striking one.

Normally, I could hit hard enough, as anyone who studied my fights might have known. But the impression was that I was essentially defensive, the very reverse of a killer, the prize fighter who read books, even Shakespeare.

A boxer's diet should be low in fat and high in proteins and sugar. Therefore you should eat plenty of lean meat, milk, leafy vegetables, and fresh fruit and ice cream for sugar.

A concave chest means that your diaphragm is sagging.