Book Review of JERSEY BOY: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula

In boxing's long and glorious history certain fighters, who in their day lit up the faces of fans and were on the lips of every boxing-minded person, inevitably become forgotten, just a fleeting name in the rich tapestry of of boxing's past.

Frankie DePaula is one of these 'names'. In his day, he was the darling of Jersey City and thought by many to have enough talent to be a top fighter, but, he never reached the heights of the deep 1960s light heavyweight division.

Adeyinka Makinde has shed light on this forgotten contender and rejuvenated interest in him with Jersey Boy: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula. Bringing the vibrant DePaula to life with testimony's from friends, boxing experts and people from the era. The friends bring to life the reckless and fun-loving nature of Frankie by the people who knew him best. The boxing experts bring his thunderous power-punching style to the imagination of the reader with the testimonies of old fight hands Tommy Gallagher and Ron Lipton being particularly insightful. The bustling Jersey City is created with testimonies of citizens and the tireless research of the local papers.

The book covers every aspect of DePaula's life. From his tough up-bringing on the streets of Jersey City, to his beginning in boxing, his partying lifestyle, his involvement with the mob, his boxing career and ultimately his untimely demise.

As a boxing book this is very good. DePaula's early fights are researched in detail and his training habits (or lack of) are well documented in the book. His sparring sessions with the famed 'Hurricane Carter are covered in particular detail with many eye-witnesses offering their perspective on the sessions.

The jewel of the book is the chapter on DePaula's fight with Dick Tiger, titled simply 'The Tiger'. The effort that Makinde has gone to recreate the 1968 Fight of the Year is very admirable as he brings to life every aspect of the great fight.

However, this book is not solely about boxing. It brings to life the social context of Jersey City in the 1960s exposing the corruption and mob influence to an extent which most crime books do not even cover! Makinde, a native of London, has excellently captured the essence of Jersey City with painstaking research. The fact that an 'outsider' is able to portray Jersey City makes it the more impressive.

Bringing Frankie DePaula and Jersey City in the 1960s to life in a way that has never been seen before, Makinde has delivered a superb read akin to DePaula's left hook - Blistering!

Written by Greg Paterson, August 2010.

(c) Adeyinka Makinde (2016)

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.

Real Combat Media Historical Boxing: Whatever Happened To The Jersey Jolter, Frankie De Paula?

Bob Foster (right) with Frankie DePaula

By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent

October 31^st 2014

Boxing fans tend to remember the great fighters, great fights and great moments in boxing. The late Hank Kaplan, who wrote Boxing Digest on his own for many years, was a walking encyclopedia of the fighters of his era, with most names long forgotten. As the boxing historian, I often feel a lot like Hank, as I feel very connected to some many people, places and events experienced as the reporter.

So many names have come and gone, some delegated to the obscurity of the subconscious, others are in the hereafter.

One such name is the ‘Jersey Jolter’, the late Italian American light heavyweight Frankie De Paula (1939-1970) of Jersey City, New Jersey. Frankie compiled a successful professional record of 21-7-3 with 16 knockouts, fighting in the shadows during the Cassius Clay-early Muhammad Ali days.

Many fighters never get a title shot or a significant fight. Near the end of his life Frankie DePaula fought two highly significant bouts. One was the bout of the year at Madison Square Garden in October 1968. Ex-WBA and WBC World Light Heavyweight champion Dick Tiger of Nigeria, afterlosing his world titles ot Bob Foster five months earlier, won a hair raising 10 round decision over DePaula at The Garden. Tiger went down twice in the second, DePaula went down twice in the third. Referee Arthur Mercante scored the bout 5-5, but his scorecard went to 7-6 for Tiger with the supplemental scoring method in place in New York at that time.

On the basis of that great performance, Bob Foster, for his first world title defense, gave DePaula a shot at his WBA and WBC world titles at The Garden in January 1969. DePaula was a big draw in his day and his presence sold tickets like wild at Madison Square Garden. It was a shock when DePaula dropped the hard hitting Foster in the first round. Foster beat the count, and came back to drop DePaula three times for an automatic first round TKO at 2:17. DePaula came back twice, scoring knockouts over undistinguished opponents in April 1969 and November of 1969.

An iron worker and 1962 New York Golden Gloves Sub Novice champion. After breaking the jaw of a police officer’s son in a street brawl, DePaula was incarcerated at Rahway State Prison, where he met middleweight Ruben ‘Hurricane’ Carter. A bar bouncer, hard partying womanizer, boozer, and drug user, had the right connections to rise above club fighter status. Unfortunately, DePaula hung out with the wrong crowd.

In May 1969, DePaula was arrested by Federal agents with seven others and charged with conspiracy, theft and possession of stolen copper from the Newark waterfront. His boxing license was suspended and he was later indicted for perjury. He was found innocent of possession and theft, with a hung jury on the conspiracy charge.

He was shot in Jersey City on May 14, 1970, in a mob hit. He was taken to Jersey City Medical Center where he developed paralysis and died four months later.

There were rumors DePaula’s title bout with Bob Foster was fixed by the mob, but it was never proven. Nobody was ever convicted of the DePaula hit. For those interested in learning more about Frankie DePaula’s life, a recent book, entitled ‘Jersey Boy-The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula’ by Adeyinka Makinde, tells the DePaula story in great detail.

(c) Real Combat Media 2014

Link to original article: http://realcombatmedia.com/2014/10/rcm-historical-boxing-happened-jersey-jolter-frankie-de-paula/

Adeyinka Makinde - Academic Profile Page

Biography

Adeyinka Makinde LL.B (Hons), of the Middle Temple, Barrister is the Module Leader for Criminal Law & Public Law on the Solicitors Exempting Degree. Prior to this, he delivered the Public Law option on the ILEX programme from 2002-2009.

He has authored two books on pugilists and has written numerous features on boxing and produced articles on international relations, history and culture. He has served as a programme consultant and provided expert commentary for BBC World Service Radio, China Radio International and the Voice of Russia.

He is among a group of scholars and journalists approached to contribute to the Cambridge Companion Series on the sport of boxing which is scheduled for publication in 2015.

His teaching specialism in constitutional law allied to long term interests respectively in international politics, political history, military history and the history of espionage has over the course of time germinated into a desire to develop a profile in the academic genre of ‘Intelligence and Security Studies.’ 

In May 2013 he was invited to present a paper at the biennial international conference on security issues held by the Centre for International Intelligence and Security Studies (CIISS) under the auspices of the University of Aberystwyth. 

Adeyinka’s writings, encompassing books, essays and commentaries, have been cited by a host of researchers ranging from scholars to established writers for trade published books. These include a memoir by the world renowned literary figure Chinua Achebe and an activist advocating constitutional reform in Australia. The citations span books, academic journals, an academic textbook, as well as miscellaneous reference books.

He has reviewed articles for journals including the International Journal of Criminology and Sociology.

He is an accomplished public speaker who has delivered talks before audiences in the United States and the United Kingdom. These have included GMB Trade Union-sponsored Black History Month workshops covering sports and the American Civil Rights Movement, a lecture given under the auspices of London's Jewish Museum concerning the alleged Hebraic origins of the Igbo people of Nigeria and a book launch at the Jersey City Main Library in which he presented the findings of his research into the officially unsolved 1970 murder of a Mafia-connected boxer.

Teaching

LL.B Solicitors Exempting Degree Criminal Law

LL.B Solicitors Exempting Degree Public Law

LL.B Criminal Law

LL.B Public Law

GDL Public Law

ILEX Public Law

Research

Intelligence & Security

The History and Culture of the sport of Boxing

Publications

Books:

JERSEY BOY: The Life and Mob Slaying of Frankie DePaula (iUniverse) 2010

ISBN: 978-1-45020-637-2, 274pp including b/w photographs

DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal (Word Association) 2005

ISBN: 978-1-59571-042-0, 312pp including b/w photographs

Journal Articles:

"Boxing: Rousing the Nigerian Giant.” African Renaissance, Vol 2, No 2 March/April (2005) 68-73.

Book Reviews:

"Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence, the Cold War and the Twilight of Empire.”  Covert Policing, Terrorism and Intelligence Law Review, Vol 2, Issue 2 (2014)159-161.

Textbook Contributions:

"Pug of Ages: Weep for Me.” Essay reproduced in Writing the Synthesis Essay, edited by John Brassil et al. New Jersey: Peoples Education, 2008 13-15.

Encyclopaedia Articles:

"The Africans: Boxing and Africa" in The Cambridge Companion to Boxing, edited by Gerald Early, New York: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2015.

"Jose Torres: The Boxer as Writer” in The Cambridge Companion to Boxing, edited by Gerald Early, New York: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2015.

Conference Papers:

"Intelligence and Accountability: From the Cold War to the War on Terror.” Presented at ‘The Past, Present and Future of Intelligence’ on 25^th May 2013 at Aberystwyth University under the auspices of the Centre for Intelligence and International Security Studies (CIISS).

Citations

Books

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka. DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal. Word Association, May 2005.

Cited in the following books:

Lis, Daniel. Jewish Identity among the Igbo of Nigeria: Israel's "Lost Tribe" and the Question of Belonging in the Jewish State. Africa World Press, Nov. 2014.

Oliver, Brian. The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories Behind the Medals. Bloomsbury Sport, May 2014.

Torromeo, Dario; Esposito, Franco. I Pugni Degli Eroi .Absolutely Free Editore, Dec 2013.

Achebe, Chinua. There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra. Allen Lane, Sept. 2012.

Hall, Karen L. Game Plan: A Social History of Sport in Alberta. University of Alberta Press, Jun 2012.

Hudson, David L. Boxing in America: An Autopsy. Praeger Publishers, Jun 2012.

Redner, Charles. Down But Never Out. Open Books Press, Feb. 2010.

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka.  Democracy, Terrorism and the Secret State: From the Era of Gladio to the War on Terror. GlobalResearch.ca, Jan. 2013.

Cited in the following book:

Paterson, Graham L. A Constitutional Journey. Xlibris, Feb. 2013.

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka. The Politics of Anthony Mundine. Eastsideboxing.com, Oct.  2001.

Cited in the following book:

Sarra, Chris. Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation: Education for First Peoples (Part of New Studies in Critical Realism and Education Series). Routledge, Aug. 2012.

Academic Journals

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka. DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal. Word Association, May 2005.

Cited in the following journal:

Gennaro, Michael. “The Whole Place is in Pandemonium: Dick Tiger versus Gene Fullmer III and the Consumption of Boxing in Nigeria.” The International Journal of the History of Sport, Volume 30, Issue 16 2013.

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka.  Retreading Hagler Versus Hearns. Eastsideboxing.com, Apr. 2002.

Cited in the following journal:

Ehrlichman, Brad. “In This Corner: An Analysis of Federal Boxing Legislation.” Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts. May 2011.

Academic Textbooks

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka. Pug of Ages: Weep For Me. Cyberboxingzone.com, Oct. 2002.

Reproduced in the following textbook:

Brassil, John et al. Writing the Synthesis Essay. Peoples Education, 2007.

Reference Books

Work cited:

Makinde, Adeyinka. DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal. Word Association, May  2005.

Cited in the following books:

The Editors of Salem Press. Great Athletes – Boxing & Soccer (Volume 1 of a 12-Volume set). Salem Press, Sept. 2014.

Grasso, John. Historical Dictionary of Boxing. Scarecrow Press, Jan. 2014.

Akyeampong, Emmanuel K.; Gates, Henry Louis (Editors). Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press, Dec. 2011.

Gates, Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks (Editors). The African-American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Mar. 2008.

Citations of the Writings of Adeyinka Makinde

CITATIONS OF MY WORKS - SUMMARY

Books

The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories Behind the Medals
Oliver, Brian
Publisher: Bloomsbury Sport
Date: May 2014

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

I Pugni Degli Eroi
Torromeo, Dario; Esposito, Franco
Publisher: Absolutely Free Editore
Date: Dec 2013

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

A Constitutional Journey
Paterson, Graham L.
Publisher: Xlibris
Date: Feb. 2013

Work cited: ‘Democracy, Terrorism and the Secret State’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: GlobalResearch.ca
Year: 2013

There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra
Achebe, Chinua
Publisher: Allen Lane
Date: Sept. 2012

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation: Education for First Peoples (Part of New Studies in Critical Realism and Education Series)
Sarra, Chris
Publisher: Routledge
Date: August 2012

Work cited: ‘The Politics of Anthony Mundine’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: eastsideboxing.com
Year: 2001

Game Plan: A Social History of Sport in Alberta
Hall, Karen L.
Publisher: University of Alberta Press
Date: June 2012

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Boxing in America: An Autopsy
Hudson, David L.
Publisher: Praeger Publishers
Date: June 2012

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Down But Never Out
Redner, Charles
Publisher: Open Books Press
Date: Feb. 2010

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Academic Journals

The Whole Place is in Pandemonium: Dick Tiger versus Gene Fullmer III and the Consumption of Boxing in Nigeria
Gennaro, Michael
Journal: The International Journal of the History of Sport
Year: 2013
Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

In This Corner: An Analysis of Federal Boxing Legislation
Ehrlichman, Brad
34 Colum. JL & the Arts 421 (2010-2011)
Journal: Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts
Date: 2011

Work cited: ‘Retreading Hagler Versus Hearns’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publication: eastsideboxing.com
Year: 2002

Academic Textbooks

Writing the Synthesis Essay
Brassil, John et al
Publisher: Peoples Education
Year: 2007

Work Reproduced: ‘Pug of Ages: Weep For Me’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: cyberboxingzone.com
Year: 2002

Reference Books

Great Athletes – Boxing & Soccer (Volume 1 of a 12-Volume set)
The Editors of Salem Press
Publisher: Salem Press
Date: Sept. 2014

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Historical Dictionary of Boxing
Grasso, John
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Date: Jan. 2014

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Dictionary of African Biography
Editors: Akyeampong, Emmanuel K.; Gates, Henry Louis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: Dec. 2011

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia of Wrestling, Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts
Hudson, David L.
Publisher: Greenwood Press
Date: Apr. 2009

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

The African-American National Biography 
Editors: Gates, Henry Louis; Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks 
Publisher: Oxford University Press 
Date: Mar. 2008

Work cited: ‘Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’
Author: Adeyinka Makinde
Publisher: Word Association
Year: 2005

CITATIONS OF MY WORKS - NOTES

My writing has been cited by a range of researchers –scholars, a world renowned literary figure, an activist for constitutional reform in Australia and established writers for trade published books.

This has encompassed the following:

• Books 
• Academic Journals
• an Academic Textbook
• Reference Books

My most referenced work is that of my first book, DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal which placed the life and career of a world champion pugilist in the context of the political, social and cultural history of Nigeria as well as elements of these factors as related to his sojourns in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Several essays and commentaries of mine have also been referenced.

The stature of the authors who have referenced my work as well as the subject matter and themes of the works they have respectively undertaken, I would aver, vindicate the value of my writing in terms of the depth of research, the quality of writing as well as my analytical perspectives.

Books

My work has been cited in the following books:

• The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories Behind the Medals
• I Pugni degli Eroi (Fist of Heroes)
• A Constitutional Journey
• There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra
• Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation: Education for First Peoples (Part of New Studies in Critical Realism and Education Series)
• Boxing in America: An Autopsy
• Game Plan: A Social History of Sport in Alberta
• Down But Never Out

The Commonwealth Games: Extraordinary Stories Behind the Medals (Bloomsbury Sport) 2014

In this selected history of the Commonwealth Games, my book, ‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’ is cited and my personal comments are quoted by the author in the context of the story of Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the first black African to win a gold medal in any sport in any international event. Ifeajuna became a national hero in Nigeria in the 1950s but during the 1960s, as an army officer, became embroiled in a military coup and the ensuing Nigerian Civil War during which he was executed by firing squad by the government of the secessionist republic of Biafra for high treason.

My book is used as a source for this segment of the book as the author, Brian Oliver, used the subject of my book, Dick Tiger, as a point of comparison. Both men were members of the ethnic Igbo group who became heroes to the Nigerian public in the pre- and post-independence period. However, both fell in the esteem of the public for supporting the Biafran project with the attendant cost to the legacy of each man.

Brian Oliver was the Sports Editor of The Observer from 1998 to 2011 where he was the co-inventor of the Observer Sport Monthly.

I Pugni degli Eroi (Absolutely Free Editore) 2013

This Italian language book, the title of which translates as 'Fists of Heroes', cites my book, ‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’. 'I Pugni degli Eroi', covers the stories of a selection of 46 champion boxers all of whom had a common denominator: that of rousing the passions of fans and non-aficionados as national and trans-national heroes. The relevant chapter, 'Tiger: Piedone l'Africano', specifically acknowledges my presentation of the life story of this boxer as bearing the "characteristics of an extraordinary adventure novel." 

Dario Torromeo is an award-winning Italian sports journalist who writes for Corriere dello Sport - Stato, one of the three major Italian sports daily newspapers. His co-writer, Franco Esposito is a veteran sports journalist of over half a century's experience. 

A Constitutional Journey (Xlibris) 2013

An essay of mine entitled ‘Democracy, Terrorism and the Secret State: From the Era of Gladio to the War on Terror’; published via globalresearch.ca is cited and a segment of my prose quoted in the context of a philosophical discourse by the author on the role of government.

The author, Brian L. Paterson is a retired Australian businessman who has been involved in constitutional issues related to his country for almost three decades during which time he has made submissions to Constitutional Conventions, given speeches to groups and developed a Constitutional Review System.

There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra (Allen Lane) 2012

‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’ is cited by the late literary figure Chinua Achebe in his memoir of the Nigerian Civil War which lasted from 1967 to 1970. The protagonist in my book, as was the case with Achebe himself, became a propagandist for the cause of Biafran secession. The memoir refers to the segment in my book when the world champion boxer enlists into the Biafra Army and is commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Morale Corps of the rebel army.

Achebe’s memoir also references the career record of Dick Tiger that I produced after the research for my book was completed. The revised record provided boxing historians and record keepers clarification on the early part of the fighter’s career in Nigeria.

Strong and Smart – Towards a Pedagogy for Emancipation: Education for First Peoples (Part of New Studies in Critical Realism and Education Series) (Routledge) 2012

A 2001 commentary of mine, ‘The Politics of Anthony Mundine’ is cited in this work by an Australian Aboriginal academic Dr. Chris Sarra. The book is partly biographical but also utilises the ‘critical realism’ theory of Roy Bhaskar as a template for Aboriginal Australians to transform their social condition.

My commentary was a critical appraisal of a famous Australian boxer of Aboriginal descent, Anthony Mundine, and the fall out created by remarks he made after the September 11th attacks in America. Sarra cites my work in the context of a discourse on contemporary Aboriginal heroes including Mundine who he argues is a positive role model despite the opprobrium often heaped upon this outspoken figure by white Australians.

Boxing in America: An Autopsy (Praeger Publishers) 2012

My work ‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’ is referenced in this book, a critique of boxing as a force in the cultural and sporting history of the United States.

The author David L. Hudson is an adjunct professor of law at Vanderbilt University who is a First Amendment scholar as well as a sports writer.

Game Plan: A Social History of Sports in Alberta (University of Alberta Press) 2012

‘Not a Visiting Apprentice’; chapter 6 of my book ‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’ is cited in Game Plan, a book which examines the social and cultural importance of sports in the Canadian state of Alberta from the 1880s to the present.

The area culled by Karen L. Wall relates to the Commonwealth middleweight title bouts fought respectively in 1960 and 1961 between the subject of my book and Wilf Greaves, a Canadian boxing champion.

The author holds a Phd and is an Associate Professor in the Communications Studies Program at Athabasca University, Alberta.

Down But Never Out (Open Books Press) 2010

‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’ is cited and text reproduced by the author Charles Redner in this book which serves as a parallel biography of a former world middleweight boxing champion, Joey Giardello –who was an opponent of the subject of my book- and his mentally handicapped son Carmine. After a narrative on his career, the book focuses on Giardello’s role in charities associated with aiding children with special needs as well as his part in the creation of the Special Olympics.

Academic Journals

My work has been cited in the following journals:

• The International Journal of the History of Sport
• Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts

International Journal of the History of Sport

‘The Whole Place is in Pandemonium: Dick Tiger versus Gene Fullmer III and the Consumption of Boxing in Nigeria’ which appeared in a 2013 edition of the International Journal of the History of Sport references a great deal of DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’, my biography of this pioneer African fighter and its coverage of the first ever world boxing championship fight in Black Africa – a bout which occurred more than a decade before the famous title bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire.

The author Michael Gennaro, a history lecturer, is a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida. Its ‘Center for African Studies’ is by a reliable estimation one of the best funded of its kind in the United States.

Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts

A product of the Law School of Ivy Leagued Columbia University, the journal is a quarterly publication which covers “all aspects of law and the arts, entertainment, media and intellectual property, both domestic and international”.

‘In This Corner: An Analysis of Federal Boxing Legislation’ which appeared in the spring 2011 edition of the Columbia Journal of the Law & the Arts was an article appraising the record of Congress’s legislative intervention in the corrupt and brutal world of boxing. The writer references a work of mine entitled ‘Retreading Hagler versus Hearns’; a commentary that analysed an excitingly brutal world middleweight title confrontation which, from the writer’s perspective, formed the often two-sided coin that permeates boxing’s folklore; that is the tales of great fights, indomitable courage etcetera on the one side and on the other darker side, the tales of exploitation and unethical business practices.

The author Brad Ehrlichman is a New York City trial lawyer earned the accolade of James Kent Scholar and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia Law School.

Academic Textbooks

My work has been cited in the following academic textbook:

• Writing the Synthesis Essay

Writing the Synthesis Essay

My commentary ‘Pug of Ages: Weep for Me’ was reproduced in its entirety for a segment in an English language textbook geared towards developing the critical thinking skills of senior high school students preparing to enter higher education institutions in America.

The articles selected by the editors revolved around an exploration of a range of contentious issues: genetics, boxing, beauty and war. Each of the articles contained within the ‘cluster’ of themed sections is followed by a series of questions.

‘Pug of Ages: Weep for Me’ explores the economic, social and cultural issues historically and contemporarily associated with professional boxing including racism, financial exploitation, unethical business practices and the involvement of organised crime.

My work appears alongside reproductions of works by Joyce Carol Oates; the distinguished American author/novelist and English language professor, and William Hazlitt, famed for his humanistic essays and literary criticism: in Oates’s case an excerpt from her seminal book ‘On Boxing’ and Hazlitt, his famed 1822 essay, ‘The Fight’. Another contributor Gordon Marino of Saint Olaf College in Minnesota, a philosophy professor, is the Curator of the Hong Kierkegaard Library.

Reference Books

My work has been cited in the following reference books:

• Great Athletes – Boxing & Soccer
• Historical Dictionary of Boxing
• Dictionary of African Biography
• Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia of Wrestling, Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts
• The African-American National Biography

Great Athletes – Boxing & Soccer (Volume 1 of a 12-Volume set)

My book ‘DICK TIGER: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal’ is referenced in this, the “largest and most comprehensive collection of sports biographies published in a single reference work”.

Historical Dictionary of Boxing

My biography on Dick Tiger is referenced in this undertaking which covers boxing’s history from 688 B.C. to 2012 AD. It is published under the auspices of Scarecrow Press an American publisher best-known for “providing quality scholarly, general interest and reference works for the patrons of Public Schools and Academic libraries, as well as professional books for the librarians that serve them.”

Dictionary of African Biography (6-Volume set)

Again, my book on Dick Tiger was relied on for source information in constructing a profile of the pugilist in this “major biographical dictionary covering the lives and legacies of notable men and women from all eras and walks of life".

Both editors are Harvard University academics; Emmanuel Akyeampong being a Professor of History of History and of African and African-American Studies and Henry Louis Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American-American Research.

Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia of Wrestling, Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts

The biography of Dick Tiger is utilised as source material in a work which details figures and events in a range of combat sports encompassing boxing, sumo wrestling, kickboxing, Greco-Roman wrestling and mixed martial arts.

Author David L.Hudson is a first amendment scholar, licensed boxing judge and author of books related to competitive sports.

The African-American National Biography (8-Volume set)

The Dick Tiger biography is referenced in an eight-volume reference set containing over 4,000 entries "written and signed by distinguished scholars" under the direction of Editors in Chief Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. Higginbotham, like Gates, is a Harvard scholar where she is a professor of History and African American Studies. These volumes are touted as "the most significant and expansive compilation of black lives in print today".

Putin's Useful Idiot? Au Contraire

Vladimir's Lenin and Putin

It is obviously the case that when one weaves an argument, particularly in areas shrouded in emotion and controversy, that one will face criticism.

The views expressed in my essays and interviews are widely disseminated on the World Wide Web and one cannot police every website or message-board at which an essay or article of mine is reproduced.

It should be said that the overwhelming majority of such re-posts on websites or links supplied by posters on social media sites such as facebook and twitter are done by sympathetic organisations and persons.

But if a disagreeing party wishes to supply a critique then all is well so long as it is based on logic and not on an inflexible political mind-set or on tribal, racial or religious sentiment as a lot of views tend to be predicated upon whatever the protests of many protagonists.

Anyway, someone posted a reproduction of a report by the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti about my recent interview on the Voice of Russia radio international regarding my views of the Ukrainian crisis, onto a Nigerian message-board.

A different poster then followed by posting a link wondering if 'Adeyinka Makinde is one of those opinions-for-hire - a modern version what Lenin called "useful idiots".'

That term, coined, it is said by Vladimir Lenin - although the precise evidence justifying this is lacking- is used to denigrate those who supposedly propagandize someone or something without being cognizant of the full objectives of the person, cause or ideology.

I will re-produce the poster's comment later and my riposte further down but first things first.

Any person who is corpus mentis and who has read my essays on the Ukrainian crisis, NATO policy in the Middle East and on Israel-Palestine will be aware of the factual justifications which I outline.

My approach is based on an objective collection of historical and contemporary data which is then synthesized into an argument.

The facts and the arguments I put forward are clearly not proselytizing any form of ideology or validating, in this case, every action and policy undertaken by Vladimir Putin.

I have noted, for instance, that there are indications that he has amassed a large fortune inconsistent with his presidential salary. I have also written about suspicions of his government's perpetrating a false-flag atrocity in order to prosecute a brutal war in Chechnya.

In contemporary Russia, the rule of law continues to be severely challenged,  while the gangsterism which had its underpinnings in the Soviet system and came to full-blown glare in the wild and reckless years of the Yeltsin era continues to undermine the evolution of a genuinely civil society.

However, is one therefore compelled to assent to the reckless, aggressive actions by the US-NATO alliance -directed by neo-con agitators such as Senator John McCain and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland- to which ANY sane and competent leader of the Russian state would react?

The critics of those who rationalise Putin's reactions in regard to these specific matters themselves betray their own psychological hang ups as well as their intellectual limitations.

And not least, they often betray a certain amount of pre-existing anti-Russian prejudice.

They have been duped by the incessant anti-Putin propaganda that has been the standard fare of much of the Western press for some years now. They are swayed by tribal-nationalist attitudes and motivated by anti-Russian sentiment held particularly by those who were under the domination of the old Soviet Union.

 

Also, their blanket disdain for Putin's reactions is ideological: a resentment of Russia based on its role as the standard bearer -China notwithstanding- of totalitarian socialism-communism.

One thread of thinking bubbling in my mind is that a lot of anti-Russian sentiment, understandable to a degree because of Tsarist and then Soviet dominance of their nations, is that the resentful 'tribes' and nationalities in central and eastern Europe, never got to exact revenge against Russians in the manner that they did against German populations after the Second World War.

The irony is that those who blame Russia and Russians to this day for 'inflicting' communism on their nations may be the first to object to those who spin the thesis that Jews were the overwhelming force behind the political leadership of early communism and the barbarities perpetrated against what they term "Orthodox Christian Slavic" communities by the state security and gulag system of the Bolsheviks.

In fact, many of these eastern European and Baltic states were complicit in the Nazi persecution of the Jews precisely because of such identification. This includes the sort of people the US-NATO have put in power in Kiev.

Think about that.

Germans were pogromized, ethnically cleansed and raped on masse; the fate of the Sudetan Germans being one example. The Red Army itself perpetrated the mass rape of millions of German females as it conquered German territory from the Eastern parts of the Nazi state.

How any sane, rational and objective person can fault Putin for his actions over Crimea after the US sponsored a coup which put into power a government composed of neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists is truly beyond me.

How any sane, rational and objective person can fault Putin for his draconian acts against certain oligarchs and actually venerate criminals such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky as pro-democracy 'victims' of a dictator after the likes of Khodorkhovsky LOOTED Russia in the post-Cold War era with the aid of businessmen and academics from the US and other parts of the West is also beyond me.

Cold empathy, rationalization as well as an objective and pragmatic approach to specific issues ought to be the order of the day.

Opposition to Putin in the West is simply down to Russian resistance to attempts to destabilize and balkanize it; make it more pliant to the military and economic supremacy of the United States.

The Anglo-American world fears the rise of an independent set of powers in Eurasia which would end its lengthy global domination. It is as simple as that.

I have tried to sign into the website but it has such an inefficient mechanism and terrible administrative support that I have been unable to post this reply which I prepared a few weeks ago.

It would be interesting to find out just who "Cammy White 1878" is.

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The report of my Voice of Russia radio interview at RIA Novosti's website:

'Expert: NATO Enforcing US Financial, Commercial Power Globally'

 http://en.ria.ru/analysis/20140905/192678853/Expert-NATO-Enforcing-US-Financial-Commercial-Power-Globally.html

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Cammy White 1878:

Nothing that the EU might do to Ukraine can ever exceed the horror of the Soviet era.

Millions starved to death in the 1930s after the Soviet state seized harvests and inflicted famine on the people in what became known as the Holodomor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
 

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.html
 

I wonder if Adeyinka Makinde is one of those opinions-for-hire - a modern version what Lenin called "useful idiots".

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My intended response (I had wanted to sign up, tongue-in-cheek, as 'Nikolai Vatutin', a World War 2 Soviet general  assassinated by Ukrainian partisans):

“Nothing that the EU might do to Ukraine can ever exceed the horror of the Soviet era.”

What is the logic of this entry?

The Russia of today is not the Russia of the Stalinist period or the Russia of the Khruschev-era.

On the contrary, the economic deal between Ukraine and Russia allows for a range of state subsidies; most importantly in the area of gas. Removing this will make the cost of gas double or even quadruple. And Ukraine has been a deadbeat so far as paying its dues to Russia is concerned.

EU-IMF austerity would lead to a cut in pensions, a cut in childcare, devaluation of the currency and so on.

If the result of an austerity program will lead to old people dying of hypothermia, increases in the child mortality rate, less spending on education, unemployment and so on, what good will all of that do?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/opinion/how-austerity-kills.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
 

Think about it. The reference to the Holodomor implies that the EU’s package amounts to “genocidal austerity” –only not as severe as the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s.

Methinks that “Cammy White’s” purported analysis makes him -or her- a craven idiot!