Boxing is...

Thomas Hauser has become ""must reading"" in the boxing community, and his latest book demonstrates why. Boxing Is . . . brings together all of Hauser's 2009 articles. In them, Hauser illuminates the behind-the-scenes stories of the year's most memorable personalities and events. He takes us from Manny Pacquiao's dressing room in the tense moments before 2009's biggest fight to an in-depth portrait of the incomparable Sugar Ray Robinson, all the while continuing to show why his annual collections, avidly anticipated by fans and critics alike, have become, according to columnist Bart Barry, ""an essential part of boxing's official record and the chronicles of this era most likely to endure.