Sport: Forgotten Champion

The challenger was cocky. "When the old man begins to tire in the late rounds, that's when I'll take over," crowed muscular Kenny Lane. The old man was 32-year-old Joe Brown, who, almost unnoticed, has been lightweight champion of the world for nearly two years.

Brown is used to obscurity. Born in New Orleans, the son of a Negro carpenter, Brown was early tagged as a fancy-dan by boxing's matchmakers, often had trouble getting fights. "I had to go to Panama for a year and to Australia for six months to find someone to fight."...

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