The dramatic tale of a boxing obsession turned to murder, as told by Miami New Times managing editor Tim Elfrink in the feature story "Sucker Punch," has been selected for Best American Sports Writing 2017.
The latest edition of the long-running series, edited by Glenn Stout and Howard Bryant, includes an A-list lineup, such as New Yorker editor David Remnick's piece about Muhammad Ali, formerly Miami-based ESPN star Bomani Jones' meditation on Colin Kaepernick's NFL exile, and New Times alum and current Washington Post reporter Terrence McCoy's story about a former figure-skating champion down on her luck.
In all, 27 long-form stories and essays made the cut for Best American Sports Writing 2017. Other standouts are ESPN scribe Wright Thompson's piece about Tiger Woods' descent into darkness and Sports Illustrated's Rick Telander on William "the Fridge" Perry's sad coda.
The book lands in your local shop October 3.