The violence of combat sports left a mark on how fans and communities remembered athletes. As individual endeavors, combat sports have often produced more detailed, emotionally poignant, and deeply personal stories of triumph than those associated with team sports. Commemorative statues to combat athletes are therefore unique as historical markers and sites of memory. These statues tell remarkable stories not just of the athletes themselves, but also the people and communities that planned and built them; the cities and towns that memorialized them; the fans who followed them; and the evolution of memory and place in the decades that followed their inauguration. Edited by C. Nathan Hatton and David M. K. Sheinin, The Statues and Legacies of Combat Athletes in the Americas brings together an interdisciplinary team of scholars from across North America to interrogate the intimate and layered meanings attached to these monuments to the life and legacies of some of the world's best known combat athletes.
C. Nathan Hatton is assistant professor of history at Cape Breton University. David M. K. Sheinin is professor of history at Trent University and a member of the National Academy of History in Argentina.
A fascinating discussion of the intersection between art, sports, ethnicity, and public spaces. The contributors to this volume bring to life the absorbing stories behind the bronze statues of boxing and wrestling champions and their ties to local communities, past and present. Highly recommended. --Raanan Rein, Tel Aviv University Although combat sports feature no home teams, they can spawn hometown heroes. As this collection shows, the connection between combat sport athletes and their local fans often runs deeper than affiliations with regional team sports. Perhaps most importantly, the volume's international approach brings home the ubiquity of these sorts of personal sports allegiances. This is a useful work for both combat sports and fandom studies scholars. --Scott Beekman, University of Rio Grande The Americas have for over a century publicly memorialized their long and distinguished tradition of combat sports. The Statues and Legacies of Combat Athletes in the Americas explores the shifting meanings of the monuments, in stone, metal, or concrete, built to honor different athletes in these sports throughout the continent. Unique in its intention, methodology, and scope, this book brings to light that these kinds of civil projects are robust sites where history and contemporary concerns are projected, interpreted, and debated. Editors C. Nathan Hatton and David M. K. Sheinin have crafted a knockout! --Cesar R. Torres, State University of New York Brockport
