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New York Daily News Let me tell you about Tim Smith, the boxing man for the New York Daily News and this year's winner of the Nat Fleischer Award, the highest honor the Boxing Writers Association of America can bestow on one of its own. First off, he's old school in spite of his youthful age -- 46, with his feet firmly planted on high standards. I speak of old school, remembering the likes of Frank Graham from the old Journal American, Jesse Abramson of the Herald Tribune, Al Buck of the New York Post, Jim Jennings from the New York Mirror, Bob Waters of Newsday, Lester Bromberg from the World Telegram and Jack Miley from the Daily News. This fraternity of great newspaperman covered boxing on a day-to-day basis in their time. Covering boxing in days gone by was considered to be the best beat on a newspaper. Some senior baseball writers might argue for their sport, but I knew of some who would gladly trade beats with boxing scribes. Tim Smith would fit right in with these great people, whom I admired so much because he respects the game and the fighter as those old-school writers did. "The fighter is to be respected, because he is a noble man in a noble profession," said Smith. He will tell you how much he admires Muhammad Ali, not only for his talents in the ring, but the courage he showed while holding onto his beliefs during the Vietnam conflict. Smith recalls how he got caught up with the Ali story when Muhammad came back after a three-year exile. "I was 12 years old, and it was then that Ali fought Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, which was only 70 miles from my home," said Smith. "I read every story written about the fight, and later I got to see him in the ring." It's after all these years after being an Ali watcher that Smith reflects on what he saw: "He had everything and he reminded me of a ballet … the footwork, the pure dancing in the ring, there was physical artistry in it. Watching Ali was intriguing. Ali was and still is the best I ever saw." When Tim was a kid, he'd see movies with newspapermen themes that made him want to be a journalist. "I saw the newspaper guys as crusaders and people who always wanted to fight for the truth. 'This is what I want to be,' I remember saying to myself," Smith said. "I wanted to be the kind of guy who would hold up the light in search of the truth." Right there you know what kind of man Smith is. He is honest to himself and his craft and tells the truth about the fighters he covers, and he does it all with solid but fair punches from his word processor. This accolade certainly is a compliment not only to Smith, but also for those who voted for him. Nat Fleischer would have liked that. |
Nat Fleischer Award Excellence in Boxing Journalism 1972 -- Barney Nagler 1973 -- Dave Anderson 1974 -- Jack Hand, Murray Rose 1975 -- Red Smith 1976 -- Jesse Abramson 1977 -- Bob Waters 1978 -- Jerry Izenberg 1979 -- Ed Schuyler 1980 -- Tom Cushman 1981 -- Michael Katz 1982 -- Pat Putnam 1983 -- Vic Ziegel 1984 -- John Schulian 1985 -- George Kimball 1986 -- Hugh McIlvaney 1987 -- Elmer Smith 1988 -- Tom Archdeacon 1989 -- Jim Murray 1990 -- Bert Sugar 1991 -- Stan Hochman 1992 -- Ken Jones 1993 -- Ron Borges 1994 -- Wallace Matthews 1995 -- Robert Seltzer 1996 -- Royce Feour 1997 -- Alan Goldstein 1998 -- Bernard Fernandez 1999 -- Tim Dahlberg 2000 -- Jay Searcy 2001 -- Richard Hoffer 2002 -- Steve Springer 2004 -- Thomas Hauser 2005 -- Tim Smith A.J. Liebling Award Outstanding Boxing Writing 1995 -- Gene Courtney, W.C. Heinz, Samuel H. Lacy, A.J. Liebling, Shirley Povich, Budd Schulberg 1996 -- Jimmy Cannon, Robert Lipsyte, Dan Parker, Arlene Schulman 1997 -- Milt Dunnell, Frank Graham, Stan Isaacs, Allan Malamud 1998 -- Deane McGowen, Marshall Reed, Bob Wright 1999 -- Bill Gallo, Thom Greer 2000 -- Dick Young 2004 -- Edwin Pope, William Nack |
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©2004 - 2008 Boxing Writers Association of America. All rights reserved. |
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