Ezzard Charles

It was popular to assume in 1954 that life was simple: Everybody was focused on work, duty and family. Even celebrities—of which sports stars were still the most reliable, depending as they did more on substance than...

THERE HAVE BEEN GOATS AS WELL AS HEROES, AND AS MANY LOSERS AS WINNERS, BUT THE THREE-AND-A-HALF DECADES SINCE ROGER BANNISTER'S EPOCHAL FOUR-MINUTE MILE (LEFT), ON MAY 6, 1954, HAVE BEEN WONDROUSLY RICH IN ATHLETIC...

By World War II, Joe Louis was a hero for all Americans, but financial troubles, illness and changing racial attitudes dimmed his image

BOWLING—EARL ANTHONY became the first to win three straight Brunswick-PBA National Championships by defeating Jim Frazier, 245-180, in Downey, Calif. Anthony earned $9,000 to bring his 1975 winnings to $68,560.

The classic confrontation in prizefighting—the best of all possible matchmaking—is between a man who can hit and a man who is adept at not getting hit; in short, a fight between a puncher and a boxer. But the terms...