“Smith, a former sportswriter for the Albuquerque Journal, researched microfilm news clips and photographs at the New Mexico Highlands University library in Las Vegas, New Mexico, to produce this delightfully entertaining yarn about a farcical fight and the colorful characters who somehow made it happen. Smith’s remaining sources, ninety-six books and newspapers, yielded literary gold in collective histories and personalities.”—Michael Hurd, Southwestern Historical Quarterly
“An in-depth look at the fight, the months leading up to it, and its aftermath.”—David Steinberg, Albuquerque Journal
“A tale of ambitious promoters, desperate fighters, and America’s obsession with the color line. It’s a Las Vegas story set in the other Las Vegas.”—Randy Roberts, author of Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes
“Filled with an assortment of colorful characters, Crazy Fourth is a highly entertaining and funny account of the events that take place in the run-up to a heavyweight title defense by the great Jack Johnson in the unlikely setting of tiny Las Vegas, New Mexico.”—Jack Cavanaugh, author of Tunney: Boxing’s Brainiest Champ and His Upset of the Great Jack Dempsey
“Many know of this 1912 fight, but few realize that the contest was a complete fiasco, from the first day of planning to its controversial last round. Toby Smith uses his wit and storytelling skills to write this boxing equivalent to Jimmy Breslin’s classic The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”—Richard Melzer, coauthor of A History of New Mexico Since Statehood
