Boxing's colorful history is filled with chapters of high drama and simmering controversy. Many boxing fans are familiar with the outcome of the most memorable bouts, but few know the secrets surrounding them.

In The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories, Ferdie Pacheco, M.D.—the longtime physician and cornerman for Muhammad Ali and the television analyst known worldwide as the Fight Doctor—not only selects the dozen best rounds ever fought, but reveals what went on behind the scenes at these fights, from chicanery and Mob influence to romantic liaisons and the zaniness that seems to go hand in glove with boxing.

Drawing on his unique insider's perspective, Pacheco answers these questions and more:

• Did Muhammad Ali's "Phantom Punch" in 1965 really knock out Sonny Liston, or was Sonny simply too scared to get off the canvas?
• With World War II looming, was German heavyweight champion Max Schmeling warned by Adolf Hitler to beat Joe Louis—or else?
• Did Jack Dempsey have something illegal in his glove when he battered gigantic Jess Willard into bloody submission in 1919?

The book's fascination "untold stories" are related by Pacheco and a renowned group of boxing experts. Pacheco and company—famed trainers, promoters and referees like Angelo Dundee, Lou Duva, Mills Lane, Eddie Futch, Emanuel Steward and Teddy Atlas—offer an intimate glimpse of boxing's inimitable characters and the often bizarre world they inhabit.

Through scores of stunning photographs, including many rare prints, their world comes to live in a truly vibrant way.

Ferdie Pacheco, who is widely known as "the Fight Doctor" on boxing telecasts, has published eight books on subjects as diverse as boxing, World War II history, and Spanish cooking.

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