I’m often asked where I learned how to write Ladies Night with all the correct boxing punches and fighting scenes that sound authentic.
To tell the truth, I didn’t know, other than reading the other Fight Card novels and those were great. But I wanted original fight scenes, like the kind you see on TV. Who knew you could find famous fights from the 50s on YouTube like this one between Rocky Marciano and Ezzard Charles.
Check is out and see if it doesn’t thrill you, make you want to step in the ring and get in a couple of sweet right hooks.
So I watched the video and while it played, I wrote down the series of punches as described by the announcers. I watched several videos employing this same technique in order to choreograph hard-hitting and believable fight scenes.
I’m particularly fond of the fight for the 1954 Heavyweight Title Fight that just happened to be the bout my characters, Jimmy Doherty and Lindy Dominic are so excited about, that to celebrate Marciano’s win, they make love for the first time. And that brings them to the dilemma of having to get married while Jimmy is climbing up the fight cards standing in Los Angeles, 1954…
Gotta love fight night. So says Jimmy, Lindy and Marc DeLuca; Characters of “Ladies Night.”