Standing Eight: The Inspiring Story of Jesus "El Matador" Chavez

(Paperback)

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Description

Standing Eight is the stirring account of the life of current IBF Lightweight Champion of the world, Jesus Chavez. Born in 1972, Gabriel Sandoval, Jesus real name, grew up in the impoverished city of Delicias, Mexico. At seven, he swam across the Rio Grande with his mother and younger sister to join his father, an illegal worker in Chicago. There Gabriel learned both English and boxing, eventually winning three Gold Glove championships. After serving jail time for robbery and being deported to Mexico twice as an illegal, he returned to the U. S. and now resides in Austin, Texas, where he plans to defend his title in November 2006.

Reviews

"Standing Eight is an uncomplicated read and offers an undemanding insight into the complications of one Mexican fighter's life in the US. And if the author's prose is often adulatory, even melodramatic, it is presumably because he has a subject matter that at times verges on the unbelievable." The Independent - Sports Book of the Week"

Author Bio

Adam Pitluk is a contributor to TIME magazine and is the author of Standing Eight. He spent most of the 1990s living along various rivers in Missouri and now lives in Dallas, Texas.