(Last of three parts) In the predigital age of media, the printed word was king, and newspapers ruled. If an event wasn’t in the papers, it never happened. In the mid-1970s, newsrooms were shifting from “hot metal” to “cold type”—from molten lead and oily typesetting machines to early computers, photo-typesetting, and paste-up. For many, that...
Author: Jun Engracia
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It was every bit the promised ‘Thrilla in Manila’—and more
(Second of three parts) This oft-quoted line from Dick Young of the New York Daily News has not lost its shine 50 years after Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought each other nearly to the death in probably the most brutal—and greatest—boxing match in history. Young was among the sportswriting gods who descended on the...
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Barefoot and larger than life: My (un)forgettable exclusive with Muhammad Ali
(First of three parts) The elevator door opened to the ninth floor of what was then the Manila Hilton, which the then world heavyweight champion would call home for a fortnight before what he himself christened the “Thrilla in Manila.” Photographer Eddie Alfonso and I were startled to see a bemoustached man waiting at the...
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When AI goes berserk, be prepared to die
On July 4, 2005, I died a violent death. Then, in 2018, I died again, this time of natural causes. In both cases, my obituaries were written. Yet here I am today, still alive but close to dying, a centenarian tycoon quietly admiring my art and watching my kids run the empire I built. How...
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You defied the odds again but enough of the hubris, Manny Pacquiao
You’ve made your point: You can still go toe-to-toe with the best in your weight class. You have a lot of fight left in you. Maybe an extra month of training could have added zest and spring to those once-nimble feet. A point or two in the judges’ scorecard might have swung the contest in...