Like Lost Islands Reemerging From The Sea

According to Frank Deford, the best story to appear in 61 years of Sports Illustrated is a deadline boxing piece from 1975 called 'Lawdy, Lawdy, He's Great,' by the late Mark Kram.

I recently read the piece for the first time, and I was struck by Kram's vivid eloquence. Read this brief passage:

"At ringside, even though the arena was air-conditioned, the heat wrapped around the body like a heavy wet rope. By now, President Ferdinand Marcos, a small brown derringer of a man, and Imelda, beautiful and cool as if she were relaxed on a palace balcony taking tea, had been seated."

And this one:

"Came the sixth, and here it was, that one special moment that you always look for when Joe Frazier is in…