The Big If is the story of how two boxers grew up thousands of miles apart and came together for one apocalyptic night that would have seismic consequences for everyone who knew them. Johnny Owen (the Matchstick Man from Wales) and Lupe Pintor (El Indio from Mexico) met for less than sixty minutes on September 19, 1980. It was Owen's chance to become the world bantamweight champion, but the Matchstick Man was knocked out in the 12th round. He spent 46 days in a coma before he died.
The parallel lives of Owen and Pintor form the heart of an incredible story. Johnny had a hard but loving childhood as he shared a three-bedroom council house in Merthyr Tydfil with his parents and seven siblings. Pintor was beaten by his father as a boy and ran away from home at the age of eight. For a while he lived on the mean streets of Mexico City, selling ice to pay for scraps of food. When older boys began to pick on him and steal his wares, he learnt to use his fists.
Extensive interviews with the Owen and Pintor families have resulted in a moving, visceral book with enormous appeal beyond the boxing ring. Despite its running theme of loss, The Big If is ultimately an uplifting story of forgiveness and how the human spirit can overcome the most terrible troubles.
- ISBN10 0330443348
- ISBN13 9780330443340
- Publish Date 4 May 2007 (first published 19 May 2006)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 25 August 2011
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Pan Books
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 352
- Language English