Novel About Boxing is Both Tragic and Victorious

Doing what is right isn’t always the easy thing and sometimes it is costly. “The Favorite” by Franklyn C. Thomas brings that point home all too clearly. After having spent eighteen months in prison on a weapons charge, Michael Dane is given a chance at the IBF Light-Heavyweight Championship against an undefeated champion. That opportunity was given to him by his manager, Dante Alexander, whose dealings on the shady side of the law as a drug-runner have funded his fight promoting operation. As Michael trains for the fight of his life with his Dad’s best friend as his manager, Dutch, he is in another battle of his own. His former girlfriend, Selena, is pregnant with his child and she had thrown him out of her life. As Michael struggles to get straightened out for a family life that he has never known, he is training for a fight that he isn’t supposed to win. As he steps into the ring, he is taking his life into his own hands. Defying Dante could cost him his life, but not giving his best shot at the title would be worse than death. As the bell for each round sounds, Michael is fighting for his life.


Franklyn C. Thomas has written the kind of novel that makes a boxing enthusiast have salsa dancers in his gut. “The Favorite” does an excellent job of not only making the reader feel every punch and every ragged breath in the ring, but it mixes it and alternates it with the struggle that Michael is dealing with outside the ring. The character and honor to do what’s right in spite of what it might cost him, makes this sports thriller shout loudly with victory. Hard-hitting, inspiring and tragic; “The Favorite” will rattle you like a body to chin combination and keep your head reeling while you turn the page for the next blow to be delivered.