ScuttleBu(r)t …

Boxing fans will certainly appreciate Jerry Izenberg’s book “Once There Were Giants: The Golden Age Of Heavyweight Boxing” (Skyhorse Publishing).

Izenberg, a legend among boxing scribes, details the many years between Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson.

Of course, Izenberg got to know Muhammad Ali well.

The slick-talking Ali once said, “If I say a mosquito can pull a plow, don’t argue. Hitch him up.”

The Oct. 1, 1975, bout with Joe Frazier in Manila was the most brutal of Ali’s career, according to Izenberg.

Noted a battered Ali: “Fellas, that’s the closest you will ever see to death.”

Larry Holmes, with a jab compared to Joe Louis and Sonny Liston, fought Ken Norton for a heavyweight title in 1978 in Vegas. Even after 14 rounds, Izenberg said the 15th was the “greatest single final round in the history of the modern heavyweights.”

Holmes won on a split decision.

“The loser had never been more courageous, and the winner never more heroic,” Izenberg wrote.

This book was a knockout for this retired boxing fan, who has been to Vegas to see Holmes work out and once sat less than a minute in a Green Bay closed-circuit site to see Mike Tyson demolish Michael Spinks …

Peter Secchia, described by the Detroit Free Press as a “prominent MSU alum and former ambassador to Italy,” defended Spartans football coach Mark Dantonio at the West Michigan Sports Commission event in Grand Rapids.

Secchia, a guest at the now discontinued Tom Izzo-Steve Mariucci fundraiser in Iron Mountain, said Dantonio is “in the middle of a lot of issues that are undeserved to him.”

Dantonio has been dealing with sexual assault allegations against three players and a staff member …

Beaverton boys basketball coach Roy Johnston, who holds the Michigan state record for most career victories, beat both Iron Mountain and Kingsford in tournament games.

The Beavers overcame Jeff Podgornik’s 34 to edge the Mountaineers 68-65 in the Class C quarterfinals at Cheboygan.

Johnston, 74, who completed his 43rd season at Beaverton this past winter, topped the previous mark held by River Rouge’s Lofton Greene (728-217) …

USA Today graded NFL teams on their draft results.

Packers topped the NFC North with a B plus, followed by the Vikings, B; Lions, C plus, and Bears, C …

Ottawa goalie Mike Condon, who may be out of a job after this season, has a brother working as a harbormaster in Florida.

“My brother drives 700-foot ships for a living in and out of Panama City Beach,” Condon told the Boston Globe. “His job is a little more stressful. If I play bad, then worst-case scenario, all I have to do is get a job. If he has a bad day, then millions of dollars are lost and people could get killed. Stress is relative, I guess. That helps keep me sane.” …

Iron Mountain’s Tommy Izzo, now that Miles Bridges has put his NBA career on hold, can’t wait for the 2018 Michigan State basketball season to tip off.

“With Miles doing what he did, which was honestly a surprise to even me, I’m looking forward to it,” Izzo told the LSJ. “I’m going to take a little time off for the summer, but if the season started tomorrow, I’d be a happy camper.”

By the way. Tommy has added a preferred walk-on in Jack Hoiberg, son of Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg, Young Hoiberg has won a couple Illinois golf state titles …

City Stadium will have a synthetic turf field for Green Bay East’s upcoming football season.

City Stadium, according to the Press-Gazette, was the home of the Packers from 1925 to 1956 …

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, on quarterback Jay Cutler turning down the New Yok Jets for a spot in Fox’s No. 2 TV booth: “He has made about $112 million in career earnings, and signing up for a cushy TV gig sounds a lot better than joining a new team and getting your brains beaten in on a team that likely won’t win more than five or six games.” …

Burt Angeli is a Daily News columnist and sports writer. He can be reached at bangeli@ironmountaindailynews.com or 906-774-2772, ex. 25. Follow him on Twitter @ScuttleBurt