Non-PRO English to Russian Art/Literary

Hello!
I can't translate the first sentance into Russian. I guess the problem is that I don't know who the White Hope of the ring is, what his relations with the Truck Driver's Union are and what is "the fist of a rival member of the Truck Drivers' Union". Help me, please :)

The context:
He was in much the same condition as one White Hope of the ring is after he has put his chin in the way of the fist of a rival member of the Truck Drivers' Union. He knew that he was still alive. More he could not say. The mists of sleep, which still shrouded his brain, and the shake-up he had had from his encounter with the table, a corner of which he had rammed with the top of his head, combined to produce a dreamlike state.