100 Boxing Books, I own, that I recommend:

[Surf-Bat]

The Great Book of Boxing: Harry Mullan

I enjoyed this book, despite Mr. Mullan constantly trying to throw in plugs for British fighters. It gets a bit inappropriate (and embarrassing) at times, ie- When discussing the great middleweight champs: "The genius of Sugar Ray Robinson. The ferocity of Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb and Mickey Walker. The Charisma of Marcel Cerdan. The courage of Terry Downes. The professional perfection of Marvin Hagler..."

I'll let you guys guess which one don't belong.

Plus several pages devoted to Henry Cooper??

Otherwise an excellent book.

On another note, can anyone here give us a review of the Billy Conn book "The Pittsburgh Kid"?

I'm reading "Sweet William" right now and am loving it.

[brutu]

What about the book SONNY BOY by Rob Steen?
published in 1993 in England.
Is that any good or same ole same ole?
Its going to be re-printed in November when that movie about Sonny Liston with Ving Rhaymes finally comes out.

[jim glen]

Surf, I've said it before, Britain suffers from a serious inferiority complex that all she does is regurgitate the same names over & over & over again as though we had No One Else and the fact is we had dozens, literally dozen but because we've had so few World Champions among the 'big boys' it's like she's scared to mention the many other 'ligitimate' top liners for fear of ridicule, so all we get is Cooper & Downs, Eubank & Benn and now Hatton & Calzaghe... the shame 'cheats all the other greats, especially among the 'wee-men' and of course the odd Bigmen that were real!

[Surf-Bat]

Jim-

Interesting. Maybe it's true what Kevin Kline said about the British in 'A Fish Called Wanda'- "You know what the trouble with you British is? You don't like WINNERS!"

[jim glen]

No Surf, it's "Stupid, Arrogant Pride" Britain/British (Not All of course), can, will 'never' seen to be wrong.

My father used to say " you can't tell people back home anything!!!"

and he loves Britain and so do I, and I gave up a $400, 000 house on the lake in BC Canada to come back here and start all over again, that's how much I love it... but the people (generally speaking again, NOT ALL, have got to move on and stop settling for a 'lesser' outlook, attitude and approach to each other!

[starlingstomp]

Harry Mullan was certainly biased towards certain fighters, but i don't think he was that kind of boxing personality at all Jim.Not even remotely close.

[Mike DeLisa]

Mullan was a great boxing writer -- his book is a must-have.

"the courage of Terry Downes" -- nothing wrong with that statement.

[Surf-Bat]

Mullan was a great boxing writer -- his book is a must-have.

"the courage of Terry Downes" -- nothing wrong with that statement.

Sure, Downes had courage. But mentioning Terry Downes in the same breath as the others is VERY wrong. When you talk of great middleweights, you don't talk Terry Downes. It can't be passed off as just Mullan stating a fact. It was a shameless plug for a British boxer(which he does a TON of in this book). Like Jim says, if you're going to plug a British fighter it's better to plug a great one.

Maybe I'm making a bigger deal of it than it is. But why not "the courage of "Carmen Basilio"? "Gene Fullmer"? "Billy Papke"? "Frank Klaus"? Even "Vito Antuofermo" would have made more sense.

But I will agree that it is a very good book.

[cmoyle]

Surf, I read 'The Pittsburgh Kid' by Paul Kennedy and enjoyed it very much. I thought it was a very good book.

[Surf-Bat]

Thanks Clay. I'm definitely giving it a look after I finish "Sweet William". Lots of insight into Pittsburgh boxing as well as Conn's opponents(Solly Krieger seems a really interesting guy. Definitely an "actions, not words" man. Reminds me of an older, more battle hardened and grizzled Kelly Pavlik type).

[Overhand_Right]

I gave up a $400, 000 house on the lake in BC Canada to come back here and start all over again, that's how much I love it...

but the people (generally speaking again, NOT ALL, have got to move on and stop settling for a 'lesser' outlook, attitude and approach to each other!

Dear god jim, why on earth did you come back?

For what??

You actually missed this big toilet?

[SigniferSanctusMichael]

If there had been more people like Jim Glen around in the last few decades England would never have become a big toilet in the first place, nor would it be likely to remain one.

As Chesterton said, "People didn't love Florence because she was beautiful, they made her beautiful because they loved her."

And I know how bloody awful it is in England as well as anyone. Good man, Jim; I wish people like you weren't so rare in these parts.

[PeteLeo]

Things will get better. It's still a wonderful country and a beacon to so much of the world that can't (or refuses) to slough off the primitive past. PeteLeo.

[KOJOE90]

[B]Due out in October:

Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing by George Kimball

I am half way through this book and really enjoying it. Sure a lot of us already know plenty about the above four fighters and their repective careers but the book is well written and also has lots of bits of interesting information to keep the more 'hardcore' fan interested.

[hawk5ins]

wasn't supposed to be released until Oct 1st?!?!?!?

How hell do you rate?

And I ask that question with the intended tone that is being interperated here, out of sheer and total, irate, jealousy.

Hawk

[hawk5ins]

how much of a DOLT I am at times (if not ALL the time.).

I'm thumbing through the New thread that Mike Delisa put up pertaining to Boxing Books on Amazon.com and I get to about page 17 or 18 and I see the book, MY LIFE by Joe Louis, Louis's autobiography.

And then I recall a conversation I had with the poster named Overhand Right, In THIS thread about his preference for that book and how I preferred Chris Mead's Champion.

I had stated that I had read My Life several Years ago in my local Library but never gave it a second thought and did not purchase it.

Well then I'm looking at Mike's Amazon thread and I see a picture of the book cover and I say, "Hey, I think I own that book!" I go over to where I have my library and poke around for a few minutes and BAM, there it is: MY LIFE Joe Louis An Autobiography.

Holy Crap, I haven't even fricken cracked the book open yet!

I DID read it in the library several years ago, but I could not remember that I had SINCE purchased it and had it on my shelf? ANd then Never even bothered to re-read it?

Holy crap! No wonder my wife worries about where our money goes! Apparently I myself don't know about purchases I made for myself!

I more than likely picked it up at a "Buck a Book", but that is down right absurd!

Sheesh Now I have another one to tack on to the list of books to either finish or begin reading!

OY!

The Mind is a terrible thing.....

Hawk

[KOJOE90]

wasn't supposed to be released until Oct 1st?!?!?!?

How hell do you rate?

And I ask that question with the intended tone that is being interperated here, out of sheer and total, irate, jealousy.

Hawk

Hawk, I am enjoying it.

Like I said, we all know the stories about Hagler, Leonard, Duran & Hearns careers and their fights against each other, but the book is well written, well researched and well paced, doesn't so far seem to have an agenda (so far I am half way through it) and has plenty of 'titbits' of information to keep the more 'hardcore' fan happy. Such as who were the sparring partners for various fights, amateur career details, why various fights we delayed, injurys etc etc.

For example I had no idea that Bobby Watt was one of Haglers main sparring partners throughout his Title reign.

[hawk5ins]

I just want to know how you rate in getting an advanced copy!

It's not due out until Oct 1st.

So scroates like myself have to wait.

Agian, I'm jealous as all hell.

Glad to hear it's an excellent read.

Hawk

[HE Grant]

What does anyone think of the Battling Siki book ? I am giving it my best shot for a second time and find it for the most part to be a mess and a bore ...

[KOJOE90]

I just want to know how you rate in getting an advanced copy!

It's not due out until Oct 1st.

So scroates like myself have to wait.

Agian, I'm jealous as all hell.

Glad to hear it's an excellent read.

Hawk

Sorry Hawk I misunderstood you, maybe one of those rare USA>UK translation things.

Anyway the book in question has been widely available here in the UK for well over a month now, Amazon.co.uk, high street bookshops etc etc.

[hawk5ins]

I mean, for you it's a great advantage and luxury to be able to get a book such as this, so much earlier than it's release in the States here. But for someone who's been awaiting it's Oct 1st published release and thinking that this was the same accross the board. It's pretty annoying.

Is this typical with most book releases? Honestly I have no idea as I hadn't realized that this practice even existed.

I'm just glad that I now have a source to rely on that it's going to have been worth the wait!

Thanks Man.

Hawk

[Surf-Bat]

"That really blows"?

Can you tell what generation Hawk and I are from?*LOL*

Anyway, there are several books on Archie Moore floating about. Anyone know which one is the best? Don't wanna waste my time reading bland pap. Thanks!

[hawk5ins]

The Old Mongoose.

But admitedly, there is like a complete void when it comes to the Ezzard Charles bouts. It;s like they never took place.

Although aside from that obvious flaw, the book is excellent.

It reads like Archie talking to you. Telling a story.

I have The Ageless Warrior by Mike Fitzgerald, although I have not read it yet.

Hawk

[PeteLeo]

I had a lot of fun reading ABC: THE ARCHIE MOORE STORY in the library when I was a kid. I also liked VICTORY OVER MYSELF, by Floyd Patterson (it ended with Floyd writing that he had just signed to defend his title against Liston). PeteLeo.

[hawk5ins]

Interesting you mention Floyd's book Victory Over Myself.

The one tiny issue I had with it was it almost seemed as though Cus was leaning over Floyd's shoulder when he wrote it.

THe loyalty was so pervasive throughout the book, I just had a hard time thinking it was Floyd talking.

And of course I got a nice kick out of the Floyd's comment how Cus, despite Cus losing his licence, would always remain his manager while Floyd was fighting.

I always would have loved a follow up to this book that would have covered Patterson's post championship career.....without Cus.

I do see there is a New Bio on Floyd due out next month.

Will be interested to check that out.

Hawk

[hawk5ins]

The Fab Four
Boxing's last Golden Age gets the book it deserves
Richard O'Brien

IT MAY be cruel to ask a contemporary boxing fan to read George Kimball's Four Kings, a little like handing a starving man a menu from a four-star restaurant that's gone out of business. The bounty once available only underscores how bare the cupboard is today. Kimball's breezy, detail-packed book chronicles the careers of Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran, regal figures indeed who between them held 16 world titles and whose internecine battles during the 1980s defined their greatness. The book's subtitle calls those years the last great era of boxing. Nothing going on today challenges that.

Kimball, a longtime writer for the Boston Herald who was ringside for most of the fights described here, including all nine that his protagonists waged against each other, provides vivid, knowledgeable accounts of the action. (And there was plenty: During their careers each of the four beat at least one of the others and each of the four lost to at least one of the others.) He also draws clear, graceful portraits of four fighters whose styles in and out of the ring were so markedly different, and shows how interwoven their lives became.

The most engaging parts of the book, though, concern what went on between the main events—in the gyms, training camps, hotels and, not infrequently it seems, the barrooms—when the business of the sport was conducted. The colorful cast of characters includes such quintessential figures as Angelo Dundee, Emanuel Steward, Howard Cosell and Goody and Pat Petronelli, the Brockton, Mass., brothers who turned Hagler into a champion. Inevitably, Don King and Bob Arum strut and bluster their way through these pages as well, proving that some things haven't changed.

But so much has, of course. Kimball's four kings are no longer on their thrones. Thankfully, all four retired with their minds intact and their fortunes more or less so. (The profligate Duran spent as he fought, with glorious abandon.) It is the sport that is hurting.

Hawk

[Mike DeLisa]

Is Hearns finally retired?

[hawk5ins]

Excellent Point!

He'll probably mess it up in 2011, like he did in 2005 and schedule a fight just as he becomes eligible for induction.

As it was, he fought Uriah Grant in April of 2000 and then didn't fight John Long, until July of 2005.

C'mon Canastota! That was 5 years!

Just let Tommy in!

Hearns is going to be like Larry Holmes all over agian. Personally I banked on Holmes NEVER getting inducted as I never thought he'd stop fighting.

That torch has been passed along to Tommy now.

Oy.

Hawk

[KOJOE90]

Anyone here read the new book on Sonny Liston by Rob Steen?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonny-Liston...3218581&sr=1-1

[cmoyle]

I'm wondering how many others on this board have read the book 'Only In America, The Life & Crimes of Don King' by Jack Newfield, written in 1995?

I have to say that although I've owned the book for many years, I had never bothered to read it until this past week. I guess I'd always incorrectly assumed it would be King's life story from his standpoint, written with the assistance of the author. I hadn't ever bothered to even flip thru it at all. It just went up on my bookshelf.

Well, I've completed about 95% of it now and I think it's terrific. Of course I had heard plenty about how many fighters had been ripped off by King over the years, and all the shady practices, but the mountain of evidence concerning these type of instances contained in this book and the extent of the injustices just blows me away. I have found the book a very interesting read, it's one of those that I will burn thru in 4-5 days because I enjoy it so much. Very well researched and written, I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet, and am curious as to what others who have read it thought about it.