Boxing books??

[mickey1975]

Any of the "Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing" series
The Paul Briggs book

I loved the Briggs book,what a warrior!Unfortunately,its been soured now.....

[orbtastic]

just finished reading The Gifted One By Oliver Jarratt it covers the boxing career of Kirkland Laing it's a good read Oliver has really got inside the enigma that was Kirkland the highs & the lows of this talented but very frustrating boxer the boxing lesson he gave to a very far from finished Roberto Duran was the high point of a boxer who could with just a bit more dedication should have won at least one world title. It's also nice to know that the profits from the sale of this book will go to Kirkland it's not often we get to help one of the guys that entertained us & apart from that it's a bloody good read

It's a pretty good read, and well written.

[Buncey]

The Laing book is epic in scale. Excellent.
I've got Thomas Hauser on next week's BBC London 94.9 Boxing Hour (5th August) talking about his boxing novel. It's called Waiting for Carver Boyd. (Odd, you wait for about 60 years for a boxing writer to write a boxing novel and Hauser's book comes out three months after mine!)
On August 19th I will have Bob Mee on the BBC London 94.9 show to talk about his latest book. It's called Liston and Ali.
Both Hauser and Mee have added to the essential boxing reading list in my opinion.

Adios.

[DavidPayne]

The Laing book is epic in scale. Excellent.
I've got Thomas Hauser on next week's BBC London 94.9 Boxing Hour (5th August) talking about his boxing novel. It's called Waiting for Carver Boyd. (Odd, you wait for about 60 years for a boxing writer to write a boxing novel and Hauser's book comes out three months after mine!)
On August 19th I will have Bob Mee on the BBC London 94.9 show to talk about his latest book. It's called Liston and Ali.
Both Hauser and Mee have added to the essential boxing reading list in my opinion.

Adios.

Brilliant. Hauser's one of the last great, proper boxing-journalists and Bob's book will doubtless be flawless. Please, please Steve get Thomas talking about HBO, Greenberg, GBP etc....

[orbtastic]

Did anyone catch the author of Four Kings on R5 a few months ago? Pretty interesting stuff. Can't remember if Bunce was on or not, or whether it was someone else. It was the 25th anniversary of Hagler/Hearns.

What did people think to the Johnny Nelson & Herbie Hide books?

I know Nelson comes in for a lot of stick, but his book's not a bad read. Hide's clearly one of a kind (and that is being polite) but his book was also pretty interesting. You got an insight into both guys as "people", more so than a lot of boxing bios.

Charlie Magri's is really good too, and Billy Walker's book is ok but it gets a bit much after a while and turns into a bit of a cliche.

[Insider]

Teddy Atlas' book!

Four Kings

Hard Road to Glory- Johnny Nelson's book

And as somebody else mentioned, The Last Great Fight, about Tyson-Douglas. Great book that is.

Have also ready Audley Harrisons book, Amir Khan's, Oscar De la Hoya's, Hattons and Calzaghes. Didn't think any of them were that great to be honest!

[winkveron]

Shame there wasn't a Gatti autobiography or authorised biography done before he died.

[telboy66]

I have never got to grips with anything by Thomas Hauser I find him too flowery he never says in five words something he can stretch to 500 maybe it's just me

[DavidPayne]

I have never got to grips with anything by Thomas Hauser I find him too flowery he never says in five words something he can stretch to 500 maybe it's just me

I disagree. Hauser I find to be very functional in his prose, its his legal training. He doesn't waffle nor rely on cliche or over flower anything. He's thorough, but not flowery.

[orbtastic]

His collection of articles are better reading than his books, although Black Lights is a good read.

I've got a Charley Burley book and jeez, you'd think you couldn't go wrong with that era and topic but it's easily one of the dullest books I've ever attempted to read.

[J]

UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS..the jack johnson biog is a read for the purists...small print 500 odd pages it became a labour of love by the end to finsish but a gratifying and extremely informative read.

[Boxingnut]

I've got a Charley Burley book and jeez, you'd think you couldn't go wrong with that era and topic but it's easily one of the dullest books I've ever attempted to read.

Which Charley Burley book mate?

[Flashing Blade]

The Years of the Locust by Jon Hotten is superb. It tells the story of the events leading up the murder of promoter Rick Parker.

If you like to read about the grubby, sleazey aspects of the noble art- this is for you. It's a true story but it reads like a novel- The level of corruption and double dealing is amazing, and this is 90s, not the distant past. Would make a great movie

On the subject of novels, Buncey's book is a good holiday read (unless you are going on holiday to Atlantic City or Blackpool).

[orbtastic]

I've got a Charley Burley book and jeez, you'd think you couldn't go wrong with that era and topic but it's easily one of the dullest books I've ever attempted to read.

Which Charley Burley book mate?

The big thick heavy one that's impossible to read on the bog.

Allen Rosenfield.

Has anyone read the recent Gans, Patterson or Greb books? they're out in pb now but still 30 quid each on amazon.

[mickey1975]

The Years of the Locust by Jon Hotten is superb. It tells the story of the events leading up the murder of promoter Rick Parker.

If you like to read about the grubby, sleazey aspects of the noble art- this is for you. It's a true story but it reads like a novel- The level of corruption and double dealing is amazing, and this is 90s, not the distant past. Would make a great movie

On the subject of novels, Buncey's book is a good holiday read (unless you are going on holiday to Atlantic City or Blackpool).

It was o.k,but Hotten's Unlicensed was better.As for Buncey's,yes it was a good read but had a few laugh out loud moment for the hardcore fan who could spot some of the tales and names twisted to get them in the book.

[Boxingnut]

I've got a Charley Burley book and jeez, you'd think you couldn't go wrong with that era and topic but it's easily one of the dullest books I've ever attempted to read.

Which Charley Burley book mate?

The big thick heavy one that's impossible to read on the bog.

Allen Rosenfield.

Has anyone read the recent Gans, Patterson or Greb books? they're out in pb now but still 30 quid each on amazon.

You should try Harry Otty's book on Charley Burley.

[orbtastic]

Aye, I saw there were 2. Seems I picked the wrong one.

I got the Errol Christie one and Ron Lyle's ordered this week so should be reading them soon.

No-one read the recent Gans or Greb books? Surely someone has?

[Jon Saxon]

1 Dark Trade
2 The years of the locust
3 Only in America
4 Boxing Confidential

[palooka]

Babyface in Hollywood is very good; about Jimmy McClarnin, The Corner Men is one of my favourites and In this Corner is brilliant.

[MacTavish]

Have just finished "Waiting for Carver Boyd" and have got to say if you are thinking of buying it then save your money.

1. Its only just over 100 pages so not really a novel at all - it read more like a short story

2. It's a cliche in the the extreme and is written like a teenager woould write - the character of Carver Boyd is basically just a over-emphasized Mike Tyson

Very dissapointing but they are saying it will get made into a movie whihc sounds about right

[IRLangmaid25]

I can recommend Hugh MacVenney (sp) on Boxing which is a good collection of articles of some of the fights that he has reported on when he was with the Observer and the Sunday Times. I have read Dark Trade by Donald McRae and went right into the beating of the Sweet Science in the 1990s with the likes of James Toney, Mike Tyson etc featuring it. I did also read American Son once I had I got ordered from the Library and I thought it was a very good insight into the life of the most financially successful and marketable fighters in the shape of the Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya how he deals with being a Mexican American and all his charity work that he has done under the GBP banner.

I read the Hands of Stone and the Four Kings as well and found them fascinating reads about some of the greatest fighters who ever graced the ring and the thrills and spill of their fights.

[JamesH]

Have just finished "Waiting for Carver Boyd" and have got to say if you are thinking of buying it then save your money.

1. Its only just over 100 pages so not really a novel at all - it read more like a short story

2. It's a cliche in the the extreme and is written like a teenager woould write - the character of Carver Boyd is basically just a over-emphasized Mike Tyson

Very dissapointing but they are saying it will get made into a movie whihc sounds about right

Really? Thats interesting. Bunce raved about it on his radio show.

[MightyWarrior]

1. Dark Trade by Donald McRae
The first half of the 1990s will probably not go down as boxing's most exhilarating era, yet this book had a huge impact on me, inspiring me to stop dreaming about writing about the sport and actually get out there and do it. McRae's writing is both incisive and utterly compassionate, and his meetings with and subsequent portraits of men like Chris Eubank, Michael Watson, Roy Jones and most of all James 'Lights Out' Toney are unforgettable.

2. King of the World by David Remnick
Beautifully written account of Muhammad Ali's first ascent to the heavyweight throne, concentrating largely on Ali's bouts with Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson, but also Liston and Patterson's own brief encounters (all three principals met each other twice). This is a detailed study, unearthing many new anecdotes about rivalries that have already been well-documented, and whilst it is a book about Ali, Patterson and Liston are also given a deserved and generous share of the stage.

3. Ghosts of Manila by Mark Kram
This book polarised many sections of the boxing community with its tigerish stand in Joe Frazier's corner and scoffing at Muhammad Ali's purported wisdom and wit, and it's fair to say some of the salvos launched at Ali are somewhat off the mark. But the lyrical prose is stunning and, besides, Ali had more than his fair share of propaganda volumes, so why begrudge Frazier at least one? Kram died shortly after this was published.

4. Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser
Much of this huge volume consists of direct quotes from Hauser's interviewees, so that it reads almost like a play, with Hauser providing the scene-setting. But the scene-setting is wonderful and Hauser's research clearly exhaustive; former wives, opponents, sparring partners, managers, promoters, trainers, businessmen, the Nation of Islam, and of course Ali himself, contributed their views and memories to help form what is surely the definitive Ali book.

These are 4 of the best, plus The Fight by Norman Mailer is my all time favorite. the Duran and Larry Holmes bios are excellent, and anything by Liebling.

[Deserter]

the boxing lesson he gave to a very far from finished Roberto Duran

Laing was a talented man, but let's rein it in a bit eh? Duran was notorious for going through the motions in fights he couldn't get up for, and bar Leonard in their rematch, no-one has ever given him a boxing lesson in the ring.

[orbtastic]

DeJesus & Benitez may take issue with that?