Making Haye - Elliot Worsell

[dondada]

Gonna buy a copy now just because of this thread, power of tinterweb. Will be the 1st autobiogtaphy I've ever bought too.

Nah, you won't be breaking your duck there mate.

It's a biography

[Pat Butcher]

Gonna buy a copy now just because of this thread, power of tinterweb. Will be the 1st autobiogtaphy I've ever bought too.

Nah, you won't be breaking your duck there mate.

It's a biography

Everyday a school day. Will be me first biography, well I think so anyway.

[jameswilson]

Bought this on the weekend. Did make me look twice when I saw the author I have to admit, the person I was with in Waterstones seemed deeply uninterested when I pointed out that I used to post on the same internet message board as the author, but then I guess she doesn't realise what cool cats us lot here are.

Slightly disappointed that unlike Meldrick Taylor's autobio there aren't many tails of Haye bending nice young white birds over, so a little request for the sequel there.

[J]

Bought this on the weekend. Did make me look twice when I saw the author I have to admit, the person I was with in Waterstones seemed deeply uninterested when I pointed out that I used to post on the same internet message board as the author, but then I guess she doesn't realise what cool cats us lot here are.

Slightly disappointed that unlike Meldrick Taylor's autobio there aren't many tails of Haye bending nice young white birds over, so a little request for the sequel there.

lol did she cough and say computer says no !

[EJW]

Bought this on the weekend. Did make me look twice when I saw the author I have to admit, the person I was with in Waterstones seemed deeply uninterested when I pointed out that I used to post on the same internet message board as the author, but then I guess she doesn't realise what cool cats us lot here are.

Slightly disappointed that unlike Meldrick Taylor's autobio there aren't many tails of Haye bending nice young white birds over, so a little request for the sequel there.

Amazing.

Oh, and request noted.

[jameswilson]

Bought this on the weekend. Did make me look twice when I saw the author I have to admit, the person I was with in Waterstones seemed deeply uninterested when I pointed out that I used to post on the same internet message board as the author, but then I guess she doesn't realise what cool cats us lot here are.

Slightly disappointed that unlike Meldrick Taylor's autobio there aren't many tails of Haye bending nice young white birds over, so a little request for the sequel there.

lol did she cough and say computer says no !

Nah I think she might have been checking out Haye's physique on the front cover. Fair play to him it is Wilsonesque.

[orbtastic]

Got it in the post today, had a quick flick through and I like how it's written.

Started reading the [Herol] Bomber [Graham] biography, it's a pretty good read and fairly honest/depreciating.

[Captain Hook]

Well done Elliot, just Tweeted you too mate, will have to buy a copy asap

Congrats, you deserve it

[EJW]

Well done Elliot, just Tweeted you too mate, will have to buy a copy asap

Congrats, you deserve it

Thanks very much, CH. Really nice of you to say that!

[GAV]

I am awaiting my copy arriving to me in New York and I can't wait to read it. Delighted for Elliot and all that he has achieved since the days of the ESB forum. Only maintained sporadic contact with him at best but anytime we've conversed he has been first class. Regardless of that, I believe I would have become a fan of his writing. His style is very refreshing as others have said and I believe he represents a more palatable read for our genertation than the everyday newspaper hack and most of the "old school" boxing journalists who can get caught up waxing lyrical about times gone by.

I'll get the book signed by you one day mate, and hope that this is the first of many to come from you over next few years. Enjoy your success and be glad that you have advanced your abilities since this...

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=1268&more=1

[rhino222]

hey Gav...nice to see you got the old 'teak tough' cliche in there early doors!! .....

[GAV]

hey Gav...nice to see you got the old 'teak tough' cliche in there early doors!! .....

You know me Rhino, I prided myself on the cliches I have now come to roll my eyes at

[EJW]

Nice one, Gav. That means a lot. I'd be delighted to sign your copy one day (when you're not galavanting Stateside/teaching the Yanks how to kick a round ball).

Oh, and reading that old article back (well, the opening paragraph - as far as I got) made me throw up in my mouth a little. So, thanks for that, too.

[dbf]

Not a bad read - there are some good insights and interesting tales.

I'm a stickler for detail though and getting things like getting the ref wrong for Haye v Enzo
(It was John Keane - a lot was made of this pre fight at he had a tendency to stop things early), is disappointing for a boxing geek like me.

[bruthead]

Bought the book on the basis of this thread and feel you guys rather overhyped it; it's decent, nothing more. At times I'm not sure if I'm reading the David Haye story or the Elliot Worsell story and in the end you don't get either in its entirety.

Given their relative importance there's very little on the Ruiz, Harrison and Klitschko fights, especially when compared to the Johansen and Fragomeni fights.

Worsell tries to be objective, I guess, but doesn't really achieve it: after the Valuev fight he tells us that: "Try as I might to doubt him, Haye had become world heavyweight champion, just as he'd always said he would." Yeah, do me a favour.

The writing style is irritating at times, both ostentatious and distracting without being illuminating - a Daily Mirror journalist's conception of what a prose stylist does.

Sure, despite all that it's a perfectly functional biography but I wouldn't have bought it on that basis. You guys gave me the impression that it had some greater depth and insight, and it doesn't.

6/10.

[dbf]

Bought the book on the basis of this thread and feel you guys rather overhyped it; it's decent, nothing more. At times I'm not sure if I'm reading the David Haye story or the Elliot Worsell story and in the end you don't get either in its entirety.

Given their relative importance there's very little on the Ruiz, Harrison and Klitschko fights, especially when compared to the Johansen and Fragomeni fights.

Worsell tries to be objective, I guess, but doesn't really achieve it: after the Valuev fight he tells us that: "Try as I might to doubt him, Haye had become world heavyweight champion, just as he'd always said he would." Yeah, do me a favour.

The writing style is irritating at times, both ostentatious and distracting without being illuminating - a Daily Mirror journalist's conception of what a prose stylist does.

Sure, despite all that it's a perfectly functional biography but I wouldn't have bought it on that basis. You guys gave me the impression that it had some greater depth and insight, and it doesn't.

6/10.

Kind of what I would have said but couldn't put it across as well as that.

I think it was overhyped but still not a bad read and kind of highlights that whilst Haye was a good boxer he wasn't great.

[Glyn Leach]

Bought the book on the basis of this thread and feel you guys rather overhyped it; it's decent, nothing more. At times I'm not sure if I'm reading the David Haye story or the Elliot Worsell story and in the end you don't get either in its entirety.

Given their relative importance there's very little on the Ruiz, Harrison and Klitschko fights, especially when compared to the Johansen and Fragomeni fights.

Worsell tries to be objective, I guess, but doesn't really achieve it: after the Valuev fight he tells us that: "Try as I might to doubt him, Haye had become world heavyweight champion, just as he'd always said he would." Yeah, do me a favour.

The writing style is irritating at times, both ostentatious and distracting without being illuminating - a Daily Mirror journalist's conception of what a prose stylist does.

Sure, despite all that it's a perfectly functional biography but I wouldn't have bought it on that basis. You guys gave me the impression that it had some greater depth and insight, and it doesn't.

6/10.

Not picked up a copy yet as I’ve a massive reading list to get through but if anything the fact that there’s more attention paid to his cruiserweight fights is enticing as Ruiz, Harrison and Wlad were amongst the worst performances of Haye’s career and clearly showed that he had become obsessed with loading up right hands to the detriment of everything else.

What can you say about them that hasn’t already been said? He floored a creaking Ruiz early with his best work in the fight only for his technique to unravel round by round, this lack of fluidity continued in the Harrison fight and by Wlad the only highlight was some nice head movement.

I’d much rather hear about the fun fights.

Wow. Bruthead, aren't you the guy who wrote that Audley Harrison piece which ended up being discussed on here? If so, I really don't think you should be calling another writer's style 'ostentatious and distracting', much less attack his 'conception' (which means giving birth) of prose. Tuck your head in chap, not necessary to say those things.

[bruthead]

Wow. Bruthead, aren't you the guy who wrote that Audley Harrison piece which ended up being discussed on here? If so, I really don't think you should be calling another writer's style 'ostentatious and distracting', much less attack his 'conception' (which means giving birth) of prose. Tuck your head in chap, not necessary to say those things.

Happy to take my lumps! I was just giving an honest opinion on the book. As I said, it's a decent biography but it's not a must read.

[Glyn Leach]

Wow. Bruthead, aren't you the guy who wrote that Audley Harrison piece which ended up being discussed on here? If so, I really don't think you should be calling another writer's style 'ostentatious and distracting', much less attack his 'conception' (which means giving birth) of prose. Tuck your head in chap, not necessary to say those things.

Happy to take my lumps! I was just giving an honest opinion on the book. As I said, it's a decent biography but it's not a must read.

Fair play to you then soldier!

[bruthead]

Just in the interest of context, Joyce Carol Oates On Boxing is perhaps the only boxing book I would give 10/10. Donald McRae's Dark Trade, for example, is a 9/10 for me.

Also, that use of 'conception' was not incorrect.

[Deserter]

Also, that use of 'conception' was not incorrect.

I'd say it was in that context, even if you were referring to its secondary meaning as the devising of a plan.

[orbtastic]

I read the first chapter after flicking through a few random pages later on in the book when I first got it and I have to say it's not really grabbing me, certainly not on a level I expected from comments in here. I can see what the author's trying to do but certainly from the first chapter it's coming off as Flexen lite and it trying a bit too hard with some of the prose which came off a little clunky. Maybe it's just the first chapter, which after all, is scene setting and explaining who he is an what part he plays in Haye's "life" or career.

I'm going to stick with it, but for now the Herol Graham book is a far more interesting read, albeit the type and size of the margin in the book is really distracting and quite frankly, hurting my eyes.

[Glyn Leach]

I found it really easy and enjoyable to read, and I really do not like boxing books at all. It definitely worked for me, didn't find the style offensive in any way, enjoyed the relaxed feel of it compared to most of the illiterate or portentous tripe the genre engenders. But hey ho, one man's floor is another man's ceiling.

[dondada]

I haven't read it yet but, three things to consider:

1. If you want some kind of high end literary criticism, this probably isn't the forum's strength (though there are posters who can offer this).

2. If some posters on here are viewing the merits of the text through rose-tinted specs, that is both understandable and expected and several go back some years with the author and it's simply a case of 'one of our own doing well'.

3. Given the nature of the text, it's absolutely bound to be self-referential but at least it's admittedly so...unlike some of the worst boxing journalism out there which ridiculously foregrounds its author when no one gives a sh1t what the feck they've had for breakfast. To make it worse, some of this drivel is actually thought of as good work by many readers - which is their entitlement, of course.

[orbtastic]

I'll endeavour to finish it, it's just not really grabbing me.

I think we differ in that I genuinely like to get inside a fighter's head and read what they "think", particularly about fights - Even with fights I've never seen.

It's why I just couldn't get on with Tapia's book, it barely contained any boxing and just seemed to be him lurching from one drugs induced coma to another. There wasn't really anything to relate to, and I've done my fair share of drugs in the past. Same with Billy Walker's, it was just so dull...and written in a weird style, using words like "smashing" and "cor" like some adult version of a 1950s comic where he has a slap up fish supper and champers with a smashing dolly bird.