BoxRec

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

telboy66 wrote: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

Buncey wrote: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.

telboy66 wrote: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

orbtastic wrote: 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.

Boxingnut wrote:

orbtastic wrote: 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 wrote: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 wrote:

Boxingnut wrote:

orbtastic wrote: 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.

MacTavish wrote: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

jim wright1 wrote:
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.

telboy66 wrote:the boxing lesson he gave to a very far from finished Roberto Duran