BoxRec

I have just recently started reading 'fighting for redemption' a biog on Teddy Mann who was a Middleweight contender in the 70-80s and fought people such as Bennie Briscoe, Doug Dewitt, Bobby Cyz etc... he had a very colourful career and it seems a even more colourful life outside of the ring!. I havent finished it yet but it really is a great read. Comes over as if he is there sitting with and talking to you and it has a quirkyness and humour about it which is rare in sports biogs. There are also some very good insights on what it is like to find sudden success in the ring and the temptations and pressures which can take a fighter off the rails.... all in all well worth a look, especially if you are into boxers of the 70s and 80s.

Now I know this is really cheeky and slightly off topic but most of you know I'm fundraising for Weston Park Hospital Sheffield.
My sales of the boxing programmes has dried up but I do have a book that may be of interest to anyone who collects them.
It's Going the Distance by Ken Norton, a first edition hard back copy.
Now here's the bonus.
It's signed by Ken, but in addition it's signed by Joe Frazier who wrote the forward for the book.
Anyone seriously interested pm me.

Had the time and chance to read a few boxing books while on my holiday this summer:

"Bombardier Billy Wells - The Life & Times of a Boxing Hero", by Stan Shipley (1993).
Although largely forgotten today, Bombardier Billy was the golden boy of British boxing during the 1910s.
His popularity with the public was probably comparable with that of Frank Bruno during the latter's heyday, and he was arguably the most beloved sportsman of his era.

To illustrate that point - Wells was the first British sportsman whoose private life was mentioned regulary in the newspaper, much like we can read of footballer's private lives today.
Even Boxing News carried a photo og Wells and his bride on their front page.

As a fighter, Wells, like Bruno, lost most of his biggest fights - sometimes getting KO'd while a head on points.
He fought several of the best heavyweight contenders of the time, and was very close to going up against Jack Johnson in 1911.
As some may know, the fight was stopped by the Home Office (long story).

Good story, good read!


"The Strange Death of Freddie Mills", by Bill Bavin (1975).
The Freddie Mills story is an interesting one, and in my opinion no less so after reading this.
The author is/was a close friend of the former champion, something that becomes very clear throughout the book.
For instance, he disregarded the persistent rumours reagarding Mills' alleged bisexuality because "he knew Mills, and he was straight".
Personal opinion should never get in the way of research.

What Bavin does do a good job of, is rasing questions around the circumstances of Mills' death.
Officially, Mills committed suecide, but as Bavin points out, that seems highly unlikely seeing that the gun found next to Mills had been wiped clean, was lying out of his reach, etc.
Lots of stuff that doesn't add up.

Obviously, this book is more about forensic science and crime than boxing, but still an interesting read.


"Empire of Deceit - Inside The Biggest Sport & Banking Scandal in History", by Dean Allison and Bruce B. Henderson (1985).
Some of you might recall the name Harold Smith - the boxing promoter whom nearly sent both Don King and Bob Arum out of business in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Smith came from nowhere with a seemingly unlimited flow of cash and cheques, ready to spend on fighters who signed contracts with him.
Any fighter who signed with Smith could expect to be paid 3-4 times the amount of money they could get from other promoters, and in less than two years he had a host of the most signifigant fighters in his stable.

But, when things appear too good to be true, they usually are - and Smith business when down the tubes overnight when it was discovered than his money all came from a huge embezzlement at Wells Fargo Bank.
In total, Smith had gone through more than 21 million dollars - the record embezzlemnt in US banking history up to that point.

"Empire of Deceit" tells the whole story, and it's a craking read, believe you me!
Best book I've for quite some time!


Anyone else read any good books recetly?

Just finished 'The Devil and Sonny Liston' by Nick Tosches.

I didn't really enjoy this as much as I was hoping. Come away none the wiser about Sonny, his career and aftermath. A lot of the book focused on how the Mafia controlled Sonny and the mafia's effects on boxing but I wanted to read about Sonny Liston not the mafia - Jacobs Beach by Kevin Mitchell is superb if you want that story.

Then there are the fight fixes, why he allegelledly throw the fight Ali fight (Mafia) then the second was due to threats allegedly from the Black Muslims. He insinutates one more thrown fight before going on to describe his death and his opinion of what it was.

Like I said didn't really enjoy it, didn't for me shed any light on Sonny LIston or his career.

I enjoyed Toshes prose but his distaste for Ali clouded his judgement. He describes Liston throwing both bouts as if it were an ironclad and unequivocal fact, which it obviously isn't. Whilst the second fight was bizarre, Liston seriously underestimated Ali and obviously lost the first one fair and square.

Recently finished Sugar Ray Robinson's book, excellent read and insight into the man and that era.

I am currently reading Joe Louis - My Life. A good read so far, very surprised to hear so many platitudes (so far) on Mike Jacobs, most of what I read about him didnt put him the same light that Louis has. Also, the more I read about Chappie, the more I wish someone would do a book on him, he was a big personality and had some life story.

Just finished Raging Bull the Jake La Motta story. I wholeheartedly recommend it, it's a fantastic story and much better than the film.

Just started Jacobs Beach by Kevin Mitchell...I'm finding the first couple of chapters a bit tough going but I'm hoping it gets more interesting as it goes along.

Just this morning finished Jack Cavanaugh's 'Tunney' - really really enjoyed it, plenty about Tunney obv', but also Dempsey, Kearns, Rickard et al and the era in general.

milpool wrote:Just started Jacobs Beach by Kevin Mitchell...I'm finding the first couple of chapters a bit tough going but I'm hoping it gets more interesting as it goes along.

I loved that book, found it gripping from start to finish, I hope you get into it.

Srebmun wrote:

milpool wrote:Just started Jacobs Beach by Kevin Mitchell...I'm finding the first couple of chapters a bit tough going but I'm hoping it gets more interesting as it goes along.

I loved that book, found it gripping from start to finish, I hope you get into it.

I gave up after a few of chapters, thought it was a bit contrived i.e. 'wise guy' this and 'wise guy' that. I didnt think it added much to what we already knew in other books, for example, Schulberg's chapter on Jacobs in his Ringside book, was exceptional first hand insight. I did flick through to the chapter on Schulberg (in Jacobs Beach) and it was just really a descriptive summary of meeting Schulberg and talking a bit of boxing, not really an indepth examination of the subject matter with someone who might have been able to provide something new. Milpool let me know what you think of the whole book, I might revisit the rest of it, if you report back with good reviews such as Srebmun.

Has anyone read Al Bernstein's book, I'd be interested to know what the whole book is like? I read a free chapter on Amazon and was put off with the style of the book, he is lacing it with unfunny jokes, and reading some of the reviews, it seems it was a deliberate theme throughout the book i.e. try to be a comedian. He gave an opening anecdote about having to fill an extra five or ten minutes live (big deal, this is a regular, standard thing in TV) because of a delays as the ring had to be secured or something and he dramatised this event as if it was him telling an exclusive inside story about the Rumble in the Jungle.

gasman wrote:

Srebmun wrote:

milpool wrote:Just started Jacobs Beach by Kevin Mitchell...I'm finding the first couple of chapters a bit tough going but I'm hoping it gets more interesting as it goes along.

I loved that book, found it gripping from start to finish, I hope you get into it.

I gave up after a few of chapters, thought it was a bit contrived i.e. 'wise guy' this and 'wise guy' that. I didnt think it added much to what we already knew in other books, for example, Schulberg's chapter on Jacobs in his Ringside book, was exceptional first hand insight. I did flick through to the chapter on Schulberg (in Jacobs Beach) and it was just really a descriptive summary of meeting Schulberg and talking a bit of boxing, not really an indepth examination of the subject matter with someone who might have been able to provide something new. Milpool let me know what you think of the whole book, I might revisit the rest of it, if you report back with good reviews such as Srebmun.

Will do

Anyone read Ghosts of Manila by Mark Kram? I can pick it up new on Amazon for €4.

gasman wrote:Has anyone read Al Bernstein's book, I'd be interested to know what the whole book is like? I read a free chapter on Amazon and was put off with the style of the book, he is lacing it with unfunny jokes, and reading some of the reviews, it seems it was a deliberate theme throughout the book i.e. try to be a comedian. He gave an opening anecdote about having to fill an extra five or ten minutes live (big deal, this is a regular, standard thing in TV) because of a delays as the ring had to be secured or something and he dramatised this event as if it was him telling an exclusive inside story about the Rumble in the Jungle.

I love Bernstein but enjoyed the book. I could see how his almost sub par Vegas routine might come off as a bit quirky but once you read the whole book you get a sense of his personality. He also has enough talk about boxing to keep it interesting for the anoraks.

I enjoyed the Mitchell book too, it's definitely one of the better boxing books I've read in the past few years.

gasman wrote:

Srebmun wrote:

milpool wrote:Just started Jacobs Beach by Kevin Mitchell...I'm finding the first couple of chapters a bit tough going but I'm hoping it gets more interesting as it goes along.

I loved that book, found it gripping from start to finish, I hope you get into it.

I gave up after a few of chapters, thought it was a bit contrived i.e. 'wise guy' this and 'wise guy' that. I didnt think it added much to what we already knew in other books, for example, Schulberg's chapter on Jacobs in his Ringside book, was exceptional first hand insight. I did flick through to the chapter on Schulberg (in Jacobs Beach) and it was just really a descriptive summary of meeting Schulberg and talking a bit of boxing, not really an indepth examination of the subject matter with someone who might have been able to provide something new. Milpool let me know what you think of the whole book, I might revisit the rest of it, if you report back with good reviews such as Srebmun.

I might read it again to be sure I enjoyed it as much as I did <eek>

orbtastic wrote:

gasman wrote:Has anyone read Al Bernstein's book, I'd be interested to know what the whole book is like? I read a free chapter on Amazon and was put off with the style of the book, he is lacing it with unfunny jokes, and reading some of the reviews, it seems it was a deliberate theme throughout the book i.e. try to be a comedian. He gave an opening anecdote about having to fill an extra five or ten minutes live (big deal, this is a regular, standard thing in TV) because of a delays as the ring had to be secured or something and he dramatised this event as if it was him telling an exclusive inside story about the Rumble in the Jungle.

I love Bernstein but enjoyed the book. I could see how his almost sub par Vegas routine might come off as a bit quirky but once you read the whole book you get a sense of his personality. He also has enough talk about boxing to keep it interesting for the anoraks.

I enjoyed the Mitchell book too, it's definitely one of the better boxing books I've read in the past few years.

Bernstein is top notch as a pundit, I have always respected him, but feared the book would be a total let down. Thanks for the feedback on it.

Srebmun wrote: I might read it again to be sure I enjoyed it as much as I did <eek>

I don't mean to come across as I am not respecting your feedback on the book, I suppose if there are others who chime in with a good review I will go back to it sooner rather than later, as I have about 20 or 30 unread boxing books still to go through.

gasman wrote:

Srebmun wrote: I might read it again to be sure I enjoyed it as much as I did <eek>

I don't mean to come across as I am not respecting your feedback on the book, I suppose if there are others who chime in with a good review I will go back to it sooner rather than later, as I have about 20 or 30 unread boxing books still to go through.

I didn't see it in any untoward way at all man, I've read so many books in the last 2 years I want to make sure I'm not mixing it up with some other.

Srebmun wrote:

gasman wrote:

Srebmun wrote: I might read it again to be sure I enjoyed it as much as I did <eek>

I don't mean to come across as I am not respecting your feedback on the book, I suppose if there are others who chime in with a good review I will go back to it sooner rather than later, as I have about 20 or 30 unread boxing books still to go through.

I didn't see it in any untoward way at all man, I've read so many books in the last 2 years I want to make sure I'm not mixing it up with some other.

Cheers mate, I enjoy all the feedback on this thread - boxing books is probably my favourite subject on this forum

The Arguello book is worth a read, written by the guy who did the Duran one. Christian Guidice (sp).

I have the Mancini one queue up but just haven't got round to it yet.

Whats the best book on the history of boxing ?

The IBHOF registers are pretty good.

Harry Mullen did an "encyclopaedia" of Boxing which is fairly good. I think Bob Mee had some input on the records side, he also did his own book on the heavyweights which is a decent read. Bob's also done another weighty tome called simply "Boxing" which is also decent.

My two personal favourites are:

A huge book called Knockout: The Art of Boxing, which is mainly pictures.
A Ring Magazine book from the 90s called Chronicle of Boxing, which is fantastic.

You could probably find all of them for less than a quid on Amazon or Ebay.

Cheers I'll take a look

batch wrote:Whats the best book on the history of boxing ?

There are a number of good books on boxing history - from history in general to more specific topics, like eras, countries, etc.

Sticking to the general, I'd go for "Bare Fists" by Bob Mee for boxing's roots and bare-knuckle period.
An excellent read.

For history of the gloved era, I would go for "100 Years of Boxing", by Bert Sugar, and "An Illustrated History of Boxing", by Nat Fleicher and Sam Andre.
Both a must read for anyone wanting to learn more about history.

Remember that Boxing is one of the the most well documented sports as far as books go, several thousand titles have been released.
If there is any specific topic or period that especially interests you, chances are that there has been a book written (or at least research done) about it.

Echo that.