BoxRec

Recently read the "The Indiana Wasp", a bio on Jimmy Clabby.
Great story about a highly underrated fighter whom probably should have been inducted into the IBHOF years ago.

In his prime (1910s) Clabby was quite possibly the best middleweight in the world.
He had it all, made fortune, lost everything and died a penniless drunk during the American depression.
Here in lies a facinating story, but the book that makes an attempt to tell it falls way short of the mark imo.

Firstly, the author relies very heavily on Boxrec.com as a source, despite the fact that records for old time boxers in many cases are incomplete and contain errors.

I also noticed a few factual errors about boxing in general along the way too (can't remember exactly what they were while I write this, but there were a couple).
But the worst thing about the book was the numerous spelling errors it contained throughout, which made the whole thing look like a rush job.
The author even has Joe Louis' name spelled Joe Lewis!
If the book ever made it to the desk of an editor, he/she did a lously job of it.

But, as mentioned, the actual story about Clabby is worth knowing about.
In the hands of a good author/researcher and editor, this book could have been a fantastic, hard to put down read.
What we got was very average.

gasman wrote: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.

Gasman - Chappie gets an extensive biographical chapter in Corner Men, an absolute classic of boxing literature:

http://www.amazon.com/Corner-Men-Great- ... corner+men

It includes plenty of material direct from Chappie, including his very personal war with Jack Johnson, who despised him.

gasman wrote:

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.

I read it enjoyed the parts about Don Dunphy and also ray boom boom Mancini

loaded_gloves wrote:

gasman wrote: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.

Gasman - Chappie gets an extensive biographical chapter in Corner Men, an absolute classic of boxing literature:

http://www.amazon.com/Corner-Men-Great- ... corner+men

It includes plenty of material direct from Chappie, including his very personal war with Jack Johnson, who despised him.

There's also a chapter on Blackburn in "The Sundowners - The History of the Black Prizefighter 1870-1930 Volume 2, Part 1".
This telephonebook-sized brick - basically a record book with detailed profiles on each notable colored boxer of the aforementioned time period - was written by Kevin R. Smith and published in 2006.

Volume 1 of this series , "Black Genesis - The History of the Black Prizefighter 1760-1870" is more like a proper book, detalling the early history of black boxers.
A very solid read, which I especially recommend for those particularly interested in bare-knuckle history.

batch wrote:Cheers I'll take a look

I would reccomend 'a pictorial history of boxing' which gives a great overview of the history of every weight divison and highlights the lives of many of the greats at every weight. Great place to start looking at boxings deep history and find out whom you would like to read up more about. It is also full of photos, many very rare of the old timers. This was one of the first books I got on boxing and 30 years later it is still one of my favourites.

Finished reading "The Private Lives of Famous Fighters", by Arthur Helliwell last night.
This is an old book (1949) which contains short chapters about what the title suggests on some of the old heroes of British boxing.
Some of the boxers covered were Bruce Woodcock, Jack Bloomfield, Len Harvey, Benny Lynch, George Cook, Tommy Farr, Jack Petersen, Jack Doyle, Larry Gains and Jack "Kid" Berg.

Not much depth to it, it's more how the author remembers the fighters outside the ring.
Helliwell keeps it all very short, but some of the chapters did enough to make we want to learn more about them - which was what I was hoping.
It's refreshing to read a "profile book" without finding the same fighters over and over again.


I'm considering picking up the bio on Brian Mitchell next.
Anyone read that one?

I might have a dabble on that meself.

-KOKid- wrote:

loaded_gloves wrote:

gasman wrote: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.

Gasman - Chappie gets an extensive biographical chapter in Corner Men, an absolute classic of boxing literature:

http://www.amazon.com/Corner-Men-Great- ... corner+men

It includes plenty of material direct from Chappie, including his very personal war with Jack Johnson, who despised him.

There's also a chapter on Blackburn in "The Sundowners - The History of the Black Prizefighter 1870-1930 Volume 2, Part 1".
This telephonebook-sized brick - basically a record book with detailed profiles on each notable colored boxer of the aforementioned time period - was written by Kevin R. Smith and published in 2006.

Volume 1 of this series , "Black Genesis - The History of the Black Prizefighter 1760-1870" is more like a proper book, detalling the early history of black boxers.
A very solid read, which I especially recommend for those particularly interested in bare-knuckle history.

Sorry I missed this post. Yeah, I have read Corner men, really enjoyed that book and also read the other book on boxing trainers that Dave Anderson wrote.

Those other two books that you mention sound very interesting, I will seek them out. Thanks.

I read it enjoyed the parts about Don Dunphy and also ray boom boom Mancini[/quote]
I'll give Bernstein's book a go, I really rate him as a pundit and glad to hear positive vibes about his book.

Has anyone got/read the Mancini book? I had a cursory flick through it when it arrived but haven't got round to reading it yet.

Just bumping this thread for two reasons:

- I'm reading the James "Quick" Tillis autobiog and am enjoying it. Amazon seem to be putting on at a heavily discounted price periodically - my copy, bought a couple of weeks ago, was under £3 although it is now back up to full price. Thought I'd mention it if anyone is checking.

- also, there seems to be a biog of Wilfredo Gomez out in May by Christian Giudice, the same guy who did the Roberto Duran biog. As I enjoyed the Duran book a lot, I'll be buying the Gomez one.

Now we just need a biography of Jorge Paez (in English)...

olij999 wrote:Just bumping this thread for two reasons:

- I'm reading the James "Quick" Tillis autobiog and am enjoying it. Amazon seem to be putting on at a heavily discounted price periodically - my copy, bought a couple of weeks ago, was under £3 although it is now back up to full price. Thought I'd mention it if anyone is checking.

- also, there seems to be a biog of Wilfredo Gomez out in May by Christian Giudice, the same guy who did the Roberto Duran biog. As I enjoyed the Duran book a lot, I'll be buying the Gomez one.

Now we just need a biography of Jorge Paez (in English)...

Always liked Tillis - is it well written?

I recommend 'Years of the Locust' by John Hotten, great book.

Avoid like the plague, 'The Greatest Fights That Never Were' by Matthew Bazell, utter utter dogshite.

reggaereggae wrote:

olij999 wrote:Just bumping this thread for two reasons:

- I'm reading the James "Quick" Tillis autobiog and am enjoying it. Amazon seem to be putting on at a heavily discounted price periodically - my copy, bought a couple of weeks ago, was under £3 although it is now back up to full price. Thought I'd mention it if anyone is checking.

- also, there seems to be a biog of Wilfredo Gomez out in May by Christian Giudice, the same guy who did the Roberto Duran biog. As I enjoyed the Duran book a lot, I'll be buying the Gomez one.

Now we just need a biography of Jorge Paez (in English)...

Always liked Tillis - is it well written?

I would say so. There are small irritations such as gerunds without a "g" or an apostrophe (e.g. thinkin rather than thinking or thinkin'), but that's outweighed by a strong first-person voice (slightly folksy but entertaining) and a lot of likeability. I'm only 30-odd pages in, mind you, and haven't hit any boxing yet, but that's immaterial (although the book is only about 170 pages, so he needs to get onto that at some point soon…). Only other thing is that the pages in my copy are printed slightly on the wonk, and the cover has the kind of lamination that is more typical of a school textbook, but I can put up with that given that the prose is decent quality. Well worth a look, in my view.

orbtastic wrote:Has anyone got/read the Mancini book? I had a cursory flick through it when it arrived but haven't got round to reading it yet.

The Mancini book is a great read, combines the story of his dad's boxing career, his brother's and Ray's. Very well written also.

Oli, surely the title tipped you off!

I ended up moving all my books around the house onto shelves so found a load of boxing books I'd not read so will pick up the Mancini one and start it properly.

orbtastic wrote:Oli, surely the title tipped you off!

It did! But at the price, I thought I'd put up with it.

olij999 wrote:

reggaereggae wrote:

olij999 wrote:Just bumping this thread for two reasons:

- I'm reading the James "Quick" Tillis autobiog and am enjoying it. Amazon seem to be putting on at a heavily discounted price periodically - my copy, bought a couple of weeks ago, was under £3 although it is now back up to full price. Thought I'd mention it if anyone is checking.

- also, there seems to be a biog of Wilfredo Gomez out in May by Christian Giudice, the same guy who did the Roberto Duran biog. As I enjoyed the Duran book a lot, I'll be buying the Gomez one.

Now we just need a biography of Jorge Paez (in English)...

Always liked Tillis - is it well written?

I would say so. There are small irritations such as gerunds without a "g" or an apostrophe (e.g. thinkin rather than thinking or thinkin'), but that's outweighed by a strong first-person voice (slightly folksy but entertaining) and a lot of likeability. I'm only 30-odd pages in, mind you, and haven't hit any boxing yet, but that's immaterial (although the book is only about 170 pages, so he needs to get onto that at some point soon…). Only other thing is that the pages in my copy are printed slightly on the wonk, and the cover has the kind of lamination that is more typical of a school textbook, but I can put up with that given that the prose is decent quality. Well worth a look, in my view.

Thanks mate! Can you give me an update when you have read more? I wonder if it reveals anything seriously interesting... Cheers!

reggaereggae wrote:

olij999 wrote:

reggaereggae wrote:
Always liked Tillis - is it well written?

I would say so. There are small irritations such as gerunds without a "g" or an apostrophe (e.g. thinkin rather than thinking or thinkin'), but that's outweighed by a strong first-person voice (slightly folksy but entertaining) and a lot of likeability. I'm only 30-odd pages in, mind you, and haven't hit any boxing yet, but that's immaterial (although the book is only about 170 pages, so he needs to get onto that at some point soon…). Only other thing is that the pages in my copy are printed slightly on the wonk, and the cover has the kind of lamination that is more typical of a school textbook, but I can put up with that given that the prose is decent quality. Well worth a look, in my view.

Thanks mate! Can you give me an update when you have read more? I wonder if it reveals anything seriously interesting... Cheers!

Have now finished the Tillis biography. Really enjoyed it. Apart from the points above, it is well written, flows nicely and Tillis has a really engaging voice. Loads on what his life was about and why he didn't make as much of his career as he should have done. Downsides are it is quite short (170-odd pages), and I would have liked more about the fights themselves. But gems such as Tyson breaking wind during their fight, loads of allegations of being ripped off (where they are trying to tread a fine line re litigation given that he has given a long-time member of his team a false name) make it well worth while. I would simply have liked 350 pages of this, not 170 pages, though - the whole thing is very likeable. (PS - still back up at full price on internet booksellers at the moment, as far as I can see).

The new Spinks Bros book is superb

Chris W 1982 wrote:The new Spinks Bros book is superb

Thanks Chris. I have missed that one - do you have a link or title?

Just finished reading war and peace the Hatton story. Was not too bad. Actually a bit sad all the stuff with his family. Doesn't go in to too much detail but after seeing them all so close on the TV over the years then reading that it leaves you wondering. From what I read it all seems very bitter and irreparable (but then it always does with family)....

olij999 wrote:

Chris W 1982 wrote:The new Spinks Bros book is superb

Thanks Chris. I have missed that one - do you have a link or title?

Won't let me hyper link. One punch from the promised land.

It's not a bad read.

orbtastic wrote:

olij999 wrote:

Chris W 1982 wrote:The new Spinks Bros book is superb

Thanks Chris. I have missed that one - do you have a link or title?

Won't let me hyper link. One punch from the promised land.

It's not a bad read.

Thanks!

olij999 wrote:Just bumping this thread for two reasons:

- I'm reading the James "Quick" Tillis autobiog and am enjoying it. Amazon seem to be putting on at a heavily discounted price periodically - my copy, bought a couple of weeks ago, was under £3 although it is now back up to full price. Thought I'd mention it if anyone is checking.

- also, there seems to be a biog of Wilfredo Gomez out in May by Christian Giudice, the same guy who did the Roberto Duran biog. As I enjoyed the Duran book a lot, I'll be buying the Gomez one.

Now we just need a biography of Jorge Paez (in English)...

Thanks for the heads up on the Gomez biography, I've prw ordered it and am looking forward to reading.