People in boxing who should write books

[jamesmcdonnell]

Yep I think Bazza lost his shirt to ex manager Barney Eastwood for libel, pretty much cleaned him out poor sod.

Good call on Honeyghan, have to be called The Ragamuffin Man and maybe someone on here should write it? 5 or 6 years research should do the trick Plenty of wild tales of womanising and scoring one of the biggest upsets of All Time.

I read Minter's bio years back - just a paint it by numbers job and gives ZERO away. That's another one that needs to be written - the truth this time.

With all the hard men geezer type books coming out ( YAWN...) I'm surprised someone hasn't looked up Gypsy Johnny Frankham - was it him or his brother who tried to take off Richie Davis's head when he stopped his fight early? Then banned for life...

I know someone who is trying to get Minter to do his autobiography, but apparently Alan is very reluctant to do it. Not surprisingly, he's had a bit of a sketchy past, and some of it ain't going to make for pleasant reading. It's a brave man who is prepared to let someone print the ugly truth. I can understand if Minter preferred not to do so, especially as he does quite well for himself on the after dinner circuit these days apparently, could cost him quite a bit of work if a warts and all book came out.

[The Blade]

Pat Putnam

Tricky one I think. He's dead

[Andy Mac]

Just finished reading this book also. Duran reminds me a little from reading it of Diego Maradonna. A latin idol who went from hero to zero and back again. A complex man who found his salvation in sport, a hero to some and a villain to others, but essentially, someone who loved their craft.

I never realised before reading that book, just what a huge figure Duran was in panama. Hell, I barely even thought of him as panamanian, I thought of him as an american with a panamanian past. The impact that his quitting against Leonard was to have on his life, I never really considered before, but the book makes it clear that he was despised by many panamanians as a result.

Great book, and a surprisingly easy read. Thought it might be hard work as some biographies are simply too dense.

As you say, that was probably the only fight Leonard had where he was practically shitting himself.

It's a shame they never had a rubber match when both men were still near their primes. I suspect Leonard wanted no part of a rematch, as he knew that Duran would come in very focussed for a third fight anywhere near his prime.

That Duran made as much of his career as he did, considering his appalling treatment of his body between fights, is nothing short of miraculous, we criticise Hatton, but Duran regularly blew up to well over 200 lbs even when still a lightweight! That's a hell of a lot of weight to lose before even getting in shape.

Duran was already one of my favourite fighters of all time, but after reading that book, he's gone up in my estmation even more.

I am surprised Jim, by your post. I had you down as something of an Encyclopedia on here, I thought you would have known all about the great Roberto and his status in Panama. When he won titles, it was almost a bank holiday there.
Tell me, what did you think of the 2 points in the book.
1. Roberto had a fear of Tommy Hearns, that was more than a physical fear. Like Tommy was a bogeyman.
2. Even more amazing. He would go into a crouch, and do his whole skipping routine in that position, like a Cossack dancer.
F***in phenominal, my all time favourite, arguably 2nd or 3rd to SRR.

I guess I never really thought about Roberto as anything other than an American Icon, bizzare I know, but at the time he was fighting, I was only a casual boxing fan, and since then, haven't spent much time writing or thinking about Duran except in terms of his pedigree as a fighter.

Duran is one of my all time favourites, if he had looked after himself a little better, god knows how good he could have been, because he lost some fights that he probably could have won in his prime if he hadn't blown up so badly. I'm not convinced Leonard would have beaten a fit duran in the rematch, though it would have been bloody close either way. Leonard did well fighting Robert on his own terms in the first fight, but he got a really terribly ill conditioned Roberto in the rematch.

I find it hard to believe that Robert was scared of Tommy, I find it more believable that Roberto was just in poor shape for the fight, and wasn't happy about fighting in that condition.

Don't know what to make about the skipping thing, what's your point about that?

I meant when you consider that he could go into the crouch position, and do his whole routine like that, as opposed to a few skips, it proves how fit he could get when he applied himself.

As for the Tommy thing, I seem to recall from the book, that Roberto was kind of un-nerved by Tommy, in and out of the ring. It was something about the way he thought Tommy looked at people apparently. Probably to do with all the mixtures of voodoo, and superstitions his mother believed in, which must have been instilled in him.

[Andy Mac]

Yep I think Bazza lost his shirt to ex manager Barney Eastwood for libel, pretty much cleaned him out poor sod.

Good call on Honeyghan, have to be called The Ragamuffin Man and maybe someone on here should write it? 5 or 6 years research should do the trick Plenty of wild tales of womanising and scoring one of the biggest upsets of All Time.

I read Minter's bio years back - just a paint it by numbers job and gives ZERO away. That's another one that needs to be written - the truth this time.

With all the hard men geezer type books coming out ( YAWN...) I'm surprised someone hasn't looked up Gypsy Johnny Frankham - was it him or his brother who tried to take off Richie Davis's head when he stopped his fight early? Then banned for life...

I think that was Bobby, not John.

[larry cake]

i would love to hear what jason booth and scott harrison have to say about their careers in a few years time. ( obviously depending on if their capable of telling the story)

[MightyWarrior]

As for the Tommy thing, I seem to recall from the book, that Roberto was kind of un-nerved by Tommy, in and out of the ring. It was something about the way he thought Tommy looked at people apparently. Probably to do with all the mixtures of voodoo, and superstitions his mother believed in, which must have been instilled in him.

Yeah I think it might be true Duran found himself a bit neutralised in his ability to intimidate the other guy, when he met Hearns.
I mean, NOBODY intimidated Tommy Hearns - not Cuevas, Leonard, Hagler or Duran.
Tommy would have probably been looking to flatten Mike Tyson himself inside a round if they'd met.

You could even say both Leonard and Hagler were slightly in awe of Duran, but not Hearns.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I am surprised Jim, by your post. I had you down as something of an Encyclopedia on here, I thought you would have known all about the great Roberto and his status in Panama. When he won titles, it was almost a bank holiday there.
Tell me, what did you think of the 2 points in the book.
1. Roberto had a fear of Tommy Hearns, that was more than a physical fear. Like Tommy was a bogeyman.
2. Even more amazing. He would go into a crouch, and do his whole skipping routine in that position, like a Cossack dancer.
F***in phenominal, my all time favourite, arguably 2nd or 3rd to SRR.

I guess I never really thought about Roberto as anything other than an American Icon, bizzare I know, but at the time he was fighting, I was only a casual boxing fan, and since then, haven't spent much time writing or thinking about Duran except in terms of his pedigree as a fighter.

Duran is one of my all time favourites, if he had looked after himself a little better, god knows how good he could have been, because he lost some fights that he probably could have won in his prime if he hadn't blown up so badly. I'm not convinced Leonard would have beaten a fit duran in the rematch, though it would have been bloody close either way. Leonard did well fighting Robert on his own terms in the first fight, but he got a really terribly ill conditioned Roberto in the rematch.

I find it hard to believe that Robert was scared of Tommy, I find it more believable that Roberto was just in poor shape for the fight, and wasn't happy about fighting in that condition.

Don't know what to make about the skipping thing, what's your point about that?

I meant when you consider that he could go into the crouch position, and do his whole routine like that, as opposed to a few skips, it proves how fit he could get when he applied himself.

As for the Tommy thing, I seem to recall from the book, that Roberto was kind of un-nerved by Tommy, in and out of the ring. It was something about the way he thought Tommy looked at people apparently. Probably to do with all the mixtures of voodoo, and superstitions his mother believed in, which must have been instilled in him.

Yes, it's possible I guess. Tommy was a pretty intimidating looking cat and with that enormous height advantage. Duran was very superstitious too.

Yes, there's that picture of Duran in the book with the lion, and the thing I noticed was how humungous his legs were, he had a heavyweights legs, which probably explains his tremendous hitting power. Had duran managed to keep a lid on his conditioning, and stayed at 140-147 in good shape, he could have achieved even more than he did. As it is, he is still I think a top 10 fighter all time, and if not, easily top 15.