BoxRec

just finished the jerry quarry book,thought it was exellent,read the johnny tapia book recently as well,unbelievable,what a life he had,any ideas for my next one?

I enjoyed Punch Lines by Phil Berger, and Boxing Babylon by Nigel Collins was full of bizarre hard luck tales of fighters. I'm sure other people have read many more boxing books than me, but I enjoyed these two.

semtexreilly wrote:just finished the jerry quarry book,thought it was exellent,read the johnny tapia book recently as well,unbelievable,what a life he had,any ideas for my next one?

Jerry quarry hard luck was great
Read hundreds dark trade stands out too

Fighters by trade and Irish thunder were both very good reads.

I liked Earnie Shaver's autobiography WELCOME TO THE BIG TIME.
You can tell he wrote that for the fight fan in mind,unlike
a lot of other boxers who seem to write to a broad audience,
and dont go into any detail about their most memorable bouts.
Joe Louis's first autobiography published in 1948
MY LIFE STORY was geared more toward the fight fan,
but his 1978 autobiography MY LIFE was good too.

Boxing Babylon by Nigel Collins and THE INNER RING THE SET UP OF MIKE TYSON AND THE UNCROWNING OF DON KING BY RUDY GONZALEZ

facing tyson
dark trade
henry coopers biography

the tyson one was a great idea and very revealing

John L. Sullivan and His America- Michael T. Isenberg*

Rocky Marciano- Everett Skeehan

Jack Dempsey and The Roaring 20's

Facing Ali

And there are countless fictional boxing books I like too...

4 kings (hagler,leonard,hearns,duran),was also a good book ive read recently,and teddy atlas book,worst ive read got to be nigel benns,load of shite!!!

yeah benns book was expensive toilet paper for me. just a self serving book about what a ladies man he was.

of course "the sweet science" has to be mentioned - it may not be the best book on boxing ever (although i think it is also that) simply because it is so much more. its about new york, the world of the gym, the newsmen, the trainers, the fighters, the fans, the taxi drivers..and its funny and its effortless and its written by one of americas greatest prose stylists writing about the people and the sport he loves.

thats the one i'm taking to the desert island

also get a copy of WC HEINZ's "what a time it was" the boxing essays are extraordinary there's amazing interviews with ray robinson, a mind blower with floyd patterson, profiles on al "bummy" davis and lew jenkins that leave you shaking your head and knowing why this is the greatest sport of all

if you wanna good read get this one as well reccomended "jersey boy,the life and mob slaying of frankie depaula" fantastic book he was rum lad him as he fought dick tiger and bob foster and was a enforcer for the mob in new jersey and was later shot dead at the age of 32...get it boys,its the bollox

BLACK AJAX / George McDonald Fraser
ROCKY MARCIANO / Everett Skehan
SUGAR RAY/ Ray Robinson & Dave Anderson
ON THE ROPES /Geoffrey Beattie
IN THIS CORNER / Peter Heller
MIKE TYSON: MONEY,MYTH,BETRAYAL /Montieth Illingworth
SCORCERY AT CEASARS - LEONARD v HAGLER /Dave Morantz

mugabi wrote:facing tyson
dark trade
henry coopers biography

the tyson one was a great idea and very revealing

The Tyson one was based on the Facing Ali book which was also filmed. The interviews with Brian London and Ron Lyle were particularly good.