BoxRec

Is there any good boxing books?

There has been a few threads lately on box & it might be easier to dig one of those out & have a route through.

In the Red Corner - try that.

DavidPayne wrote:In the Red Corner - try that.

is that the journey into Cuban boxing? I admit I haven't read it cover to cover but the chapter on Casamayor was very interesting. Heard about about Kid Chocolate recently in a different book, I've checked and there's a chapter in there on him too, as you'd expect.

Looking for a fight

Hands of Stone (Duran Bio)

Dark Trade by Donald McRae

Nigel Benn Bio (simple but enjoyable read)

Good few more as well but that'll do for now.

NorthEastBoxingFan wrote:

DavidPayne wrote:In the Red Corner - try that.

is that the journey into Cuban boxing? I admit I haven't read it cover to cover but the chapter on Casamayor was very interesting. Heard about about Kid Chocolate recently in a different book, I've checked and there's a chapter in there on him too, as you'd expect.

Yep, interwoven with author slightly dubiously qualified attempts to tempt Savon into fight with Tyson with allegedly expenses in his pocket.

Cracking merge of the two stories.

de la hoya's was alright,just got sugar ray leonards its pretty good upto now.

I thought De La Hoyas book was alright but for a lame excuse each time he lost a fight.

I liked Herol Grahams book.

Herol Grahams book was a great read.

Hatton has a new one out may read that.

4 Kings is a great read.

Though it'll make you shake an angry fist at todays boxing.

Eubanks is probably the best I've read. Michael Watson's is a great read also.

bigB wrote:Herol Grahams book was a great read.

Hatton has a new one out may read that.

Hattons new one is well worth a read. I thought it was cracking.

pyenest77 wrote:I thought De La Hoyas book was alright but for a lame excuse each time he lost a fight.

I liked Herol Grahams book.

he does make excuses for his loses but i liked the way he turned to sturm at the end of the fight and told him that sturm won that fight.

Bruno was a very good read, found it pretty good to be honest.

Also like Calzaghe, that too was a decent read.

Read Teddy Atlas' book this summer. It's a great read.

Kosta Tsyzu's is pretty good too.

My top ten, in no particular order:


Years of the Locust by Jon Hotten

Four Kings by George Kimball

Dark Trade by Donald McRae

The Big If by Rick Broadbent

The Black Lights by Thomas Hauser

In This Corner by Peter Heller

Bad Intentions by Peter Heller

War, Baby by Kevin Mitchell

Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring by Teddy Atlas

Tales From The Vault by Lee Groves

I purchased Four Kings yesterday in an Oxfam shop - £3.99....that's a quid per King

The Insider wrote:Eubanks is probably the best I've read. Michael Watson's is a great read also.

brilliant aren't they? As someone suggested regarding De La Hoya's book, there was an excuse for Watson's fight against McCallum, something to do with timing. It kind of makes Watson seem like a supreme boxer who only lost fights with great misfortune - however, he is now one of - if not my favourite fighter, and I never saw the man box live.

NorthEastBoxingFan wrote:

The Insider wrote:Eubanks is probably the best I've read. Michael Watson's is a great read also.

brilliant aren't they? As someone suggested regarding De La Hoya's book, there was an excuse for Watson's fight against McCallum, something to do with timing. .

like getting a nose injury in sparring, the initial McCallum date being postponed, and being out of the ring 11 months before facing one of the most skilled practitioners of the modern era, for example?

Hands Of Stone & Dempsey by Jack Dempsey are the 2 best i've read in the last 30 years

Thomas Hauser's Ali book is terrific
Nigel Benn's autobiography is worth a read

Elliot Worsell's recent David Haye book is very good as well, it gives a real insight into what Haye is like and what went on behind the scenes in the lead up to his heavyweight bouts.

For anyone into that kind of thing Goerge Foreman's 'God In My Corner - A Spiritual Memoir' is a good read. I sent him some feedback on it via his website and I got a personal reply within a few hours too.

I've just bought 'The Hurt Business' a compilation of writing edited by George Kimball that I'm looking forward to getting started.

One recommendation, one disagreement, as follows:

(1) The good. I bought a copy of Looking for a Fight on the back of people's recommendations on here, and can now heartily recommend it myself. Much more insightful about what boxing is really like than any boxer's book I've read.

(2) The not so good. Can't agree with the poster in the quote below about the David Haye book. My impression was that Worsell wasn't very close to Haye at all; and little is revealed.

Anyway, get Looking for a Fight if you haven't read it...Anyone know what has happened to David Matthews since he wrote it?

doctorboxing wrote:Thomas Hauser's Ali book is terrific
Nigel Benn's autobiography is worth a read

Elliot Worsell's recent David Haye book is very good as well, it gives a real insight into what Haye is like and what went on behind the scenes in the lead up to his heavyweight bouts.

Muhammad Ali life and times thomas hauser, magnificent book.

Muhammad Ali the soul of a butterfly

"heart of a lion" by audley harrison