The Boxing Book thread - Recommendations

[Wheelchair]

I think a mass forum visit is in order Dallen......

[davemurphy]

Dave they are spread around the room in cuboards and bookcases,when i learn how to put photos on the site i will put a few items which i think fellow boxing fans would be of intrest in.With Buds threats of doing a ram raid on my house to steal my collection Dave,i have to be careful about photos as not to give away the security systems i have installed.

 

LOL, DA. Hire a Menacing Looking Guy in a Security Guard Uniform to pose in the picture with the Books and I can assure you NONE of us Gutless Cowards on the Forum will think of touching anything grin//

[davemurphy]

I think a mass forum visit is in order Dallen......

 

Yes, I agree. The only way to test those Security Systems is with a Breach, you'd be doing Dallen a favor by making sure they work correctly, right? grin//

[telboy66]

Just finnished Bud Schulberg's brilliant "Ringside"Bud Schulberg rightly earns the accolade of the Don of boxing writers,With his vast knowledge of the fight game going back to the early 1920s up to & including 2008 he saw them all.

He was with them when they won & when they lost,He had an uncanny ability to weave interest into every report.

His skill remains as a brilliant legacy, This certainly a book I would recommend to any true boxing fan

[The_budweiser]

Book Review: "Pacman," By Gary Andrew Poole

 

http://queensberry-rules.com/images/stories/pacman.jpg

 

Too often, books about boxing diminish themselves because the caliber of the prose and storytelling can't rival the drama in the ring or the brilliantly-colored feathers of the sport's quirky characters. The stories tell themselves sometimes, but the reader is left wanting a more skillful guide. In Gary Andrew Poole's excellent biography, "Pacman: Behind the Scenes with Manny Pacquiao, the Greatest Pound-For-Pound Fighter in the World," the author vanquishes that bugbear. It's a wonderful read, marked by genuine insights into a man every fight fan already knows well, a telling eye for detail about the people and places that surround Pacquiao and a narrative structure that makes explicit how the past and present for the boxer are intimately linked.

 

If the name sounds familiar, it is because Poole has the chops for the task. You might have read some of his recent pieces on boxing for The Atlantic, and he's contributed to The New York Times, GQ and Time. The book -- provided to this site by a request to the author -- is to be released Nov. 2, two weeks before Pacquiao ventures forth for his latest conquest against Antonio Margarito in his latest division, junior middleweight, and beats Pacquiao's own autobiography to the shelves by another week besides. Poole's tale has few shortcomings, but one of them is the same as Pacquiao's autobiography: For all Pacquiao has accomplished to emerge as one of the greatest fighters ever and the greatest of his era, for as jaw-dropping as his early life and rise to fame and even political office have been, there is a giant blinking red question mark about whether the boxer's destiny is yet unfulfilled by an unlikely but enormously historic bout with Floyd Mayweather. That is, this might be a biography produced too soon, and thus is necessarily incomplete.

[davemurphy]

Wow, thanks for the Review, Bud. You know, this would be one where if I saw it in the Bookstore, then I might just look at the cover and assume it was some Fluff that someone penned just to take advantage of the Pacquiao phemonen. especially the way the title reads.

[Super Drogs]

My friend bought me this one for my birthday:

 

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/7361/babyfacem.jpg

 

It's a very good read about a young Irish fighter whose family emigrated to Canada in the early 1900's when he was still a child. He had a great manager/trainer, Pop Foster, who made him into a World Champion while always keeping the mob and other bad influences away from the kid.

[ironjab]

Chris Eubanks book is pretty good, the longest round about tysons opponents is really good too

[Wheelchair]

Yeah I've read The Longest Round, a good insight into the life of Tyson's opponents.

[ironjab]

facing fifteen wasnt as good, but still enjoyable though

[telboy66]

Just finished Lonsdale Belt by John Harding it's a good read from the 1st winner Fredie Welsh up to Lenox Lewis not just a reference book it also gives an insight into the infighting between the BBBof C & promoters down the years 1st published in 1994 may not be to easy to get hold of now I got mine from the recent memorabilia fair

[davemurphy]

I recently read Sweet William by Andrew O'Toole, which was an excellent book. Really captured the spirit of a guy who was often too headstrong for his own good, both in his boxing, and especially his family life that including the scuffles with his younger Brother and his Father, and especially the friction between him and his prospective Father in Law, who absolutely did NOT want his Daughter marrying a Fighter, and most of all the relationship with his Manager, who basically thought of him like a Son. A Pittsburgh dead end kid that made good, but never liked to play by anyone else's rules. I highly reccommend it!!!

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg26/dmurphy618/SweetWilliam.jpg

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Dave have you read Lee Groves' book yet?

[telboy66]

Just finished "fight the power" Colin McMillan's Autobiography it's an easy read of his career & fight against the system

[Wheelchair]

Just finished "fight the power" Colin McMillan's Autobiography it's an easy read of his career & fight against the system

 

Is there any mention of the highlight of his career? Having the pleasure of meeting me at ringside after he'd just won the British title?!? mlol/

[telboy66]

Just finished "fight the power" Colin McMillan's Autobiography it's an easy read of his career & fight against the system

 

Is there any mention of the highlight of his career? Having the pleasure of meeting me at ringside after he'd just won the British title?!? mlol/

Yes he said some wanker ran over his foot as he was leaving the ring mlol/ mlol/

[davemurphy]

Dave have you read Lee Groves' book yet?

 

Razz-

Dave Wilcox loaned it to me, but I've been reading other things and then just picking out chapters (they're all real short) from Lee's Book. It's kind of hard to read in that it is not a continous story, it's more like when I read books from Sportswriters like Jim Murray, Jimmy Cannon, etc. where it's a collection of their past daily Columns. When it comes to reading, I'm much more suited toward a continous story that runs 300 pages on just one person.

[davemurphy]

Just finished "fight the power" Colin McMillan's Autobiography it's an easy read of his career & fight against the system

 

Is there any mention of the highlight of his career? Having the pleasure of meeting me at ringside after he'd just won the British title?!? mlol/

 

Wheels-

I beleive I heard him mention that he held off and was going to devote a 2nd book entirely to that grin//

[Wheelchair]

mlol/

[RAZZ-MCFC]

Dave have you read Lee Groves' book yet?

 

Razz-

Dave Wilcox loaned it to me, but I've been reading other things and then just picking out chapters (they're all real short) from Lee's Book. It's kind of hard to read in that it is not a continous story, it's more like when I read books from Sportswriters like Jim Murray, Jimmy Cannon, etc. where it's a collection of their past daily Columns. When it comes to reading, I'm much more suited toward a continous story that runs 300 pages on just one person.

 

yeah same as me really

[davemurphy]

Dave have you read Lee Groves' book yet?

 

Razz-

Dave Wilcox loaned it to me, but I've been reading other things and then just picking out chapters (they're all real short) from Lee's Book. It's kind of hard to read in that it is not a continous story, it's more like when I read books from Sportswriters like Jim Murray, Jimmy Cannon, etc. where it's a collection of their past daily Columns. When it comes to reading, I'm much more suited toward a continous story that runs 300 pages on just one person.

 

yeah same as me really

 

Yeah, it's a good book and you have to admire the time and effort it took Lee to put it together, but the fights are kind of loosely tied together and you have to start fresh every 6 or 7 pages. It's like being on a Train that makes too many stops.

[grapevine241]

Thomas Hauser's 'Holiday Reading: 2010'

Posted Nov. 24, 2010 at 12:31pm

by Thomas Hauser

 

 

 

Each year during the holiday season, I publish a “Top 40” list of what I consider to be the best books on boxing. That list, updated to accommodate recently published titles, follows. Some of these books are now out of print. But with the proliferation of online services like Abebooks.com and Amazon.com, all of them can be found.

 

 

Beyond Glory by David Margolick (Alfred A. Knopf)

 

This book focuses on the two fights between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. In the process, it recreates the racial climate of the 1930s, puts the fighters in historical perspective and conveys the incredible importance of their ring encounters. Margolick shows in dramatic fashion how Louis stirred passions and revived interest in boxing long before he beat James Braddock to become heavyweight champion. He captures the demeaning racial stereotyping of The Brown Bomber by the establishment press (including those who were seeking to be kind). And he documents in painstaking fashion, contrary to future revisionism, the degree to which Schmeling took part in various Nazi propaganda activities and supported Hitler after defeating Louis in 1936.

 

 

John L. Sullivan and His America by Michael Isenberg (University of Illinois Press)

 

Isenberg mined the mother lode of Sullivan material and crafted a work that’s superb in explaining the fighter as a social phenomenon and placing him in the context of his times.

 

 

Sound and Fury by Dave Kindred (Free Press)

 

The lives of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell intertwined. Kindred explores the ugly underside of Ali's early adherence to Nation of Islam doctrine and provides an intimate look at The Greatest in his declining years. He also paints a revealing portrait of Howard Cosell, turning the broadcast commentator from caricature and bluster into flesh and blood.

 

 

America on the Ropes by Wayne Rozen (Casey Press)

 

This might be the best coffee-table photo book ever devoted to a single fight. Jack Johnson is still a vibrant figure in American history, but James Jeffries has been largely forgotten except as an appendage to Papa Jack. This book gives both men their due and, in so doing, restores Jeffries' life and lustre. The photographs are extraordinary and arranged perfectly with the text.

 

 

Heroes Without A Country by Donald McRae (Ecco Press)

 

This is a beautifully written book about Joe Louis and Jesse Owens, two icons who changed America. McRae makes old stories seem fresh and new, and his exhaustive research brings new material to light. He is also the author of Dark Trade, a look at the modern boxing scene.

 

 

The Sweet Science by A. J. Liebling (Penguin)

 

Eighteen articles from the 1950s and early '60s by the legendary dean of boxing writers. Liebling set the standard to which others aspire. A collection of his later articles has been published under the title A Neutral Corner.

 

 

The Hardest Game: McIlvanney On Boxing by Hugh McIlvanney (Contemporary Books)

 

McIlvanney is the British equivalent of Liebling. He's not just a boxing writer. He's a writer who writes very well, among other things, about boxing.

 

 

Rocky Marciano by Russell Sullivan (University of Illinois Press)

 

An honest, penetrating look at Marciano in the context of his times, as a person and as a fighter. What's particularly interesting is how often the unbeaten Marciano verged on defeat and his questionable ring tactics.

 

 

Cinderella Man by Jeremy Schaap (Houghton Mifflin Company)

 

Schaap does a fine job chronicling the rise of James Braddock to the heavyweight championship at the height of The Great Depression. He also succeeds particularly well in painting a wonderful portrait of Max Baer and explaining just how important the heavyweight title was 75 years ago.

 

 

Sweet William by Andrew O’Toole (University of Illinois Press)

 

A solid biography of light-heavyweight great Billy Conn. The two Louis-Conn fights are the highlight of O’Toole’s work, but he also does a nice job of recounting the endless dysfunctional family struggles that plagued Conn throughout his life and the boxer’s sad decline into pugilistic dementia.

 

 

In the Ring with Bob Fitzsimmons by Adam Pollack (Win by KO Publications)

 

Pollack has also authored biographies of John L. Sullivan, James Corbett and James Jeffries. The books are heavily researched and rely almost exclusively on primary sources. Serious students of boxing will enjoy them.

 

 

The Last Great Fight by Joe Layden (St. Martin’s Press)

 

This book is primarily about James “Buster” Douglas’ historic upset of Mike Tyson. The saga of Iron Mike has gotten old, but Layden brings new material and fresh insights into the relationships among Douglas, his father (Billy Douglas), manager John Johnson, and co-trainers J. D. McCauley and John Russell. He also gives a particularly good account of the fight itself and how Douglas overcame the fear that paralyzed many of Tyson’s opponents.

 

The Killings of Stanley Ketchel by James Carlos Blake (William Morrow & Company)

 

The life of Stanley Ketchel written as pulp fiction. Blake plays fast and loose with the truth and mixes fact with fantasy in this historical novel. But he writes well and weaves a good tale about boxing and the underside of America at the dawn of the 20th century.

 

 

Ringside: A Treasury of Boxing Reportage and Sparring With Hemingway by Budd Schulberg (Ivan R. Dee, Inc.)

 

If Schulberg had never written another sentence, he'd have a place in boxing history for the words, "I could of been a contender." These collections of his articles cover 70 years of boxing lore. You might also take a look at Schulberg's novel The Harder They Fall.

 

 

The Fireside Book of Boxing, edited by W. C. Heinz (Simon & Schuster)

 

One of the grandest collections of boxing writing between the covers of a single book. This has been reissued in an updated form by Sport Classic Books. But the original 1961 hardcover has a special feel with unique artwork. Heinz also wrote a very good novel entitled The Professional.

 

 

The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America by Elliot Gorn (Cornell University Press)

 

The title says it all. Gorn puts boxing's early days in their proper social and political context.

 

 

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson by Geoffrey C. Ward (Alfred A. Knopf)

 

This is the companion volume to the PBS documentary by Ken Burns. It's well-written, meticulously researched and the standard against which future Johnson biographies will be judged.

 

 

Jack Dempsey by Randy Roberts (Grove Press)

 

Three decades after it was first published, this work remains the most reliable source of information about the Manassa Mauler. Roberts is also the author of Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes (another fine biography of the most controversial champion in boxing history) and Joe Louis: Hard Times Man (a valuable addition to the literature on Louis).

 

 

Champion: Joe Louis, Black Hero In White America by Chris Mead (Charles Scribner's Sons)

 

At the time it was written, this was the most thorough of the Joe Louis biographies. Mead's work serves as a reminder of why the Brown Bomber was so important.

 

 

Black Is Best: The Riddle of Cassius Clay by Jack Olsen (G. P. Putnam's Sons)

 

This is an old one; vintage 1967. But it's a great look at the young Muhammad Ali.

 

 

Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties by Mike Marqusee (Verso Books)

 

Muhammad Ali as seen through a decidedly left-wing political lens. Marqusee writes intelligently and understands the larger implications of the Ali phenomenon.

 

 

Writers' Fighters by John Schulian (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

 

Before Schulian turned to script-writing, he was a first-rate boxing writer. This is a collection of some of his best work.

 

 

In This Corner by Peter Heller (Da Capo Press)

 

One of boxing's first oral histories, chronicling the lives of 42 world champions.

 

 

Two Ton by Joseph Monninger (Steerforth Press)

 

A short evocatively written book keyed to the 1939 heavyweight championship bout between Joe Louis and Tony Galento. On the plus side; there’s some very good writing and an excellent recreation of the fight itself. Two Ton captures the spirit of Tony Galento well. On the negative side of the ledger, there are times when Monninger opts for poetic license and hyperbole over accuracy.

 

 

Only In America: The Life and Crimes of Don King by Jack Newfield (William Morrow & Company)

 

Give the devil his due. Don King is one of the smartest, most-charismatic, hardest-working men on the planet. Jack Newfield recorded the good and the bad, mostly the bad, in exhaustive detail.

 

 

Fear & Fire: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson by Jose Torres (Warner Books)

 

In 1989, when Tyson was at his peak and beginning to publicly unravel, there was a spate of books about the young champion. This was the best of them.

 

 

Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing In American Society by Jeffrey T. Sammons (University of Illinois Press)

 

Extensively researched and well-written; a valuable historical document.

 

 

Rope Burns by F. X. Toole (Ecco Press)

 

Six short stories, the first five of which are very good. The author is at his best when he describes the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that infests boxing. The book has been re-released under the title Million Dollar Baby to take advantage of the movie publicity.

 

 

Ghosts of Manila by Mark Kram (Harper Collins)

 

Whether or not you agree with Kram's thesis, which seeks to elevate Joe Frazier and diminish Muhammad Ali, this work is an interesting read.

 

 

Cut Time by Carlo Rotella (Houghton Mifflin)

 

Some interesting insights from the perspective of a college professor and fan who has covered the fights as a writer for out-of-the-mainstream publications.

 

 

The Greatest Boxing Stories Ever Told edited by Jeff Silverman (Lyons Press)

 

This is a pretty good mix of fact and fiction from Jack London and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Jimmy Cannon and Frank Deford.

 

 

Boxiana by Pierce Egan (Nicol Island Publishing)

 

This one is for purists and scholars. The most significant writing on boxing in the first half of the 19th century was written by Egan and collected in five volumes entitled Boxiana. Nicol Island (a small Canadian publisher) is in the process of republishing these volumes in complete and unrevised editions.

 

 

Four Kings by George Kimball (McBooks Press)

 

Kimball recounts the epic nine battles contested among Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran between 1980 and 1989. It was a special time for boxing fans and more special for those who, like Kimball, experienced the drama firsthand from the inside.

 

 

The Lion and the Eagle by Iain Manson (SportsBooks Ltd)

 

A dramatic recreation of the historic 1860 fight between the English champion, Tom Sayers, and his American challenger, John C. Heenan. Manson sets the scene on both sides of the Atlantic. In reconstructing the life of each fighter, he gives readers a full sense of time and place. For more on the same encounter, The Great Prize Fight by Alan Lloyd (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan) is an excellent read.

 

 

Muhammad Ali: The Making of An Icon by Michael Ezra (Temple University Press)

 

Ezra explores the changing perception of Ali as a moral force with primary emphasis on the commercial interests that have swirled around him over the past 50 years. The end result is a work of scholarship that breaks new ground, particularly with regard to the years 1960 through 1966, when Ali was guided by a group of wealthy white Kentuckians known as the Louisville Sponsoring Group.

 

 

Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson by Wil Haygood (Alfred A. Knopf)

 

This is the first biography to fully explain Robinson’s legacy in the ring and his importance out of it. Haygood researches thoroughly and writes well, placing Sugar Ray in the context of Harlem and America in the 1940s and ‘50s. The six wars between Robinson and Jake LaMotta are particularly well told.

 

 

Shelby’s Folly by Jason Kelly

 

Jack Dempsey vs. Tommy Gibbons is the only championship bout that’s remembered more for the site than the fight itself. Shelby, Montana, was one of the most-improbable and ill-considered venues ever to host a major championship fight. Kelly explains who, what, how, when and why.

 

 

The Fixer by Steve Bunce

 

Bunce mixes real-life people and events into his plot in a way that makes the narrative stronger. Events move from London to Las Vegas to Atlantic City, back to London, and finally to Blackpool, recreating the boxing scene every step of the way.

 

 

Liston and Ali by Bob Mee

 

There are hundreds of books about Muhammad Ali, but very little good writing about Sonny Liston. This is very good writing about Liston, who is portrayed as a full flesh-and-blood figure rather than a cardboard cutout from the past.

 

 

James J. Corbett by Armond Fields

 

Corbett was onstage for 39 of his 66 years and worked hard to develop his craft as a performer. This book is as much about Corbett the actor as it is about Corbett the fighter. Fields also offers readers an engaging look at the San Francisco that Corbett grew up in as well as Corbett’s personal life.

 

 

Editor's Note: Thomas Hauser has authored 21 books about boxing that are excellent reading during the holiday season and every other time of year:

 

Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

Waiting for Carver Boyd

Mark Twain Remembers

The Black Lights

Boxing Is . . .

An Unforgiving Sport

The Boxing Scene

The Greatest Sport of All

The Lost Legacy of Muhammad Ali

Knockout

I Don't Believe It But I Know It's True

Chaos, Corruption, Courage, Glory

Muhammad Ali: Memories

Muhammad Ali: In Perspective

A Beautiful Sickness

A Year At The Fights

The View From Ringside

Brutal Artistry

Muhammad Ali & Company

The Legend of Muhammad Ali

BOX: The Face of Boxing

 

 

Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at [email protected]

http://www.ringtv.com/blog/2548/thomas_hausers_holiday_reading_2010/

 

saw this up on the ring website... thought id post it

[davemurphy]

Good List from Hauser, which including a few of my all time favs, Black Lights, Schulian's Writers Fighters,and Peter Heller's In this Corner (younger fans should be warned that both those books are dated, Black Lights and Writers Fighters only dealing with fighters in the 70's and 80's and Heller's only going up to Arguello and Duran.

[edsel77x]

Tales from the Vault

 

Im in school right now on top off all the human behavior books I like to read and plenty of wwwaaaayyyy oooffff subjects I have an interest in, well I have yet to pick up a good book on boxing but from what you all the books out there, this one willl get the first look.

Sounds amazing!

 

While Boxing doesn’t have a “season” like so many other sports- baseball, football, etc., there are lulls during the year, especially for those fans that are relegated to whetting their pugilistic appetite by taking in the fights by watching on the tube. While ESPN’s weekly boxing coverage is on hiatus until the new year, and HBO and Showtime’s schedule has wound downfor the remainder of 2010, fans of the sweet science can still get their fix via “Tales From The Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics,” by Lee Groves. The 721 page tome is a comprehensive collection of what Groves believes to be some of the most thrilling battles in the ring, that have somehow slipped our memories.

 

“Tales…” is spread out over ten chapters consisting of ten fights each. Each fight is reviewed in vivid detail, possible in large part to Groves being able to review each fight from his private video collection of over 20,000 and counting, bouts. In the introductions Groves explains just what in his mind constitutes a closet classic. “It must fulfill the requirements of the more famous fights- riveting two-way action and multiple momentum swings- but somehow slipped through the cracks of history and memory.” Groves goes on to explain that they are fights that don’t readily come to mind, but when mentioned, cause one to slap his forehead and say, “How could I have forgotten that one?”

 

Groves has chaptered the book along the storylines of each fight. In order they are:

 

Chapter1- Brawls

 

Chapter2- Shootouts

 

Chapter3- Big Man Drama

 

Chapter4- Wars of Attrition

 

Chapter5- Undercard Treasures

 

Chapter6-Vengeance is Mine – Great Grudge Fights

 

Chapter7- Little Big Men

 

Chapter8- Sudden and Violent Endings

 

Chapter9- Upsets and Unpredictability – A Walk on the Wild Side

 

Chapter10- Back From the Brink: Great Comebacks

 

An eye for detail has helped Groves carefully, yet explicitly paint the drama that unfolded in each of the battles contained within “Tales…” That eye for detail also comes in handy as complete punch count statistics follow each fight in the form of total punches / jabs / power punches landed/thrown for both fighters. As a part of the Compubox team, Groves has sharpened his already acute knack for detail even more so.

 

Boxing’s renaissance man Steve Farhood, most recently of Shobox and Broadway Boxing fame, submits and eloquent foreword to “Tales…,” culled from his twenty years relationship that started when Groves was a young, eager scribe, looking to write about the sport he loved.

 

A must for any boxing fan’s library, “Tales From the Vault” is a worthwhile venture into boxing lore, from bouts long forgotten, to those we wish we knew of from the first bell!

[url]http://maltaboxing.net/blog/[/url]

[davemurphy]

I asked Lee Groves why the 721 pages and he told me he didn't know if he'd ever get a chance to write another, and he didn't want to go through the rest of his life thinking, "I wish I'd have put that one in my book". Subsequently, he didn't miss much grin// Those of you like Rob, Dallen, Londoner, Razz, Bud, etc. that have been in the Billy C. Paltalk with him all know that he takes the teasing pretty well about the size of his book grin//