Worst Boxing books and why?

[Nemesis]

"King of the world" - David Remnick
I think the book that Remnick done on Ali is largely overrated, he spent far too much time quoting what the likes of Red Smith an the other correspondents of the day wrote rather than forming his own opinions, or focusing on the boxing specifics. He obviously spent a lot of time researching the subject, but spent too much time focusing on the Socio-economic background of the fights. I would like to have found out more about the fighters opinions at the time (and now) rather than what the newspaper boy's of the day had to say. He didnt even bring anything new to light that most of us already know.

In fairness to Remnick, boxing is'nt his forte, but he just seemed to drag the book out chapter by chapter. I'm not going to degrade the writing style of a Pulitzer prize winner though :D

"Hurricane, the life of a fighter" - James Hirsch

A Truely poor book, uninteresting writing style, unlikeable lead (Carter) and i was dying to finish the book just to get it out the way. The writer never formed his own opinions and it lacked intrigue

[robert ungurean]

As for King of the World I only like it for the good info on both Liston & Patterson, Ive had more than my fill on Ali.
Books I dont like
Gloves Glory & God by H. Armstrong :Just a boring book,laking detail.
Flight of the Hawk by A. Pryor:Lame book, didnt like it at all.
Dick Tiger by A. Makinde: Very hard to follow,reads more like a text book.
Books I like
The 16 th rd. by R.Carter: Great bk.
By George by G. Foreman: Great bk.
Against the Odd's by L.Holmes:Great Bk.
Smokin Joe by J.Frazier:Great bk.
Going the Distance by K.Norton: Good bk.
Tunney: BBC by Cavanaugh: Good bk.
Flame of Pure Fire by Kahn: Great bk.( DEMPSEY)
Manasa Mauler by Roberts: Great Bk.
Leave the fighting to McGuigan by Sheridian:Great bk.
These are also very good books
Celtic Warrior By Stevie Collins
I love you's all by Jeff Fenech
Nigel Benn by Benn
2 autobio's written by Ken Buchanan
Archie Moore Bio.by Fitzgeralg
Kostya Tszyu by Tszyu
Pocket Rocket by W. McCullough
Standing Eight by Jesus Chavez was OK
Hands of Stone Durans Bio was great also.
Raging Bull is Good
Somebody up there likes me By Graziano was good to.
Hope this Helps.

[SchweitzerMan]

"King of the world" - David Remnick
I think the book that Remnick done on Ali is largely overrated, he spent far too much time quoting what the likes of Red Smith an the other correspondents of the day wrote rather than forming his own opinions, or focusing on the boxing specifics. He obviously spent a lot of time researching the subject, but spent too much time focusing on the Socio-economic background of the fights. I would like to have found out more about the fighters opinions at the time (and now) rather than what the newspaper boy's of the day had to say. He didnt even bring anything new to light that most of us already know.

In fairness to Remnick, boxing is'nt his forte, but he just seemed to drag the book out chapter by chapter. I'm not going to degrade the writing style of a Pulitzer prize winner though :D

"Hurricane, the life of a fighter" - James Hirsch

A Truely poor book, uninteresting writing style, unlikeable lead (Carter) and i was dying to finish the book just to get it out the way. The writer never formed his own opinions and it lacked intrigue

I don't know this for sure, but I think Remnick sought not to tell his own opinions but to show us what really happened. As for not bringing anything new to light, I thought that I knew Ali a lot more when I finished this book. Michael Mann should have read it before making Ali though.

Another great boxing book is "The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle" by Robert Anasi. One of my top five favourite books. Anasi delves into the world of New York amateur boxing and doesn't pull any punches as he tells tales of his training, his trainer, his sparring partners and the sport in general. A must read

[Nemesis]

I don't know this for sure, but I think Remnick sought not to tell his own opinions but to show us what really happened. As for not bringing anything new to light, I thought that I knew Ali a lot more when I finished this book. Michael Mann should have read it before making Ali though.

Another great boxing book is "The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle" by Robert Anasi. One of my top five favourite books. Anasi delves into the world of New York amateur boxing and doesn't pull any punches as he tells tales of his training, his trainer, his sparring partners and the sport in general. A must read
That sounds like agreat book :good

I also want to read that Ghosts of Manilla (I know, another Ali book) just for a different slant on things. What's that boxing book thats called by Heinz (I think) which is supposed to be the best boxing book ever

[Nemesis]

As for King of the World I only like it for the good info on both Liston & Patterson, Ive had more than my fill on Ali.
Books I dont like
Gloves Glory & God by H. Armstrong :Just a boring book,laking detail.
Flight of the Hawk by A. Pryor:Lame book, didnt like it at all.
Dick Tiger by A. Makinde: Very hard to follow,reads more like a text book.
Books I like
The 16 th rd. by R.Carter: Great bk.
By George by G. Foreman: Great bk.
Against the Odd's by L.Holmes:Great Bk.
Smokin Joe by J.Frazier:Great bk.
Going the Distance by K.Norton: Good bk.
Tunney: BBC by Cavanaugh: Good bk.
Flame of Pure Fire by Kahn: Great bk.( DEMPSEY)
Manasa Mauler by Roberts: Great Bk.
Leave the fighting to McGuigan by Sheridian:Great bk.
These are also very good books
Celtic Warrior By Stevie Collins
I love you's all by Jeff Fenech
Nigel Benn by Benn
2 autobio's written by Ken Buchanan
Archie Moore Bio.by Fitzgeralg
Kostya Tszyu by Tszyu
Pocket Rocket by W. McCullough
Standing Eight by Jesus Chavez was OK
Hands of Stone Durans Bio was great also.
Raging Bull is Good
Somebody up there likes me By Graziano was good to.
Hope this Helps.

some great books there, Somebody up there likes me looks like it would be interesting, especially if it focuses on the friendship of Lamotta & Graziano

[SchweitzerMan]

I just bought a first edition of Raging Bull in a used bookstore. Can't wait to read it.

Dude, I'm not kidding, the Gloves may be the best book about amateur boxing. I thought it would be another ordinary store about a guy who takes up boxing as an adult and learns the hardships and ultimately becomes braver and stronger but it's real. I read the passages and thought, "I'd probably be the same way."
On his way to a fight with his team, he's anxious to get there yet at the same time, hopes they don't make it in time.
Great, now I have to go read it again now that I'm thinking about it

[john garfield]

If it's still in print, you have to get what Ernest Hemingway called the finest boxing novel he's ever read: W.C. Heinz's "The Professional"

The lead character, Eddie Brown, is a thinly-veiled portrait of Billy Graham, a cracking good welterweight from the 1940s and early '50s.

[Nemesis]

If it's still in print, you have to get what Ernest Hemingway called the finest boxing novel he's ever read: W.C. Heinz's "The Professional"

The lead character, Eddie Brown, is a thinly-veiled portrait of Billy Graham, a cracking good welterweight from the 1940s and early '50s.

That's the one

[young griffo]

The Tao of Muhummed Ali by Davis Miller.
Not my cup of tea at all.
An exercise in nuthuggery and a piss poor attempt by the author to somehow draw parrellells between his own ordinary life and Ali's extrordinary one,written in boring,hippy prose.
Too much spirituality and not enough fighting for mine,but in fairness I only read half of it before giving up in disgust and it may have got better (I doubt it though).

[dalek]

night train was awful.

[heerko koois]

" Sleeping on Boxingday " by John Filansky ......

[Bill1234]

The Holyfield Wat by James J Thomas II. That is nothing but 245 pgs of nuthugging for Evander. Almost every page it seems, James is saying "being the great man Evander is" or "But Evander being so courageous, never gave up" stuff like that. Then he said Evander was a clean fighter.:rofl He said that Evander and the other guy are merely fighting over space, so of course the accidental clash of heads is bound to happen (thats not word for word). He atually had the guts to say that Evander won the first Lewis fight!!! Then at the end of the book, the last few sentences of the book were:

"Evander, I have one more idea," I said. (obviously the author)
He looked at me and waited for me to continue.
"I think a great way for you to finish on top would be to win back your license, call a press conference the next day, and announce that now the decision is yours to make, you have decided to retire."
Evander smiled warmly.
"You never give up, do you?" he said shaking his head.
I smiled and looked at him.
"I learned it from you."

When I read that I felt like puking. In the movies thats when they would just stare at each for a moment, then get closer and start to kiss.:barf

[heerko koois]

The Holyfield Wat by James J Thomas II. That is nothing but 245 pgs of nuthugging for Evander. Almost every page it seems, James is saying "being the great man Evander is" or "But Evander being so courageous, never gave up" stuff like that. Then he said Evander was a clean fighter.:rofl He said that Evander and the other guy are merely fighting over space, so of course the accidental clash of heads is bound to happen (thats not word for word). He atually had the guts to say that Evander won the first Lewis fight!!! Then at the end of the book, the last few sentences of the book were:

"Evander, I have one more idea," I said. (obviously the author)
He looked at me and waited for me to continue.
"I think a great way for you to finish on top would be to win back your license, call a press conference the next day, and announce that now the decision is yours to make, you have decided to retire."
Evander smiled warmly.
"You never give up, do you?" he said shaking his head.
I smiled and looked at him.
"I learned it from you."

When I read that I felt like puking. In the movies thats when they would just stare at each for a moment, then get closer and start to kiss.:barf

:lol:

[Jack Dempsey]

Charley Burley: life and times of an uncrowned Champion.

Not a bad book as such, just not a conventional bio, merely a collection of various fight reports of Burley and his contemporaries, you will learn nothing much about the man from this book.

Billy Sooses bio is so short as to be pretty pointless, as was the new Barney Ross book

[robert ungurean]

Charley Burley: life and times of an uncrowned Champion.

Not a bad book as such, just not a conventional bio, merely a collection of various fight reports of Burley and his contemporaries, you will learn nothing much about the man from this book.

Billy Sooses bio is so short as to be pretty pointless, as was the new Barney Ross book
The Soose book was beyond awful.

[Jack Dempsey]

The Soose book was beyond awful.

:yep It was almost like an essay designed to get Soose into the hall of fame.

I'm currently reading Teddy Atlas's book, its a cracking read, I highly recommend it

[Bigcat]

Garbage books..

Audley harrison ( from zero to hero )

Good Boxing literature..

The Black Lights.. Thomas Hauser..

Come out smoking .. Phil Pepe (biography to Joe Frazier 1972)

On Boxing .. Joyce Carol Oates.. more of a study Essay of fighters..

Fire and Fear .. Jose Torres. a kiss and tell all about Team Tyson..

Serenity ... by Ralph Wiley. EXCELLENT READ...

Blood Season ...... A full so called season of boxing showing comparrisons between aging Leon Spinks and rising contender come champion Mike Tyson.. Very clever book.....

Fight Town. A pictoral history of Boxing in Las Vegas... A must have coffee table book...... Full Colour are photographic book......... Fabulous..

Mamas Boy.. The newest biography of Lennox Lewis.. Far better than the old one...

The life and crimes of Don King... Jack Newfield. Very interesting indeed..

[Jear]

Didnt like Smokin Joe full of excuses and bitterness. Lessened my opinion on Joe, he was a great fighter didnt need to do this.

Did like sting like a bee by Jose Torres, gives a boxers viewpoint on the flaws in Alis fighting post layoff.
Joe Louis American - Margery Miller & The Louis Legend by Nat Fleischer.

[killerkai1]

Read 'Totaly Frank' by frank bruno and kevin Mitchell, thought it would be crap but it was quite simply one of the best books i have ever read. I know its ghost written but i could not put it down, no excuses for his defeats except the better guy won (except for the lewis fight which he puts down to a lapse of concentration) and his battle with mental illness. All british boxing fans should buy it. I do not recommend usually but this will impress you.

[SchweitzerMan]

The Holyfield Wat by James J Thomas II. That is nothing but 245 pgs of nuthugging for Evander. Almost every page it seems, James is saying "being the great man Evander is" or "But Evander being so courageous, never gave up" stuff like that. Then he said Evander was a clean fighter.:rofl He said that Evander and the other guy are merely fighting over space, so of course the accidental clash of heads is bound to happen (thats not word for word). He atually had the guts to say that Evander won the first Lewis fight!!! Then at the end of the book, the last few sentences of the book were:

"Evander, I have one more idea," I said. (obviously the author)
He looked at me and waited for me to continue.
"I think a great way for you to finish on top would be to win back your license, call a press conference the next day, and announce that now the decision is yours to make, you have decided to retire."
Evander smiled warmly.
"You never give up, do you?" he said shaking his head.
I smiled and looked at him.
"I learned it from you."

When I read that I felt like puking. In the movies thats when they would just stare at each for a moment, then get closer and start to kiss.:barf

Whenever I was at the bookstore, I would pick this up and browse through it and tried my best to like it but the guy is too much of a Holyfield nuthugger like you said. When I read that he yelled at someone when they said they were sorry Holyfield lost the first Lewis fight (before the decision was announced), I knew that I couldn't buy it. And I read the ending too and thought that it was just the cheesiest thing I'd read in a long time

[McGrain]

The Sugar Ray Robinson effort Pound for Pound was blandly written and very one sided.Mama's Boy was a struggle, but I did like hearing about Lennox's training methods, and was fascinated to read that he used to do some pretty serious weight training. I got it for £3 and i'd happily have paid for that little nugget, though I could have done with reading most of the rest.

[Bill1234]

Whenever I was at the bookstore, I would pick this up and browse through it and tried my best to like it but the guy is too much of a Holyfield nuthugger like you said. When I read that he yelled at someone when they said they were sorry Holyfield lost the first Lewis fight (before the decision was announced), I knew that I couldn't buy it. And I read the ending too and thought that it was just the cheesiest thing I'd read in a long time

I pushed my way through it. I had to force my self to read past the 3rd chapter, just hoping it would get better. Really I was after some more detailed Holfield info...all I found out was who the biggest Holyfield nuthugger was.

[SchweitzerMan]

I thought Pound for Pound was good but not as great as I had hoped it would be.