best boxing books and why

[Jack Dempsey]

I'm just finishing up Teddy Atlas's book, its a great read, full of incidents

[McGrain]

Originally Posted by Jack Dempsey

I'm just finishing up Teddy Atlas's book, its a great read, full of incidents

Recount a quick tale from that book for us.

[Thread Stealer]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Dark Trade. This is the best book i've read about modern boxing. This guy gets Tyson at the crux of so many of the most important times in his fall. It's worth reading for that alone, but the Toney stuff is absolutley priceless.

This is one of my favorites.

[Jack Dempsey]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Recount a quick tale from that book for us.

He had a lot of good omens leading up to the Moorer Holyfield bout, whilst training Moorer he noticed a poster of Tyson on the wall that had his then record of 35-0, Moorer was 34-0 at this point, he took this as an omen, once in Vegas for the bout he put $100 down on number 35 on the roulette table and won $3500, he then put this on Moorer to win, when Moorer won he then collected his winnings ($10k) and got $100 coin and stuck that in a slot machine and won $2000!!!

He just knew he couldn't lose that day the omens were with him.

[Jack Dempsey]

Theres another great story in there of how he came this close to shooting Donny LaLonde in his apartment, but Donny was out, and as time wore on he realised it would be a huge mistake, but had Donny been in he would have killed him

[McGrain]

Originally Posted by Jack Dempsey

Theres another great story in there of how he came this close to shooting Donny LaLonde in his apartment, but Donny was out, and as time wore on he realised it would be a huge mistake, but had Donny been in he would have killed him

A serious man.

[Jack Dempsey]

Originally Posted by McGrain

A serious man.

He's a fucking badass

[Bigcat]

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..

[My dinner with Conteh]

Originally Posted by Bigcat

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

Good call. Fascinating book about a total cunt.


One of my faves which is seldom mentioned is "Sting Like A Bee" by Jose Torres. I prefer it to most, if not all, Ali books. I also preferred Papa Jack to Unforgivable Blackness. The latter's a greater reference point of course but I liked the flow of the Randy Roberts effort.

[Lacyace]

Originally Posted by McGrain

Sonny Liston: Night Train would be my personal choice for the number one spot. The author takes an angle and runs with it but his window into that world is anything but narrow. You're taken into the different worlds of ownership that Sonny was exposed to - and what he exposed his fellow human to in return (or not). It less than stellar where the fights are concerned, but it's a really decent stab at unlocking Liston.

Sounds interesting. I might have to get this.

[The Morlocks]

Originally Posted by younghypnotiq

name the best boxing books and why

"Papa Jack" and "Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler"" were great reads. I also have Mickey Walker's autobio which is good. "Ultimate Tough Guy"" by Jim Carney about James J. Jeffries is GREAT. And I loved Skehan's "Rocky Marciano, BIOGRAPHY OF A FIRST SON". Maybe the best though is John Jarrett's "Gene Tunney: The Golden Guy Who Licked Jack Dempsey Twice". I thought it was worlds better than the bio "Tunney". It has some chapters on Greb that are just awesome and the book is unbelieveable.

[The Morlocks]

Originally Posted by younghypnotiq

name the best boxing books and why

The one fighter I wish a good bio would be done on is Stanley Ketchel. After that, Victor Galindez and Carlos Monzon. One came out on Monzon years ago in spanish, but I don't speaky spanish.

[Cmoyle]

'No Man Stands Alone' by Barney Ross. Great read.

'Somebody Up There Likes Me' Rocky Graziano. One of my favorite reads

'Champions Off Guard' by william Inglis 1932. Interesting read and insights by a man who not only knew fighters like Fitzsimmons, Sullivan, Corbett, Dempsey, Tunney, etc. intimately, but sparred with a number of them.

'Wise Guy. James J. Johnston: A Rhapsody in Fistics' by Marcus Griffin. 1933. Interesting read about the long-time fight promoter/manager known as "The Boy Bandit".

'Flight of the Hawk' by Aaron Pryor. Another terrific read, I couldn't put this one down.

'The Roosevelt That I Know' by Mike Donovan. 1909. Great insights by the forrmer U.S. middleweight champ who knew John L. Sullivan, Kilrain, the original Jack Dempsey, and a host of others, as well as Theodore Roosevelt whom he sparred with frequently.

'Muldoon, The Solid Man of Sport' by Edward Van Every 1929

'The Fearless Harry Greb' by Bill Paxson

'Corner Men' by Fried. Good read.

'In the Days of Giants. Memories of a Champion of the Prize Ring' by William Doherty. 1931. Interesting read by the Australian heavyweight champion . Filled with anecdotes about men such as Bob Fitzsimmons, Kid McCoy,, Joe Goddard, Frank Slavin, and Peter Jackson among many others.

Those are just a few that quickly come to mind.

[SLAKKA]

Originally Posted by Pete47

"Corner Men - Great Bboxing Trainers" by Ronald K. Fried. It offers fascinating informations about trainers like Ray Arcel, Jack Blackburne and others.

[quote=Duodenum;52432]I second this. A very enjoyable read. Fried illuminates Eddie Futch's brilliance.

Another vote for this great book!

[The Morlocks]

Originally Posted by Cmoyle

'No Man Stands Alone' by Barney Ross. Great read.

'Somebody Up There Likes Me' Rocky Graziano. One of my favorite reads

'Champions Off Guard' by william Inglis 1932. Interesting read and insights by a man who not only knew fighters like Fitzsimmons, Sullivan, Corbett, Dempsey, Tunney, etc. intimately, but sparred with a number of them.

'Wise Guy. James J. Johnston: A Rhapsody in Fistics' by Marcus Griffin. 1933. Interesting read about the long-time fight promoter/manager known as "The Boy Bandit".

'Flight of the Hawk' by Aaron Pryor. Another terrific read, I couldn't put this one down.

'The Roosevelt That I Know' by Mike Donovan. 1909. Great insights by the forrmer U.S. middleweight champ who knew John L. Sullivan, Kilrain, the original Jack Dempsey, and a host of others, as well as Theodore Roosevelt whom he sparred with frequently.

'Muldoon, The Solid Man of Sport' by Edward Van Every 1929

'The Fearless Harry Greb' by Bill Paxson

'Corner Men' by Fried. Good read.

'In the Days of Giants. Memories of a Champion of the Prize Ring' by William Doherty. 1931. Interesting read by the Australian heavyweight champion . Filled with anecdotes about men such as Bob Fitzsimmons, Kid McCoy,, Joe Goddard, Frank Slavin, and Peter Jackson among many others.

Those are just a few that quickly come to mind.

I never can find a cheap enough copy of "Somebody Up There Likes Me" on Amazon or elsewhere.