Just ordered these books..Any others recommended?

I just ordered the following books

Harry Greb: Live fast, die young

Stars of the Ring: Jewish champions in the Golden age of boxing

Barney Ross: The life of a Jewish fighter

Been procrastinating on the Greb one for a while since it’s a 700 page book I hadn’t pulled the trigger but one I know I need to read and figure to learn an absolute ton from and enjoy thoroughly. I’m particularly interested in Benny Leonard too and that Jewish golden age.

Are there any must read that you guys have read in the last few years? I sort of want to stock up so that I’ve got at least a couple of books a month to read. I’m obviously very interested in Latino boxing and boxers and of some other old timers I’d love a good read on Willie Pep, Jimmy Wilde, Benny Leonard, Henry Armstrong and others.

 

Some good suggestions in this thread: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/boxing-books-ive-recently-bought.605844/

 

The man that wrote the Harry Greb book often posts on this forum as klompton. From what i’ve Been told the book is the definitive work on Greb.

I have the Emile Griffith book 9...10...and out! Which I’ve had forever and am just starting to read it.

 

The Greb book is one of the finest boxing books I own.

I also highly recommend Adam Pollack’s excellent series on the heavyweight champions. All of ‘em!

 

Right, getting that Greb book.

 

Actually I'm hoping to get some of these for Christmas, as I recently finished "Ali" by Jonathan Eig, "Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense" and "Unbeaten: Rocky Marciano's Fight for Perfection in a Crooked World" by Mike Stanton:

"The Ageless Warrior" by Mike Fitzgerald

"My Life" by Joe Louis

"The Will to Conquer" by Mickey Walker

"100 Greatest Boxers" by Bert Sugar (how I haven't read this yet, I don't know)

"Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage 1876-1976" by Tracy Callis

"On Boxing and Bodybuilding" by Rocky Marciano

Might add the Greb book to the list

 

I recommend buying John Ochs' massive three-volume book, The One Is Jack Hurley., which has an incredible amount of information about Hurley, one of the greatest all-around boxing men ever and an incredible character, and the era he was active in. You will not only learn a lot about Hurley, but also about the American boxing scene from the 1910s to the early 1970s. The three-volume set will cost over $100., but it is more than worth the money.

- Chuck Johnston

 

The Greb book just arrived that’s the one I’ll read first then. Looks like a good one. I’m excited.

I read the Charley Burley one back about 12/13 years ago and though it was excellent it got a little bit like a chore at times but this one seems to look a little easier to read.

 

Muhammad Ali My Lite & Times by Thomas Hauser

 

Inside the ropes Arthur Mercante

 

Compton's Greb book is highly recommended, a real treat for anyone into Greb and that era of boxing.

 

I also highly recommend Steve Compton's biography of Harry Greb, Live Fast, Die Young.

- Chuck Johnston

 

I'm currently reading Murderers Row by Springs Toledo....really enjoying it

 

Surprisingly, I actually really enjoyed Oscar De La Hoya's autobiography, "American Son". It gave a fascinating look into what it was like to be Oscar, who, in his mid-teens, was already being scouted and picked as a future star, with promoters and other benefactors plying him and his dad with freebies to curry his favor.

It also has a fascinating story about Raul Marquez from late in their amateur careers, which I don't want to spoil.

 

I’m about 100 pages into the Greb one so far and I’m loving it.

How was Detloffs Ezzard Charles book? I see good reviews. Is it worth getting?