Recommend three books to a wannabe boxing historian

Three books for a boxing fan starting from scratch. Personally:

Pugilatus by Ted Spoon
Highly readable. Avoids the boomer, scholarly tone that most boxing books smack of (which are usually biographies—another reason to start with a metanarrative like this).

Live Fast, Die Young: The Life and Times of Harry Greb
The most thorough biography of the greatest boxer of all time. Horrible writing but a self-made historian of the everyman. Not being cheeky, I love schizo posters.

Black Lights by Thomas Hauser
**** it, the business-side of things.

 

Ring of Hate by Myler
Papa Jack by Roberts
Black Ajax by Fraser

My favorite is probably the Knockout Artist but it isn't historical.

 

I haven't read Ted's book but he is a great poster,so I am confident it will be a good one. Steve Compton ,"Klompton" is an arrogant know all,but his book has been highly praised for its detail,though not for its writing.Some have said ita just a bible of facts with little to say about the actual fighter,I don't know again I haven't read it.
The Black Lights is good.
Murderers Row by Springs Toledo About the great black fighters who were denied their chance at titles is terrific.
Any of Adam Pollacks biographies about the heavyweight champs would be a valuable addition to any boxing book shelf.
Clay Moyle's book on Sam Langford.



Any books by the following.
Hugh McIlvanney .
George Kimball.
Jerry Izenberg.
Budd Shullberg.
Randy Roberts.

 

Corner Men is great

 

AJ Liebling - The Sweet Science

 

I love this books, Really takes the reader behind the scenes for a glimpse at how the sport really works.

I’d also recommend Four Kings, which chronicles Leonard/Hagler/Hearns/Duran and give lots of insider stuff from each fight between them. Takes me back and makes me feel like I’m right there.

 

Dark Trade by Donald McRae

The Life and Crimes of Don King by Jack Newfield

Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser

 

Ghosts of Manila
Four Kings
Joe Louis and Billy Conn

 

This is where I would start.

I was really impressed with John Ochs trilogy on Jack Hurley. I can't overstate that.

And Adam Pollack's works are marvelous, very densely detailed, almost laboriously so, but for the real boxing scholar they are great.

 

There was a recent thread about Greb books where a number of posters said that K/Clompton's book is preferrable to the (seemingly more well-known) one from Bill Paxton. I initially felt bad b/c I had chosen the Paxton book over K/Clompton's to buy as a present for my father a few years back... but after getting some glimpses of the despicable way K/Clompton treats people on this forum, I'm thankful that I didn't give him a single cent of my money.

 

Good selection,McVey.

 

McIlvanney On Boxing - Hugh McIlvanney
Sting Like A Bee - Jose Torres
The Fight - Norman Mailer

 

I have "50 Years at Ringside" by Nat Fleischer, an eyewitness to much of boxing history. I also have an edition of the "Ring Record Book."

The collegiate texts by Edwin Haislet and John J. Walsh are instructional materials studied by Bruce Lee, along with Jack Dempsey's "Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense." I believe all of these manuals may now be in the public domain and available online for free. (Haislet used line drawings where Walsh showed humans demonstrating in photographs what Haislet drew.)

 

No Way But to Fight by Andrew Smith
The Gods of War by Springs Toledo