Boxing Fiction

FX Toole's short story collection, "Rope Burns"
Budd Schulberg's novel, "The Harder They Fall"
WC Heinz's, "The Professional"
Ring Lardiner's, "Fat City"
Brian Devido's, "Every Time I Talk to Sonny Liston"

 

The best fiction book I have read is "The Professional",by WC Heinz.

 

Rush to Amazon and get W.C. Heinz's "The Professional;" the best boxing novel ever -- has all your requirements, M.

 

This probably isn't what you're looking for, but there's a Japanese... manga? I don't really know what the terms mean, but it's like a comic book/novel hybrid, and it's called Hajime No Ippo.

I don't know anything about it, though. Does anyone follow it?

 

What he said:good

 

BOXING FICTION - Jack Dempsey would beat Lennox Lewis...

 

It's the build-up of a world welterweight title fight between a helluva boxer, ( a thinly-veiled Billy Graham ) and a flashy Sugar Ray Robinson type champ.

That's just the bare bones. The backdrop is early '50s New York, and it's spot-on, as are the characters, all drawn from Heinz's many years around the game, especially Stillmans gym.

 

Yeah and by the way J, it's the one Hemingway said was the best. But some readers on this forum might appreciate Brian DeVido's, "Every Time I Talk To Sonny Liston." It's relatively new, past couple of years, and is written from the first person, the fighter's perspective, a journeyman, habitual sparring partner who gets a shot at the big time in Vegas. Devido, if I'm not mistaken was an amateur champ of some kind turned creative writing professor who writes very well and puts you right in the ring. Worth checking out, especially I would think for guys who either were or are fighters. The conversations his protagonist has with Liston are at Sonny's gravesite.

 

I read this story several years back...great read! It felt like I was there seeing everything happen right before me, as I was reading this story.

 

Interesting, Ck, though DeVido's name's not familiar to me, only recently I've been in touch with former boxers who're first-rate writers: Peter Wood (semi-finalist in the NY Golden Gloves) has written two books and Rick Folstad, who was a pro, and his first novel's just been published. (and I'm gonna do a review)