This content is protected Hey folks, I just finished reading Herbies book, & just wondered if anyone else here had read it, & what they thought? To be honest? I enjoyed the book. Being just a year younger than Herbie & having his poster(I used to put all of the boxers from KO & Ring magazine etc up back in the day) on my bedroom wall as a young man, when I saw this book the other day I happily shelled out a few quid for it & it was worth it. Herbie is Herbie, a pretty hard guy to fathom out, but theres some funny stories in there, some great insights into other boxers from 'his' era, i.e the 1990's, & its fascinating to read his own take on the crazy brawls with Michael Bentt & the woman at ringside at big Audleys fight etc etc, and I finished the book wondering, just wondering how good this guy could have been if he stuck to cruiser for his whole career, I know he achieved a lot at heavy with his two WBO title wins, BUT if he had stayed at cruiser... he could have ruled that division for a long time. In hindsight, would a career ruling the cruisers been better than being a hit & miss heavyweight? Personaly, I think prime 4 prime Herbie Hide beats David Haye at cruiser. Look, I know Im rambling having just read his book these are just immediate questions & thoughts off the top of my head. Anyway, if you havent read the book, give it a go, especially if you are old enough to remember watching Hides rise to fame back then, & if you have already read it, tell me if you enjoyed it like my good self, or if you thought it was a crap read i.e like I thought Ken Buchanans book was a pretty awful read to be honest!
Do you not think it's a better idea for someone to release a book when they've retired? At what point in his career does it finish?
It finishes at the end of 2008. So it doesnt have the juicy bits from prizefighter etc, but to be honest I would rather read about his scraps with Bowe, Vitali, Tucker, Bentt ect anyway!
Hide talks about a lot of people he came into contact with from a golden era in british boxing, Frank Warrer, Barry Hearn etc, not to mention many of the big time fighters from that era also. I dont want to spoil it though for anyone who hasnt read it, so Im holding my fire on some of Herbies strories. Look. I picked it up for 2 quid in a bookshop, it was 18 quid when it was released. So sniff around, & you should be able to find a cheap enough copy Jpab.
The Hide/Bentt little rendezvous was a classic, especially as those two make Uncle Roger Mayweather look like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Herbie was always a bit of a nutcase, but a lovable and surprisingly smart one (he's put away his money you know). I loved how he was always blunt with that Nigerian mixed with a little inner city Norwich accent and he always threw out little zingers, here and there, about setting up mega showdowns or upcoming court cases or taking something someone said and spin doctoring it 180 degrees into his favor...he was clever like that old Herbie, trust me Herb was no dummy-- he lived for planting seeds and swaying crowds and judges' perceptions! Repeat after me...you can Herbie but you can't Hide. Live long Herbs! Btw Dunky, how comes you don't chime in more? Invest in a crackberry my friend and join the fun, everything is up for discussion...you can talk boxing, goings on north of the border, Stacey Dash's green eyes, or how much our respective 401k's have tanked, lol!
Nice post about ole Herb... As for me not posting so much nowadays, its nothing personal, its judst that I am so into what I believe in, power to the jocks etc... I dont want to become the ESB broken down old record. So I hold my fire a bit more nowadays, & leave all the flame wars to the new breed that run this place nowadays, Im a manic depressive so one day Im everyones best pal here & the next? Im warriing with guys who befriend me. So I take a backseat now, & try only to post when my head is clear. As a tactic, its working for now, so Im sticking to being my strategy of staying clear from conflict nowadays.
I read the book over the Xmas period last year and really enjoyed it. I seem to remember that he alludes to dropping down to CW was because of the increase in the weight limit from 190 to 200 pounds. Looking at the size of the guy I would have thought he would have struggled to make 190 although, having said that, making 200 must not be all that easy for him. Besides, financially I'm sure he was better off fighting at HW back in the 90's anyway.
Welcome to the forum my man, & its good to see that someone else here actually read the book, to be honest it shocks me a little that a top fighter from a golden era in British boxings book has only been read by a 'noob' & a battle weary bitter scotsman so far! Maybe I should post on Boxrec, they have probably all read it over there
