Hit Man: The Thomas Hearns Story

cheers pal iv just finshed the four kings and wwould recomend it.bin looking for a new book cheers

 

On my Chrimbo list. Anyone read it? Any good?

 

George Kimball's Four Kings is a terrific read. I was gonna wait for some reviews of the Hearns book but screw it. It's bound to be a good read.

 

Four Kings is a great book:good

But lets admit it, Duran is the most interesting character by far and it is he that keeps you hooked throughout.

I think I will wait on some reviews and recommendations before I buy this Hearn's one.

 

Have you read Duran's bio? A lot of the Duran info on Four Kings is 'token' from there.

 

Yeah I have, and true it is.

From a readers point of view the guy's life is pure gold.

 

Still well worth getting Four Kings, I read Duran's book first as well. I'd say Hagler and Leonard get the most pages in Four Kings.

 

I think all four get pretty equal treatment in Four Kings, but it is when Duran enters centre stage that you sit up and say to yourself "oh yeah, here we go again". The SRL, Hagler and Hearns bits are very interesting, I really enjoyed them. But none of them come close to Duran's stories. You don't have SRL knocking out a horse or Hearns beating up four or five guys who are hastling him and his GF on the way home or Hagler going on a massive bender after a win. Its not necesarily boxing related, but is very interesting and shows/demonstrates how his life and psyche developed.

 

Agree with what you say about Duran, what a character. :good:yep

 

i first read the duran book and then 4 kings and your right, duran is the most interesting of them all but due to kimballs i found myself drawn toward hagler more than any. im not sure i can see the tommy hearns story all that great tbh, all the others had more interesting narratives or angles of their life stories to write about than hearns for me. also did hearns contribute to the book? if he did it appeals a lot more

 

Here's a very good documentary on Duran:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Jtm0Kn-78[/ame]


I love it when he does the speed bag with his head at 4.20.

 

Is the OP 'Damian' (Brian Hughes's son) the author of this ?

DAMIAN - Are you and your father the authors of this ? I noticed it's written by Damian and Brian hughes. There surely cant be two of you in the sport ? :huh

 

Duran's bio is a great book .. I found Four Kings mostly interesting for the parts on Hagler and his epic 'out of ring' psychological rivalry with Ray Leonard ..

For anybody interested in older fighters, 'Tunney - Boxings brainiest champ' by Jack Cavanaugh is a great read. Gene Tunney for me is a vastly under-rated fighter these days, im not sure if its because Dempsey and Greb are so universally adored and he was the guy that dealt with them ..

I may be wrong but there seems to be similarities between Tunney and Holyfield .. Never given the accolades that they deserve, never seemingly finding their way into the hearts of fight fans .. Dempsey, Greb and Tyson are talked about as mythic super heros and yet the guys who beat (dominated) them are told 'They were past their prime, they didnt train properly' .. How many threads a year are there on 'Prime Tyson', '88 Tyson' ..

Tyson beats an old Holmes and everyone says 'Wow totally destructive, absolutely awe inspiring' ..

Holyfield dominates Tyson who is 4 years younger than him at 30 years old and people dismiss it as 'Tyson was gone, way past his prime'

Dempsey beats a 38 year old Jess Willard, who was really a giant heavy bag, and people say, 'Oh man have you ever seen destruction like that?'

Tunney dominates a 31 year old Jack Dempsey and people dismiss it as 'Dempsey spent too long out of the ring acting, he was washed up'

The double standards in boxing are mind boggling sometimes, so get the Gene Tunney book for a great read on the life of a great fighter who never got his dues during his own life ..