I have a ton of respect for anyone who takes the effort to pen a boxing book, especially in this day and age ... it is a terrific undertaking and very unlikely not profitable ... it is most likely a passion project ... that being said they are not free to read either and feel compelled to voice my thoughts on two recent purchases .. The first is Sonny Liston, The Real Story Behind the ALI Liston Fights by Paul Gallender. THis is the most pro-Liston bio I have ever read ... the author did a ton of long term research on his subject and goes a long way to humanize Sonny. My only real issue is the accuracy of his facts ... I'm not saying they are not true, I am just say much of what he writes I am reading for the first time such as the extent of Liston's shoulder injury prior to and after the first Ali fight ... he also tends to very matter of factly either gloss over or ignore the often repeated negative aspects of Sonny's legendary personality as if they were only a small part of rare happenings in his life ... in addition, he is highly opinionated in stating that Marciano like Patterson fought no one and would have been crushed by Liston , something Marciano nuthuggers here would go ballistic ... The other is an all together different matter , Joe Botti's book on Joe Jennette ... I call it a book because I don't know what else to call it ... the author chose to write the book in autobiographical format, as if Jennette was telling the story from his perspective .. the trouble is that he took so many creative licenses it in essence becomes a "story" along the lines of "The Killings of Stanley Ketchel" wrapped in news paper clippings ... the book has good info and photos but is neither an autobio or a bio ... it's a story with news clips and photos ... all and all , so so ....
I have read the Gallender book also & fully concur with your opinion. Not a whitewash but very sympathetic towards Liston. For a really good read on heavyweights of the 60's/70.s 'The Name of the Game' by Adam Heach is top class. Basically the story of contender Thad Spencer & his manager Willie Ketchum it also encompasses guys like Amos Lincoln, Eddie Machen, Julios Mederos & other fringe fighters. A great read.
Without hijacking a thread, Four Kings and A Manly Art by George Kimball always tick the right boxes for me...
The extent of Liston's shoulder injuries in Miami are fairly well documented. Liston tried to get a postponement of the bout, because of his shoulder, and was denied by the Miami Beach Boxing Commission. After the fight, eight doctors attested that Liston's shoulder was in such a condition that he was defenseless as far as using his left arm was concerned. I have no doubt that Liston took a dive in the second fight. The reason the book gives for this is surprising, to say the least.
"The other is an all together different matter , Joe Botti's book on Joe Jennette ... I call it a book because I don't know what else to call it ... the author chose to write the book in autobiographical format, as if Jennette was telling the story from his perspective .. the trouble is that he took so many creative licenses it in essence becomes a "story" along the lines of "The Killings of Stanley Ketchel" wrapped in news paper clippings ... the book has good info and photos but is neither an autobio or a bio ... it's a story with news clips and photos ... all and all , so so .... " I just finished the book myself and actually enjoyed it very much. Its true that its written in the first person and there were a number of times throughout the book where I found myself wondering if certain parts were based on fact or not but there was an awful lot of footnoted details throughout the book as well that I was previously unaware of and I thought it was a good read. I gained a much greater appreciation for Jennette and agree that he deserved a shot at Johnson's title every bit as much as Langford did. Loved the story on page 346 about Jersey Joe Walcott's (Arnold Cream at the time) disappointing first encounter as a youngster with Jack Johnson. My opinion of the man dropped another notch. There are a ton of terrific photographs in the book that I'd never seen before and I think the majority would find it a welcome addition to their boxing library. I'd be interested to hear some other opinions once anyone else has read it.
Clay, this book is fiction. The writer assumes 90% of Jenettes story as if he were Joe. In addition, it is so biased to Joe it is over the top ... he almost never loses a bout, I mean really ... the fight coverage is all one sided, not multiple sources .. if you like a story with a few golden nuggets that's fine but to me it is unpalatable ... I spent $ 33.00 and I truly feel jobbed ... it's The Killings of Stanley Ketchel with one sided newsclips.
Evan, I agree that there is what appears to be a lot of creative license taken as a result of the author writing this in the first person and I often found myself wondering what was based on fact and what wasn't. But I noted that the author interviewed a number of Jennette relations and wondered if some of what he wrote might not have been based on some of the information he received from those folks and he failed to footnote some of that interview material. I do agree that it's too biased in Joe's favor but it's certainly not the first book I've read that one could say that about. In fact, I'd go sofar as to say that could be said about the majority of boxer biographies I've read. I thought it had much mjore than "a few golden nuggets" and personally enjoyed it and felt like I got a lot out of the footnoted materials. It does encourage me to do some further research in some areas.
