Books on boxing?

[boilermaker]

I just checked out Elliott Gorn's "The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting In America" from my school's library, and I'm kind of curious if there are any other good books on boxing out there anyone would recommend? I would prefer something "historical" in nature, but I'll definately check out anything, be it topical, biographical, or so on. I'm really in the mood to read alot about the sweet science...

[David Myers]

Boilermaker,

If you are going to quote Jacques Barzun, then you really should read A. J. Liebling's <i>Sweet Science</i>. It includes, among other great essays, a report on the heavyweight championship bout matching Archie Moore with Rocky Marciano.

[jofre]

I just posted another book under the thread: New Book - Chicago Boxing Images.

[jofre]

IBRO's J.J. Johnston and Sean Curtin's new book on Chicago Boxing hits the bookstores on March 1st. I just got through reading the advance copy and can tell you they did a terrific job. I highly recommend the book to all. Here are the details:



Chicago Boxing (Images of Sports)

By J.J. Johnston and Sean Curtin

Description: "Professor" Mike Donovan, Battling Nelson–"The Durable Dane," and "Stockyards" Harold Smith— their stories are as colorful as their names. Chicago’s boxing history is as exciting and unpredictable as any prize fight within the ring. Some of the most memorable bouts—great, infamous or otherwise—took place in the city’s clubs, parks and arenas, and Chicago has seen its share of champions and top contenders over the years. The Gans-McGovern fight in 1900—the "Big Fix"—set the sport back 25 years in Chicago. The "Long Count" between Tunney and Dempsey, in 1927, may still be the most controversial bout of all time. Chicago Boxing is a story not only of great boxers, but of the fans who embraced them, the promoters who made them big, and even a few mob bosses who made good on their talent.

Highlights include:

Contains photos from the earliest days of Chicago Boxing.

Big fights in Chicago after boxing was legalized including Rocky Kansas vs. Sammy Mandell in 1926 at Comiskey Park and the famous Dempsey vs. Tunney long count in 1927 at Soldier Field.

Photos of the great Jack Johnson as he lived a good part of his life in Chicago and is buried in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery a few feet from another Chicago resident and Heavyweight Champion Bob Fitzsimmons.

Bios and photos of past and present Chicago boxers that made it or almost made it to the top from Jimmy Barry 118 lb. Champion in 1894, to Montell Griffith 175 lb. Champion in 1997.

Photos of boxing arenas that are no longer in existence including the Tattershall arena, Chicago Stadium, and the Chicago Coliseum.

J.J. Johnston is best known for his roles on stage and screen. But he is also a former Chicago area amateur and a leading boxing historian and collector. He has worked behind the scenes on many boxing and crime documentaries. Together with co-author, Sean Curtin, another former local fighter and the Commissioner of Boxing for the State of Illinois from 1998 to 2003 and now a referee, J.J. and Sean tell the story of Chicago Boxing as it could only be told by insiders.

The book is published by Arcadia Publishing and can be purchased at Amazon.Com, area bookstores, independent retailers, or through Arcadia publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888) 313-2665.

[mking55]

Funny you should ask. I tend to read a little and can offer these threads mentioning some different boxing books I've enjoyed.

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http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ad.php?t=56947

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ad.php?t=56076

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ad.php?t=86235

I am also currently reading "Pound For Pound", a just released biography of Sugar Ray Robinson. So far I would have to say, "Avoid this". It's poor quality compared to the one's above. If I didn't spend the money on it (hardcover), I'd probably trash it. Damn, I'm disappointed. But the ones in the threads above, I'll vouch for.

[CONN CHRIS]

The Fight by Norman Mailer

If you can just accept that Mailer is a bit pompous, its an interesting account of the Rumble in the Jungle. I liked it anyway.

[jeffbakker]

My favorite boxing biography is The Devil and Sonny Liston by
Nick Tosches. Interesting story about a sad and tragic life.

[boilermaker]

Awesome. Thanks for the suggestions (and keep 'em coming if you have anything else), I've bookmarked this page.

I'll either Amazon 'em, check Barnes&N, or my school's library soon. By the way, I have to say that I'm very pulled in by the Gorn book. It's pretty much a history of American bare knuckles prize fighting. Lots of newspaper and journal sources, and a lot of funny and sometimes tragic anecdotes of boxing in a time it was more or less outlawed or maligned on moral grounds.

It's funny that questions still arise (cough, Mosley-De La Hoya II cough) that fights are fixed or that boxing is a crooked sport as if that's a new thing, and one of the first anecdote of a professional fight in Gorn's book, a fight in 1824, the resulting decision of this particular fight was immediately questioned and the supporters of both boxers in the crowd rioted upon hearing the questionable verdict of the fight. The more things change...

[jeffbakker]

A good read on the "business" of boxing is "Boxing Confidential" by
Jim Brady. This book gives a good overview of the Frankie Carbo era.
It also covers King,Arum, and the alphabet organizations.

Also covering this territory is "Beyond The Ring" by Jeffrey T. Sammons.

Another good biography is "Champion" by Chris Mead, a biography of
Joe Louis. This book quotes verbatim newspaper articles and fight accounts
of that time. It's instructive to see how African-Americans were referenced
and written about in the nation's press in those days.

[Ian Lord]

Some other good books.

The Black Lights and Muhammad Ali: His life and Times, both by Thomas Hauser.
Tarnished Armour by Dominic Calder Smith.

[jofre]

I am also currently reading "Pound For Pound", a just released biography of Sugar Ray Robinson. So far I would have to say, "Avoid this". It's poor quality compared to the one's above. If I didn't spend the money on it (hardcover), I'd probably trash it. Damn, I'm disappointed. But the ones in the threads above, I'll vouch for.[/QUOTE]

Read Dave Anderson's bio on Robinson. Its a little dated, but worth the read.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...149354-5625651

[Bronx Bomber 15]

Just a few of the ones I've enjoyed:

Punch Lines - Phil Berger
Boxing Babylon - Nigel Collins
The Gloves - Robert Anasi (story of the authors quest to win the NY Golden Gloves, a good read if your into that type of book)
The Ring 20th Century
The Best of the Ring
The Book of Boxing (Sports Ilustrated)
The A to Z book of Boxing (alphabetical listing and definitions of boxing terms, info and such. More of a "Boxing Dictionary", if you will)
and of course the Raging Bull books (I liked both of them, though RB 2 isn't really about boxing)
If you want a book on Tyson, I liked "Bad Intentions" the best but basically, they're all the same.

[steamboat brand, palooka]

I'd have to say, if you were to start with just one book, I'd pick for you the History of Boxing, by Nat Fleischer(I think that's what it's called). It's a big book, with many photos, and it takes you right through to current time, one division at a time.
A couple of others I would recommend are
1."In This Corner...", if only for Gunboat Smith's first hand account of his career.
2."White Hopes and Other Tigers", by John Lardner. I found this little freak in the Old Lyme library, and I asked them if it will ever be phased out of their system. I gave my name, and when it was offered on the book sale, I bought it. Good luck with finding a copy yourself.
p.s. I've noticed that almost every current book on boxing is from Great Britain.

[bear]

I'd recommend Champions And Challengers. One Hundred Years Of Queensberry Boxing by R. A. Haldane if you can find it. Haldane examines the traditional weight classes and tries to determine the best man at each weight both world wide British. He provides a lot of food for thought although the book was published in 1967. Haldane's In the Land of Giants is similar, but treats only heavyweights.
Gilbert Odd's Encyclopedia of Boxing is quite worthwhile. Odd has a lot of short bios of boxers especially a number of British champions that would be otherwise obscure here. Harry Mullan also has an Encylpopedia that features a number of bios. Mullan's The Illustrated History of Boxing is similar to Fleischer and Andre's Pictoral History of Boxing, that has been mentioned already. Anything written by either Odd or Mullan gets a strong recomendation from me. I also recommend anything written by Trevor Wignall, if you can find something.
If you are interested in the prize ring then I'd recomend Bob Mee's recent Bare Fists. It was reviewed quite favorably in Choice, the American Library Assoication's publication that features reviews for academic libraries.

Bear

Originally Posted by steamboat brand, palooka

I'd have to say, if you were to start with just one book, I'd pick for you the History of Boxing, by Nat Fleischer(I think that's what it's called). It's a big book, with many photos, and it takes you right through to current time, one division at a time.
A couple of others I would recommend are
1."In This Corner...", if only for Gunboat Smith's first hand account of his career.
2."White Hopes and Other Tigers", by John Lardner. I found this little freak in the Old Lyme library, and I asked them if it will ever be phased out of their system. I gave my name, and when it was offered on the book sale, I bought it. Good luck with finding a copy yourself.
p.s. I've noticed that almost every current book on boxing is from Great Britain.

[ThirdPartyView]

Some books I recommend in addition:

"The World Heavyweight Boxing championship: A history" by John D. McCallum
"The Great Book of Boxing" by Harry Mullan

Some books I don't recommend:

"The Heavyweight Champions" by John Durant
"Men of Steel: The lives and times of Boxing's Middleweight champions" by Peter Walsh
"The Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions" by John D. McCallum
"Boxing: The Great Champions" by Gilbert Odd

[Dave1877]

One excellent book I have, my best boxing book, is the Official Boxing Hall of Fame Register, available from Amazon I believe. It is definitely worth checking out, it is really a must for all boxing fans.

Also I picked up 'The Rough Guide to Muhammad Ali' on holiday, which is a pocket sized book which really is great. It has sections on his life, all of his fights, his quotes (101 reasons to love Ali), and loads more. It also gives the verdict on his most powerful opponent ever, most awkward opponent ever, etc.

[jofre]

Originally Posted by Dave1877

One excellent book I have, my best boxing book, is the Official Boxing Hall of Fame Register, available from Amazon I believe. It is definitely worth checking out, it is really a must for all boxing fans.

Also I picked up 'The Rough Guide to Muhammad Ali' on holiday, which is a pocket sized book which really is great. It has sections on his life, all of his fights, his quotes (101 reasons to love Ali), and loads more. It also gives the verdict on his most powerful opponent ever, most awkward opponent ever, etc.

Yes it’s a good book, but there are some inaccuracies (Fidel LaBarba’s last amateur fight is listed as his first pro fight) and several records only contain selected bouts (Les Darcy, Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, Sam Langford, Johnny Coulon).

[Dave1877]

Jofre, yeah that is true there are quite a few who have 'selected bouts' only but that was good enough for me. I like the great biographies in it the most.

[jofre]

True! It's definately worth purchasing. I was only pointing out a couple of factors that people may not be aware of. That said, again, its worth purchasing.