What are some good Boxing Biographies

[Kid Canada]

I recently rear Sugar Ray Robinsons book ¨Pound for Pound¨, and enjoyed it. I was wondering if anyone could recomend other good boxing books. I know there are a couple of Ali books, Frazier has an autbiography out, so does Ken Norton and Earnie Shavers. Have any of you read any and what do you recomend?

[RAESAAD]

I think Sonny Liston has a good story........

[hellfire508]

I think Sonny Liston has a good story........

The Life and Times of Muhammad Ali - Thomas Hauser

My favourite boxing book.

[Southpaw Stinger]

Raging Bull - Jake Lamotta. Is just as good as the film.

[SABBATH]

Raging Bull - Jake Lamotta. Is just as good as the film.

Autobiographies tend to be subjective and slanted (George Foreman, Larry Holmes etc...although they often include personal inside information that biographies don't.

Unauthorized biographies (without the co-operation of the subject) often lack inside information but will often include some 'dirt' on the subject. Some of these biographies read like press reports spliced together which they often are.

Authorized biographies are often glowing about the subject but again with the co-operation of the subject you will get some inside info.

Best advice about biographies is they are usually best when the subject has long retired from the game or even deceased when they can best be put into perspective. Tyson had biographies on the shelf when he was still in his early 20's which is nuts.

There are some very good biographies on Dempsey, Louis, and Jack Johnson's 'Unforgiveable Blackness' is excellent.

Save your money, and go to your local library and read what they have. When I was in grade school I had read every boxing book in my local library and have read every new one that has come in the last 30 or so years....

[Kid Canada]

Autobiographies tend to be subjective and slanted (George Foreman, Larry Holmes etc...although they often include personal inside information that biographies don't.

Unauthorized biographies (without the co-operation of the subject) often lack inside information but will often include some 'dirt' on the subject. Some of these biographies read like press reports spliced together which they often are.

Authorized biographies are often glowing about the subject but again with the co-operation of the subject you will get some inside info.

Best advice about biographies is they are usually best when the subject has long retired from the game or even deceased when they can best be put into perspective. Tyson had biographies on the shelf when he was still in his early 20's which is nuts.

There are some very good biographies on Dempsey, Louis, and Jack Johnson's 'Unforgiveable Blackness' is excellent.

Save your money, and go to your local library and read what they have. When I was in grade school I had read every boxing book in my local library and have read every new one that has come in the last 30 or so years....

If you`ve read them all then are there any you would recommend. I have a friend you read the Joe Frazier one that liked it. He also said the Ken Norton one was real good.

[SABBATH]

If you`ve read them all then are there any you would recommend. I have a friend you read the Joe Frazier one that liked it. He also said the Ken Norton one was real good.

The Frazier one (Smokin Joe) is an autobiography but is still very good revealing and somewhat honest. I've yet to read the Ken Norton one. I''m not good at remembering titles but Henry Cooper, Jack Dempsey (Dempsey), Joe Louis (The Brown Bomber/A credit to his race), Muhammad Ali (Life and Times/The Greatest), Rocky Graziano (Somebody up there likes me), Jake Lamotta (Raging Bull), Jack Johnson (Unforgiveable Blackness/In the ring and out), Rocky Marciano (Biography of a first son)...these are a few that come to mind that I enjoyed.

I would definitely recommend the biographies in bold...

[Kid Canada]

The Frazier one (Smokin Joe) is an autobiography but is still very good revealing and somewhat honest. I've yet to read the Ken Norton one. I''m not good at remembering titles but Henry Cooper, Jack Dempsey (Dempsey), Joe Louis (The Brown Bomber/A credit to his race), Muhammad Ali (Life and Times/The Greatest), Rocky Graziano (Somebody up there likes me), Jake Lamotta (Raging Bull), Jack Johnson (Unforgiveable Blackness/In the ring and out), Rocky Marciano (Biography of a first son)...these are a few that come to mind that I enjoyed.

I would definitely recommend the biographies in bold...

Thanks a lot man.

[The Raging Bull]

I'd like to buy some boxers autobiographies just to know what it is like to be a pro boxer, hoping that i will be there 1 day.

[Hard Boiled HK]

I finished reading "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight: Cassius Clay Vs the United States of America" by Howard L Bingham. I thought this was really good because it gives a relatively subjective look at Ali.

I also finished reading "The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey" by Muhammad Ali with Hana Yasmeen Ali. This book, I found, was rather boring. I suppose it is more spritual and more of a soul searching kind of book, because it seems to me he always talk about how great God is. It might remind you somewhat of reading a bible. However, the book is rather short because of its large font size, so you may want to give it a try.

I'm am currently reading "The Greatest" by Muhammad Ali, and I am almost finished. This is entertaining reading, but there are some things he barely talks about. For example, he doesn't really say how his relationship with Malcom X died out, while in the first book described above, it talks about how Ali "betrayed" Malcom X. However, Ali does try to talk about this a little bit more in the 2nd book described above.