Who else here reads boxing books?

[BLOODSHED]

Hows the book on Joe Louis. Need something to read while school is out.

What boxing books have you read?
What is in your collection?

I have

-Sugar Ray
-Joe Louis:The Great Black Hope
-The Greatest Boxing Stories ever told
-Bert Sugar on Boxing
-The official boxing Hall of Fame book
-Chaos, Corruption, Courage and Glory
-Some like little book with tons of facts on Ali

I have finished the one(s) in bold, reading the ones in blue, and red half of the ones in red..

I just bought Joe Frazier's book..

-Box like the pros

I was at the library, looked through it, looked AWESOME!!!
I'm going to finish ALL these books over the holidays..

[Tha Greatest]

Hows the book on Joe Louis. Need something to read while school is out.

Actually, it ain't that great, well not so far, get the one by Robinson!

Best book EVER!

[ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY]

The best boxing book I have read... comes down to four of them... "The Greatest" by Muhammad Ali..... "The autobiography of Sugar Ray Robinson"... "The Black Lights" by Thomas Hauser..... and "The Life and Times of Muhammad Ali," also by Thomas Hauser....I am also hearing that "The ICEMAN DIARIES" will blow them all away when it is released

ICE

[The Wire]

good book called war, baby. its about mclellan vs benn. great book read it in about two days

[Bombardier]

Like a lot of guys have said the Sugar Ray Robinson autobio is a great read. You'll breeze through it because the writing is so casual and easygoing and you'll learn a lot in the process.

I read "Champion Joe Louis" and is was pretty good. I've heard that it's probably the best Joe Louis book out there. A bit dry in places but it does the job in terms of describing Joe's life and career.

"Papa Jack" about Jack Johnson is a decent bio as well, but be warned that it comes from a university press and is therefore written in a rather dry, academic tone. There's a lot of discussion about source material, for example. Still, it's rather short so if you're looking for the basics about Jack's life it's worth having a look at. I've heard that "Unforgivable Blackness", the book that went along with the documentary, is quite good, but it's a lot longer.

If you want a great, great novel about boxing get "The Professional" by W. C. Heinz. It's from the 50s and it's about a middleweight contender training for his one big shot.

Looking forward to picking up a copy of your book, Iceman .

[monkeyboy]

Jack Dempsey's autobiography is a great read. Gives a lot of background to the early 20th century. It really explains his place in history and how and why he captured the public's imagination.

[marvdave]

"Ghosts of Manilla" a great read that takes a pro-Frazier angle on the Ali-Frazier rivalry. Tells some truths about Ali that mainstream media tries to ignore regarding his treatment of Frazier. People conveiniently forgot what an ass Ali was.

I love him as a fighter and realize he has done so much in the world to help people....BUT...an adulterer, a traitor, a racist at times...doesn't exactly make him man of the year.

Of course that stuff is old news and he was young and such...but it shouldn't be forgotten.

[Bombardier]

"Ghosts of Manilla" a great read that takes a pro-Frazier angle on the Ali-Frazier rivalry. Tells some truths about Ali that mainstream media tries to ignore regarding his treatment of Frazier. People conveiniently forgot what an ass Ali was.

I love him as a fighter and realize he has done so much in the world to help people....BUT...an adulterer, a traitor, a racist at times...doesn't exactly make him man of the year.

Of course that stuff is old news and he was young and such...but it shouldn't be forgotten.

I have that book but have yet to read it (got a lot on my list right now), but it sounds good so maybe I'll have a look at it soon. Thanks for the info .

[Guest]

Yeah, I've read Ghosts of Manilla too... I've read a few factual books over the years, but I tend to go more for autobiographies when I read about boxing. I've gone through Ali (both books), Frazier... I even read Eubank's.

[dempseyfan]

The Manassa Mauler is a good read and,also The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling is excellent.