Thread: whats your top ten boxing reads

i have read alot of boxing books my dad collected and left to me .i wanna no if there any i havent read
my top ten would be

larry holmes against the odds
harry greb give him the the angels
teddy atlas bio
ken norton going the distANCE
Earnie shavers welcome to the bigtime
Holyfield the humble warrior
jack dempsey and flame of pure fire
roberto duran hands of stone
joe frazier smokin' joe
sugar ray leonard
aaron pryor flight of the hawk


i like bio's the most ,
currently reading billy coon the pittsburge kid
and carmen basilio the onion picker

(these are all really good reads can you tell me your good reads)

Originally Posted by sexyboxer

i have read alot of boxing books my dad collected and left to me .i wanna no if there any i havent read
my top ten would be

larry holmes against the odds
harry greb give him the the angels
teddy atlas bio
ken norton going the distANCE
Earnie shavers welcome to the bigtime
Holyfield the humble warrior
jack dempsey and flame of pure fire
roberto duran hands of stone
joe frazier smokin' joe
sugar ray leonard
aaron pryor flight of the hawk


i like bio's the most ,
currently reading billy coon the pittsburge kid
and carmen basilio the onion picker

(these are all really good reads can you tell me your good reads)

Well, I'm in the process of reading a truly great read... My view from the ropes by non other then Angelo Dundee and co written with Burt Sugar.

Very good book

Originally Posted by PRIDE OF BOSTON

Well, I'm in the process of reading a truly great read... My view from the ropes by non other then Angelo Dundee and co written with Burt Sugar.

Very good book

i only talk winning is better by angelo dundee with mike winters

"Unforgiveable Blackness"
"Hands of Stone"
"Being Sugar Ray" (Robinson)
"Raging Bull"
"Gloves, Glory and God" (Henry Armstrong)
"Facing Ali"
"The Devil and Sonny Liston"
"Cinderella Man"
"Billy Conn: The Pittsburgh Kid"
"The Ageless Warrior" (Archie Moore)

I'm now reading a book about Charley Burley called "Charley Burley: The life and times of an uncrowned champion"

By the way, welcome to saddoboxing.

"Raging Bull" (Jake Lamotta)
"Somebody up there Likes me" - Rocky Graziano

^ these two books are entertaining whether you are a boxing fan or not, both guys lived some interesting lives.

"By George" - George Foreman (real interesting, includes a ton of great stories you never hear about him)

"Flame of Pure Fire" (Jack Dempsey) is a really long but great read as well.

Originally Posted by sexyboxer

i have read alot of boxing books my dad collected and left to me .i wanna no if there any i havent read
my top ten would be

larry holmes against the odds
harry greb give him the the angels
teddy atlas bio
ken norton going the distANCE
Earnie shavers welcome to the bigtime
Holyfield the humble warrior
jack dempsey and flame of pure fire
roberto duran hands of stone
joe frazier smokin' joe
sugar ray leonard
aaron pryor flight of the hawk


i like bio's the most ,
currently reading billy coon the pittsburge kid
and carmen basilio the onion picker

(these are all really good reads can you tell me your good reads)

boxers lack the intelligence to write their own book so im guessing they had someone to write it for them, i personally like reading science fiction

Anyone else read The Devil and Sonny Liston?
The

Anyone else read The Devil and Sonny Liston?
The Atlas bio was great too.

Boxing Reads....
1) Punches on the page...The best boxing Compilation I've ever read.
2) The Ring Magazine....Can't fuction without it.
3) Boxing Monthly....Need this in my life.
4) Soul of a Butterfly....Goes into the "Spiritual" side of Ali
5) WAR....The story of Nige versus the G man.
6) Legends of Irish Boxing...a great read about our amateurs.
7) Boxing's Greatest...A very large book which was quite possibly the best I've ever read!
Ali, The Life and Times....Thomas Hauser's documentation of Ali's life.
9) Give him to the Angels...Harry Greb's story.
10)Max and Joe...Currently being turned into a movie, this was brilliant writing.


Karas, I find your statement both stereotypical and uninformed.
Do you think it is fair to generalise as you did when there are active fighters like Klitschko and Brock? Two men with phd's....Do you think it is a farir assesment of Juan Diaz? That young fighter is about to finish a degree in law? What about MAB? He dropped his Law Degree in favour of the fistic Arts...
Are you suggesting that fighters such as Georges Carpentier were without any wisdom or knowledge? Even though he was close friends with a number of literary geniuses including George Bernard Shaw?
Poor posting fella.

Sun Tzu-The Art Of War
The Devils Horseman
The History Of The Goths
You dont think they pertain to boxing,look forward to some suprises in your life
Very brief, crunchy ones

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

Boxing Reads....
1) Punches on the page...The best boxing Compilation I've ever read.
2) The Ring Magazine....Can't fuction without it.
3) Boxing Monthly....Need this in my life.
4) Soul of a Butterfly....Goes into the "Spiritual" side of Ali
5) WAR....The story of Nige versus the G man.
6) Legends of Irish Boxing...a great read about our amateurs.
7) Boxing's Greatest...A very large book which was quite possibly the best I've ever read!
Ali, The Life and Times....Thomas Hauser's documentation of Ali's life.
9) Give him to the Angels...Harry Greb's story.
10)Max and Joe...Currently being turned into a movie, this was brilliant writing.


Karas, I find your statement both stereotypical and uninformed.
Do you think it is fair to generalise as you did when there are active fighters like Klitschko and Brock? Two men with phd's....Do you think it is a farir assesment of Juan Diaz? That young fighter is about to finish a degree in law? What about MAB? He dropped his Law Degree in favour of the fistic Arts...
Are you suggesting that fighters such as Georges Carpentier were without any wisdom or knowledge? Even though he was close friends with a number of literary geniuses including George Bernard Shaw?
Poor posting fella.

Nah, I'd say it's generally true though. I certainly wouldn't want to read anything written by any of the boxers who have been listed on this thread as having books... Sure you may think of a rare few exceptions who were intelligent, but I doubt they wrote anything anyways. Think about it, you get punched in the head for 30 years, then in old age decide to write a book? Not quite. They are all by other authours I'd assume, and if they aren't, Like I said, I wouldn't want to read them.

I think that a generalisation such as that is grossly unfair! Boxing has had a history of participants who come from uneducated backgrounds and ghettos yes, but that has no reflection on their intelligence or ability to chronicle their own life....
Furthermore, I find that the stereotypical "dumb" boxer is actually a lot more scarce than the articulate, worldly-wise veteran. Jack Dempsey was a saavy businessman after his retirement. Oscar De la Hoya is extremely intelligent. Floyd Mayweather has a sense of business and not just a boxing brain. etc. etc. etc.

If you were to find yourself in the situation that you needed to get to know a person in a certain amount of time and you had the option of reading a writers opinion of them or their personal diary, which would you read
If you attend a histrory lesson, often the first thing taught is the difference between a primary and second source. A primary source is something frrom the time, recorded by someone at the time of an events happeneing. A secondary source is a record compiled later by a writer.

Finally I stress the point...there is a monumental difference between uneducated and unintelligent.

Dark Trade by Donald Mcrae is my favourite boxing book by far.

He spends quite a lot of time with James Toney and they seem to become close. The sections with James Toney really make the book to be honest.

I cant say Ive read alot of boxing Bios but one that really gave me an entirly new perspective on a legend is "Ali his life and times" by Thomas Hauser.

So in depth and so many accounts of from Ali's close freinds,entourage and family .

Ive got some books ive picked up the 10 greatest rounds of boxing,A bio on sonny liston.

And one particular I dont know if anyone ever heard of Johnny Owen, The Myrthyr matchstick. Its called "The Big If" but gives a very good view of Johnny who really belonged to the people. Wales watched him collapse on telly trying to take the title from Lupe pintor,the resulting punch he would later die of.There are some memorable scenes you can find on youtube of what must be most of Myrthyr showing there respect,and greiving to the loss of a man so many people felt close to, a great fighter.

Originally Posted by hitmandonny

I think that a generalisation such as that is grossly unfair! Boxing has had a history of participants who come from uneducated backgrounds and ghettos yes, but that has no reflection on their intelligence or ability to chronicle their own life....
Furthermore, I find that the stereotypical "dumb" boxer is actually a lot more scarce than the articulate, worldly-wise veteran. Jack Dempsey was a saavy businessman after his retirement. Oscar De la Hoya is extremely intelligent. Floyd Mayweather has a sense of business and not just a boxing brain. etc. etc. etc.

If you were to find yourself in the situation that you needed to get to know a person in a certain amount of time and you had the option of reading a writers opinion of them or their personal diary, which would you read
If you attend a histrory lesson, often the first thing taught is the difference between a primary and second source. A primary source is something frrom the time, recorded by someone at the time of an events happeneing. A secondary source is a record compiled later by a writer.

Finally I stress the point...there is a monumental difference between uneducated and unintelligent.

I understand the differences you state perfectly. I just think it's kind of funny that out of the favourites you listed, not one of them was a primary source written by a boxer. I'd really like to hear of a great read written only by a fighter themself, I'm sure there are some.. But it's not unfair to say that someone who takes punches to the head for a living generally isn't going to be able to write well later in life. Even the fighter's you list as being intelligent, like I say.. I certainly wouldn't want to read anything written by DLH himself, and he's probably by far the most savy of those you said. Floyd Mayweather has business sense? I really don't see it, taking the highest payday for the lowest risk isn't exactly rocket science.. And he doesn't have any successful business ventures outside of boxing. I think he's an idiot aside from kinetic intelligence, which does count but hardly helps you to articulate anything. And yes there is a momumental difference between educated and intelligent... But you still need to have both to some extent in order to write a good book.