Whose biography do you REALLY want to read?

Until recently I'd never had much interest in biographies, boxing or otherwise. I've read excerpts from biographies on Chuck Liddell and Joe Calzaghe, and while there were points of interest they just didn't grab me. However, having purchased 'Unforgivable Blackness' a couple of weeks ago, and with the recent release of 'The Fighter' I've been thinking: of all the fighters and boxing insiders currently active, whose biography do you think will be worth the wait?

Biographies written while the subject is still alive and active are often tactful in the way they present the facts, and are often shaped by an underlying agenda to maintain or rebuild the reputation of the subject matter. They skirt around some issues and gloss over others. What I want to know is whose warts-and-all biography do you think will reveal the biggest shocks and cause the biggest stir-who has the most and the largest skeletons tucked safely away in their closets? Could it be one of the promoters; perhaps Warren or Arum, or perhaps one of the leading luminaries of the sport has a secret they can't afford for the world to know while they're still competing?

For my money I'd like to hear the full truth behind someone like Victor Conte-the sheer volume of dirty little secrets he could blow the lid on could rock the sport to it's foundations, which in recent times doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

So; whose story do you guys think is BEGGING to be told?

Anyway, that's my query, I hope it sets the noggin thinking.

For overall insight and stories, the promoters should have far more stories than one individual boxer so I would like to see a 'warts n all' published by Arum and King.

Tyson would obviously be interesting.

Froch would write it in the style of a biographer!

BALTIMORA wrote:of all the fighters and boxing insiders currently active, whose biography do you think will be worth the wait?

That's an interesting one to ponder, BALTI.

I'd reckon Mayweather's story has all the makings of a great read, since it would possess the ' flawed genius, hero / villain ' elements. Holyfield, also, provided the biographer would present a ' warts and all ' account.

One no longer active, but not too long inactive, would be Azumah Nelson. The manner in which men on the African continent such as Dick Tiger and Nelson are able to scale the heights and compete with the best of the Americans has always intrigued me. Would love to know how they accomplished it.

HumanWindmill wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:of all the fighters and boxing insiders currently active, whose biography do you think will be worth the wait?

That's an interesting one to ponder, BALTI.

I'd reckon Mayweather's story has all the makings of a great read, since it would possess the ' flawed genius, hero / villain ' elements. Holyfield, also, provided the biographer would present a ' warts and all ' account.

One no longer active, but not too long inactive, would be Azumah Nelson. The manner in which men on the African continent such as Dick Tiger and Nelson are able to scale the heights and compete with the best of the Americans has always intrigued me. Would love to know how they accomplished it.

Most Ghanian boxers who have won world titles come from a village called Bokum. Its a small fishing village just outside Accra where there's a boxing gym practically around each corner. Every kid wants to be the next Nelson. One thing though, you should see the arms on some of those blokes. Huge. They spend all day pulling in fishing nets

HumanWindmill wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:of all the fighters and boxing insiders currently active, whose biography do you think will be worth the wait?

That's an interesting one to ponder, BALTI.

I'd reckon Mayweather's story has all the makings of a great read, since it would possess the ' flawed genius, hero / villain ' elements. Holyfield, also, provided the biographer would present a ' warts and all ' account.

One no longer active, but not too long inactive, would be Azumah Nelson. The manner in which men on the African continent such as Dick Tiger and Nelson are able to scale the heights and compete with the best of the Americans has always intrigued me. Would love to know how they accomplished it.

Interesting shout on Holyfield, Windy. I actually read his autobiography 'Becoming Holyfield' two or three years ago and, to my surprise, it actually wasn't all that bad (I'd expected it to be a stinker). There's some really good insight in to the dealings behind the scenes of King, and also an interesting take on how Holyfield, or more specifically the advice he gave to Riddick Bowe, may have had a hand in the proposed Lewis-Bowe fight never materializing.

On the biography front, I've just finished 'Babyface goes to Hollywood', which I'm sure a few others on here have checked out, on Jimmy McLarnin. It was very good.

azania wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:of all the fighters and boxing insiders currently active, whose biography do you think will be worth the wait?

That's an interesting one to ponder, BALTI.

I'd reckon Mayweather's story has all the makings of a great read, since it would possess the ' flawed genius, hero / villain ' elements. Holyfield, also, provided the biographer would present a ' warts and all ' account.

One no longer active, but not too long inactive, would be Azumah Nelson. The manner in which men on the African continent such as Dick Tiger and Nelson are able to scale the heights and compete with the best of the Americans has always intrigued me. Would love to know how they accomplished it.

Most Ghanian boxers who have won world titles come from a village called Bokum. Its a small fishing village just outside Accra where there's a boxing gym practically around each corner. Every kid wants to be the next Nelson. One thing though, you should see the arms on some of those blokes. Huge. They spend all day pulling in fishing nets

Fascinating stuff, az.

Thanks for that.

Chris, in my ignorance I didn't even know Holy had written an autobio. We live and learn.

Think I'll be adding the McLarnin one to my list, though. What a fantastic little fighter he was, and what a resumé.

See, I think a biography on Valero could yield some interesting tales. It seems there's a lot that went on behind closed doors in protecting the interests of a Venezuelan sporting hero. How much was papered-over, and how obvious were the warning signs that something deadly serious was looming in his future?

Holyfield I'd be interested in reading, to hear about the whole 'Evan Fields' episode. I believe that boxing on the whole is rife with a very successful industry of cheating, an opinion I'd consider supported by the prevalence of instances in which top-level, high profile competitors are implicated in scandals of this type.

One that's been written but I haven't read would be "Ma Vida Loca" by Johnny Tapia. For sheer, "that could never happen to anyone...even in a film" stuff, Tapia's life story is bound to be one helluva read.

Think there's a new(ish) one out called, "The Killings of Stanley Ketchel" which may interest some of you....no, I haven't read that either!

i reckon don kings would have a few secrets, actually maybe not he talks too much to have secrets!!!

think hattons could have a few good storys in there if it was a tell all type. anything now and it wouldnt be anything good just PR to raise his stock after the drugs pic.

I have 'The Killings...' but I think it's a novel with some base in real events rather than a bio.

I don't know of one on Ezzard Charles, which would be interesting from the boxing perspective. Would like to read Pryor's which is supposed to be good, but is too expensive.

'Only in America' is decent enough on Don King.

DAVE667 wrote:One that's been written but I haven't read would be "Ma Vida Loca" by Johnny Tapia. For sheer, "that could never happen to anyone...even in a film" stuff, Tapia's life story is bound to be one helluva read.

Think there's a new(ish) one out called, "The Killings of Stanley Ketchel" which may interest some of you....no, I haven't read that either!

I've heard the Tapia one is meant to be a good read, might pick it up for my next choice. The type of characters who intrigue me are the guys who you have a suspicion are involved in more than they'll let on because the repercussions could be devastating. Margarito I think could be interesting, if it was warts-and-all, likewise someone like Floyd Snr, due to his involvement with a number of fighters who often had conflicting interests, and the fact that it's hard to believe a word he says at present.

cheers scott may have to try have a read. not big on biographys myself, always struggled getting into them. although only tried a few one being bobby charltons. still couldnt get into it. find myself skipping forward to the intresting bits like when he spoke about the munich diaster.

i generally read fiction, something different rather than people telling me about there life. although i do think i have tried some of the poorer more modern ones

Depends who you get. If you buy a biography on Beckham, Gerrard, Calzaghe etc I'd expect them to be boring as hell. A lot of people in boxing have really interesting lives. Not a pro boxer but Atlas' book is really interesting.

Is there one on Manny Steward? I'd imagine that would be good.

Would like to see a Luis Resto autobiography, i feel he was just starting to open up near the end of his documentry, he could do with the cash and i'm sure it would sell.

Scottrf wrote:Depends who you get. If you buy a biography on Beckham, Gerrard, Calzaghe etc I'd expect them to be boring as hell. A lot of people in boxing have really interesting lives. Not a pro boxer but Atlas' book is really interesting.

Is there one on Manny Steward? I'd imagine that would be good.

As a Liverpool FC fan, I read Gerrard's book and it's actually very good. Very open and honest about his life and career so far and certainly a better read than listening to him speak would suggest or indicate.

I'm always wary of any biography which is written during the active years of the subject's life, for a couple of reasons: firstly, there's an incentive to present things in a favourable light so as not to negatively impact on their earning potential. Secondly, if there's still a good part of their career to be played out then the reader is only buying half the story. Take Jordan-hasn't she had numerous biographies? Likewise Wayne Rooney, I think he's had one released despite being only what, tweny-five or so?

a scouse supporting yorkshire man, you are very confused dave!!

and the person who was writing gerrards book for him must have been talented if he made gerrard intresting. lets face it id be suprised if gerrard could read let alone write

You mean you've read "No Ordinary Joe" and it didn't grab you?
What about the glossary with Enzo Calzaghe translations?What about the
mock simplistic vocabulary, the self-parodic reliance of "to be honest with you"(sometimes "I got to be honest with you"/"to be totally honest")?
That "No ordinary Joe" didn't win The Man Booker Prize is a mystery I have still to fathom. Apart from the fact it's non-fiction.

BALTIMORA wrote:I'm always wary of any biography which is written during the active years of the subject's life, for a couple of reasons: firstly, there's an incentive to present things in a favourable light so as not to negatively impact on their earning potential. Secondly, if there's still a good part of their career to be played out then the reader is only buying half the story. Take Jordan-hasn't she had numerous biographies? Likewise Wayne Rooney, I think he's had one released despite being only what, tweny-five or so?

WHILST I CAN SEE WHERE YOU'RE COMING FROM (AMIR KHAN????), THE ARGUMENT DOESN'T REALLY HOLD WATER WHEN YOU CONSIDER NIGEL BENN'S BIO...UTTERLY DREADFUL!!!


a scouse supporting yorkshire man, you are very confused dave!!
*****************************************************************
Not really...supported LFC from about the age of 9 and whilst they're still Britain's most sucessful team, recent form would suggest I'm not in it for the "glory"

Windy, if memory serves, Holy does admit that the first Lewis decision was a bad one in his autobiography..which is pretty decent of him...albeit kind of indisputable(can you see what I did there?)

Naseem Hamed's book would be great now wouldn't it.
"I was the best.I was the best at saying I was the best.I was SO-oooo goood,man..." .

andygf wrote:Windy, if memory serves, Holy does admit that the first Lewis decision was a bad one in his autobiography..which is pretty decent of him...albeit kind of indisputable(can you see what I did there?)

I certainly can, andy.

I reckon Holy to be one of boxing's good guys, too. Those two Lewis fights were strange affairs, and I thought Holy did demonstrably better in the second of the two.

Might need to watch them again.

andygf wrote:You mean you've read "No Ordinary Joe" and it didn't grab you?
What about the glossary with Enzo Calzaghe translations?What about the
mock simplistic vocabulary, the self-parodic reliance of "to be honest with you"(sometimes "I got to be honest with you"/"to be totally honest")?
That "No ordinary Joe" didn't win The Man Booker Prize is a mystery I have still to fathom. Apart from the fact it's non-fiction.

You know, I can't really recall what it was specifically which I didn't like about it, but I just recall coming away feeling that it was a fairly average story about a fairly dull guy. I'm not a fan of Calzaghe Jr or Snr, and that book didn't help that particular cause. He seems to believe he's more interesting than the reality suggests.

Just reading Schulburg's book and there's a piece he did slating Holyfield's continued insistance on fighting...this was dated back in 1998!

Ah, been dying to watch the second bout for a while. Lennox got caught and did that" inane grin at his opponent thing" ,as he did to Rahman ,when he was severely wobbled. He got through it though of course, and I remember it being too close to call by my scorecard.It's much better than the first.The last great Holy fight, no question, past his peak but still operating at the very top level.

Has anybody read Jack Dempsey's book?
Apparently there is a mad opening to it.."A baby falling out of a window gathers force the quicker it travels to the ground..."....Anybody?
Where are you Rowley??

After hearing exerpts from Meldrick Taylor's book (Two Seconds from Glory), I want to read it, but mainly for curiosity value. Seems the worst written, most random book of all time. Anyone read it?

andygf wrote:Ah, been dying to watch the second bout for a while. Lennox got caught and did that" inane grin at his opponent thing" ,as he did to Rahman ,when he was severely wobbled. He got through it though of course, and I remember it being too close to call by my scorecard.It's much better than the first.The last great Holy fight, no question, past his peak but still operating at the very top level.

I certainly reckon that the margins on the official scorecards for the second fight were generous to a fault. Maybe it was a reaction to the shambolic events concerning the first one, but whatever it was if the two decisions had been swapped it would all make a lot more sense, to me.

HumanWindmill wrote:

andygf wrote:Ah, been dying to watch the second bout for a while. Lennox got caught and did that" inane grin at his opponent thing" ,as he did to Rahman ,when he was severely wobbled. He got through it though of course, and I remember it being too close to call by my scorecard.It's much better than the first.The last great Holy fight, no question, past his peak but still operating at the very top level.

I certainly reckon that the margins on the official scorecards for the second fight were generous to a fault. Maybe it was a reaction to the shambolic events concerning the first one, but whatever it was if the two decisions had been swapped it would all make a lot more sense, to me.

Course, had the scorecards been reversed and the correct decision given first time round, we wouldn't have had a need for a rematch given Lewis was such a clear winner in that one.

DAVE667 wrote:

HumanWindmill wrote:

andygf wrote:Ah, been dying to watch the second bout for a while. Lennox got caught and did that" inane grin at his opponent thing" ,as he did to Rahman ,when he was severely wobbled. He got through it though of course, and I remember it being too close to call by my scorecard.It's much better than the first.The last great Holy fight, no question, past his peak but still operating at the very top level.

I certainly reckon that the margins on the official scorecards for the second fight were generous to a fault. Maybe it was a reaction to the shambolic events concerning the first one, but whatever it was if the two decisions had been swapped it would all make a lot more sense, to me.

Course, had the scorecards been reversed and the correct decision given first time round, we wouldn't have had a need for a rematch given Lewis was such a clear winner in that one.

True of course, Dave, and in the end justice was undoubtedly served, but I believe that the whole thing was a minor black eye for boxing.

Scottrf wrote:I have 'The Killings...' but I think it's a novel with some base in real events rather than a bio.

I don't know of one on Ezzard Charles, which would be interesting from the boxing perspective. Would like to read Pryor's which is supposed to be good, but is too expensive.

'Only in America' is decent enough on Don King.

Scott I was told by Clay Moyle who wrote the Langford biography that someone he knows is working on a Charles biography and that it was nearly completed, he told me this some months ago so it should be arriving soon

Also marred Lewis's record as I feel he's marked down due to his performance in the rematch and it would be interesting to see just how highly he'd be regarded if the first fight hadn't been called a draw

Cheer for that Rowley! Who is writing it?

Agreed chaps, that was just how it seemed at the time; the judges knew htat if the fight was in any way close, they had to give it to Lewis.A black eye, indeed.

Info wanted on Jack Dempsey's biography, please! I've not read it, but it does look as if it was defo written by him. The time I saw it, it looked a slight tome, quite general with the facts ,not given to hyperbole---i.e. a bit dull...

[

You know, I can't really recall what it was specifically which I didn't like about it, but I just recall coming away feeling that it was a fairly average story about a fairly dull guy. I'm not a fan of Calzaghe Jr or Snr, and that book didn't help that particular cause. He seems to believe he's more interesting than the reality suggests.[/quote]

Sorry Baltimora, it was another excuse for me to have another quick laugh at the whole subject for the 50th time, it's a given that "No Ordinary Joe" is pants.

Not sure Scott but I know Moyle is a member of the IBRO so hopefully it will be written by another member because for historical research the books I have written by their members have always been excellent.

Andy can't help you re Dempsey, the only Dempsey book I have read is by Randy Roberts, have not read his autobiography

Think Roberts has a new biography out about Joe Louis

He does indeed Dave, half considered getting it but have already got a few about Joe and reach a point as I did with Ali of just getting frustrated that with 100 + years of the sport to write about authors still can only find about three guys to turn their creative attentions to.

Could list any number of fighters worthy of a decent biography before anyone should even consider writing about Louis or Ali

Like to read about charismatic fighters or fighters involved in controversy.......

Guys like Liston, Johnson where you can find the man behind the myth..

Usually you find that people you perceive as something.... are nothing like what you perceive....

Dempsey, Tyson, DAVE667.... those kind of people...

I have read Brunos and think that it was brilliantly done.
Also I think Froch will make an interesting one eventually, with a promoter like he's got the money has to come in somehow.

Just bought In the Ring with James J. Jeffries (Adam J. Pollack), cost me £35.59 so don't tell the missus, was really wanting the Harry Greb one but it's seems there are plenty of them in stock at the moment so will wait untill the next time i'm feeling so rich.

Galveston have read four of five of Pollack's books they are all excellent, but if you have started with Jeffries at 600+ pages might not want to make any plans for a while.

If you are planning on reading his others you might want to try doing them in order as they overlap and so tend to read better in order but without this they are still excellent, the level of detail and research is IMO unrivalled when it comes to boxing books

rowley wrote:Galveston have read four of five of Pollack's books they are all excellent, but if you have started with Jeffries at 600+ pages might not want to make any plans for a while.

If you are planning on reading his others you might want to try doing them in order as they overlap and so tend to read better in order but without this they are still excellent, the level of detail and research is IMO unrivalled when it comes to boxing books

Ha i noticed that Rowley not sure if it will fit through the letter box. Was impressed with that and sure it will take me a while. I didn't know about the Pollack books until i bought the Jefferies one but noticed the Bob Fitzsimmons one aswell there for a similair price. On having a check was delighted to see like you say a series of them, with the pages running into the hundreds. I didn't know the books overlapped, thanks for the heads up. Will definitely be looking to pick them all up over time. Have been noticing a lot of good books on amazon recently just takes a bit time scrolling through them all, but certainly worth it. Looking forward to getting stuck into it.

You can get loads on Amazon for 1p + £2.80P&P second hand. Definitely worth a browse.

Definitely Scott, also noticed a few expensive books that were going for as little as a fiver second hand.

Yeah think I got the last copy of 'When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport' cheap, rest are a fair bit more. Problem is reading them, buying far more than I'm reading atm.

Scottrf wrote:Yeah think I got the last copy of 'When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport' cheap, rest are a fair bit more. Problem is reading them, buying far more than I'm reading atm.

I have the same problem to the point where I've limited myself to a 'read one, buy one' policy. Been reading 'Unforgivable Blackness' now for a couple or three weeks. Could've finished it by now I guess but lately I've only been reading on the bus in the mornings. Almost done though, so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Took me ages that one. Bit full on, so had to mix it with ones a bit shorter and snappier. Don't have the concentration I used to, the internet has turned me ADHD.

Recommendations for what type of book?

True Scott, a good problem mind you. Definitely worth keeping a check as there's so many different sellers on Amazon that the prices change a lot, the Jeffries book i just bought i'm sure was more expensive second hand which is crazy, but like you say there are plenty of bargains there.