(Forgive me) Four-King Enjoyable Read(Rating: 4)
I share the first reviewer's scoring for this book, although not his affection for the brutal end of the sport. Rather, the history of boxing (like that of its poorer cousin, pro wrestliing, and its travelling companion, the mafia) fascinates me for sociological reasons. I agree that the author has omitted to choose his preference, but he's hinted at it by listing them Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and I'd guess this matches the public perception, with SRL at the head due to his show-biz image and the rest in that sequence due to the results of high-profile contests among the four. I personally favour Hagler, who first caught my attention by thrashing the evidently-overrated A. Minter, and Hearns, who upset me late on by beating the quiety capable Dennis Andries. Each line of this book drips with detail, and you could argue that the author is simply thumbing through results in Ring magazine except that asides and qualifications confirm that he's "been there". While the switching back and forth between the four angle characters can be hard to keep up with -- and the incidental biogs of supporting characters even more so, so that I had to backtrack -- this amount of detail makes the book more "liveable". The author is also frank about the seamier side of the fight game, suicidally so with some attestations. A good read for anyone who enjoys evocative newsreel of this atmospheric sport. (Dave)