Boxing Biographies

On January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston was found dead in his home - of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was accidental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide, Shaun Assael treats the boxer's death as a cold case. The result is a riveting whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas.

Paul Sykes, from Lupset, near Wakefield, died aged 60 in Pinderfields Hospital from pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver. He was a man whose life might have been changed by success in the boxing ring, but despite contending for the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles, he sank back into old habits. It heralded a return to the self-destructive course of his life. This audiobook is my journey to find out what happened to Paul Sykes between the years after his 1990 cult classic documentary and his eventual tragic demise in 2007.

Most know Marvelous Marvin Hagler from his epic battles against Thomas Hearns and John Mugabi and his controversial split-decision loss to Sugar Ray Leonard. But it is his escape from riot-torn Newark in the late 1960s, the unbreakable bond he built with the Petronelli brothers, and his 1980 title fight against Britain's Alan Minter—with its deep racial animus—that captures the real story of Hagler.

In this extraordinary, poignant memoir, Rahaman tells a much bigger and more personal story than in any other book on Muhammad Ali - that of two brothers, almost inseparable from birth to death. It is the final and most important perspective on an iconic figure.

You're about to discover the incredibly inspirational story of boxing superstar Wladimir Klitschko. If you're listening to this, then you must be a fan of Wladimir Klitschko, like so many others. As a fan, you must wonder how this man is so talented and want to know more about him. Wladimir is considered as one of the greatest boxers of our time, and it's been an honor to be able to watch him fight throughout his career.

Belfast's Carl ‘The Jackal' Frampton MBE is no ordinary boxer. One of only three fighters from the British Isles to be named the Ring magazine Fighter of the Year, he has headlined sellout world championship bouts on both sides of the Atlantic, winning multiple world titles in the process. His dedicated army of fans have traversed the globe to be ringside throughout it all. But Frampton's popularity far exceeds the traditional adulation for a sporting icon; he is regarded as a symbol of hope and unity by both sides of the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland.

With the success of the critically acclaimed, Academy Award-winning film The Fighter, the world stood up and cheered for the inspiring true story of Micky Ward - a heart-and-soul warrior who overcame the odds to make history in the ring. But that was only part of the tale.… Now, in his own words, “Irish” Micky Ward tells his inspirational life story as only he can. From his first bout at the age of seven, Micky Ward was known first and foremost for giving as good as he got, and for leaving absolutely everything he had in the ring.

Fights Worth Fighting by Dolph Lundgren is a powerful and unflinchingly honest memoir from one of the most enduring icons of action cinema. Best known for his role as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Lundgren skyrocketed to fame in the 1980s and has since built a remarkable career spanning over a hundred...

Guillermo Vicente Vidal's memoir chronicles his journey from Castro's Cuba to the United States - a tapestry of his coming of age, a broken family, and disorientation of political unrest. Vidal was barely 10 years old when he proudly shook the hand of Fidel Castro. Although Vidal's parents were once staunch supporters of La Revolucion, they soon found they could no longer keep their sons safe in the new face of Castro's reign, making the difficult decision to send Vidal and his brothers to the US via Operation Peter Pan in 1961.

"Rockin" Rick Bell was born to an unwed mother and placed in a chaotic, alcoholic home by the Catholic Church. By the time he was old enough to serve as an altar boy, Rick had become an atheist, believing God was no different than Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy.

In this work of sporting and social history we have a biography of Canadian-born, Boston-raised boxer George Dixon (1870–1908), the first Black world champion of any sport and the first Black world boxing champion in any division. George Dixon: The Short Life of Boxing’s First Black World Champion, 1870–1908 chronicles the life of the most consequential Black athlete of the nineteenth century. Yet despite his triumphs, Dixon has been lost to history, overshadowed by Black athletes whose activism against white supremacy far exceeded his own.

Alan Scott Haft provides the first-hand testimony of his father, Harry Haft, a holocaust victim with a singular story of endurance, desperation, and unrequited love. Harry Haft was a 16-year-old Polish Jew when he entered a concentration camp in 1944. Forced to fight other Jews in bare-knuckle bouts for the perverse entertainment of SS officers, Harry quickly learned that his own survival depended on his ability to fight and win. Haft details the inhumanity of the "sport" in which he must perform in brutal contests for the officers.

Kenneth Washington shares his experiences, knowledge, and understanding of being raised by this warrior, trainer, father, mentor, man of God, friend, awesome person, and legend. Legendary Boxing Trainer George Washington is a great read; it will guide you to living life on life's terms and walking by faith not by sight. It takes you from childhood to manhood basic training to basic boxing skills leadership and the dedicated life of Brother George Washington.

Raised in 1970s Spanish Harlem, Hector Camacho lived a life as fast as his fists flew in the ring. Handsome, flamboyant, and outspoken, Camacho electrified the boxing scene of the 1980s and, shouting his mantra "Macho Time!", beat some of the greatest fighters of his generation. His fast-lane life caught up with him eventually - and tragically - when he was shot dead outside a nightclub in Puerto Rico at the age of 50.

Pittsburgh’s Paul Spadafora defeated Israel Cardona to capture the International Boxing Federation lightweight belt and the heart of a city that had not boasted a world champion prizefighter in over a half-century. Outside the ring, Paul’s dependency on drugs and alcohol marred his legacy and bore tragic consequences. Paul’s narrative was one of brilliance, crippled by madness, a dichotomy of in-ring savant and out-of-ring calamity. Fighting Till the End is a candid examination of a flawed champion determined to conquer his demons and come out on top in the final round of his life.

Picture a man, he’s tall, not excessively so, yet as wide as he is high. This man is a spitting and growling street brawler; a tank full of ready-to-blow, muscle-fuelled aggression. Imagine, if you will, the comic-book style Bulldog of Great British stamp. Well, there you have him! The prototypical face taken from the terraces of an ’80s football fan’s rolled-up newspaper cosh; a poster-boy of malevolence left over from Thatcher’s post-punk Britain.

In the early 1990s, Tommy Morrison, a young roughneck from Jay, Oklahoma, burst onto the boxing scene to become one of the most controversial fighters of his era. Handsome, eloquent, and dynamic, Morrison parlayed destructive knockout power and a homespun personality into celebrity status throughout middle America, where boxing rarely prospered. But it was his starring role in Rocky V alongside Sylvester Stallone that propelled him to stardom—and ultimately led to his tragic downfall.

By the age of 24, Big Joe Egan had over 80 boxing wins and seven Irish titles and was a Golden Gloves champion. A mean body puncher with a durable chin, he went the distance with Lennox Lewis and beat future WBA champion Bruce Seldon. Encouraged by Floyd Patterson to try his luck in the USA, Joe joined "Iron" Mike Tyson’s training camp in the Catskill Mountains with the great Cus D’Amato. Joe became like a brother to Mike, who described him as the Toughest White Man on the Planet. Big Joe Egan is a gripping, entertaining, and uncompromisingly emotional account.

An in-depth exploration of the pivotal Cassius Clay transformed into Muhammad Ali, exploring the events, relationship, and experiences that shaped him.

The Champ: Terry Downes - known as 'The Paddington Express' - was a world champion boxer, US Marine, gangsters' favourite and latter-day film star and businessman. The Chump: James McNicholas' PE teacher once told him he was so unfit he'd be dead by the time he was 23. James has spent his life pursuing a career in acting and comedy. In reality, that has meant spells working as a painter-decorator and river cruise salesperson. After Terry's death, James finds himself in reflective mood, comparing how he's doing in life to how his grandad was at that age.