The Boxing Kings

The Boxing Kings is another reminder of why boxing is the undisputed center of the sports storytelling world. -- Jim Lampley, HBO boxing commentator It's truly refreshing to read a paean to the great days of heavyweight boxing from someone who knows and loves the sport. Paul Beston takes us back to an America where men were honored-and even crowned-for being willing to walk into a ring with nothing but their courage and their skill. He recreates the outsized personalities who captured the imagination of the country and reigned as kings over the sporting world. Boxing has fallen on leaner times today, but Beston brings its glories back to life. -- Andrew Klavan, author, True Crime and Don't Say a Word The subject has everything going for it-sex, politics, war, race, crime, celebrity, money. Yet until now, the story of American heavyweight boxing lacked one thing: a powerful narrative to tie it all together. This Paul Beston supplies in overplus. He tracks the 'Sweet Science' from its corrupt beginnings, to its nationally televised heyday, to its decline and fall in the final rounds. En route to that TKO, the heavyweight title gained stature and international attention, magnified by the writings of A. J. Liebling, Ernest Hemingway, Norman Mailer, James Jones, and others. With the cool, unbiased eye of a referee, the knowledge of a historian, and the wit of a skeptic, Beston belongs in their distinguished company. -- Stefan Kanfer, author, Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart and Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando As you read about John L Sullivan, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey and others, you may find, if you're like me, that you're imagining yourself ringside, right in the middle of boxing history. -- Michael Woods, editor, NYFights.com and host, Talk Box podcast from Everlast It seems inconceivable that American fighters no longer rule the heavyweight division. For more than a century, it seemed our turf; and during those years, there was a rough equivalency between the heavyweight champion and Mr. America. Then, in a heartbeat, it ended. Paul Beston's The Boxing Kings is a book to read while we wait for the next Great American Hope in the distinguished line of Sullivan, Johnson, Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Ali, and Tyson. Here is how the heavyweight division once was in all its red, white, and blue splendor. -- Randy Roberts, award-winning author of books on Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali