Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing (Paperback)

~ (Author), Pete Hamill (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Consider the state of boxing today. Not easy, is it? It’s hard to name a prominent fighter. The audience that once gravitated to the sweet science has been diffused among an alphabet soup of competing organizations presenting overhyped, pay-per-view events. It wasn’t always so. Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns were all household names in the 1980s, held multiple titles in or around the middleweight division, and fought among themselves nine times. Kimball, a columnist for the Boston Herald for 25 years, covered all nine of those epic confrontations among 400 other title bouts. He relies on his notes and recollections of the fights as well as fresh interviews with the fighters, their handlers, their managers, and others of note. His accounts of the fights are riveting blow-by-blows, the “big event” context is palpably rendered, and each of the fighters re-emerges from the mists of memory as colorful and compelling as ever. Boxing fans with a little gray in their hair—paraphrasing Pete Hamill’s foreword—will savor Kimball’s work. Younger fans? If they find their way to the book, maybe they’ll understand the difference between greatness and hype. --Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Chosen for Booklist Online's 10 Top Sports Books of 2009

"Kimball's accounts of the fights are riveting blow-by-blows, the "big event" context is palpably rendered, and each of the fighters re-emerges from the mists of memory as colorful and compelling as ever. Boxing fans . . . will savor Kimball's work."  —Booklist

"Boxing's last Golden Age gets the book it deserves. Kimball's breezy, detail-packed book . . . provides vivid, knowledgeable accounts of the action. He also draws clear colorful portraits of [the] four fighters."  —Sports Illustrated

"Four Kings is a thriller and George Kimball a prince among sportswriters . . .  an epic poem of a book, a book that lifts the heart."  —Frank McCourt, author, Angela's Ashes,'Tis, and Teacher Man

"A a terrific book. Kimball was there and never missed a moment of it. His account of the fighters, the fights and the colorful supporting players is rich with insights and details."  —Vincent Patrick, author, The Pope of Greenwich Village and Family Business

"Very accurate and well-researched . . . a phenomenon . . . well-written. I couldn't put it down. I loaned it to a friend and he won't give it back"  —Emanuel Steward, World Champion Boxing trainer

"George Kimball is one of America's best-loved sportswriters and Four Kings shows why. With skill, grace and humor, he brings to life a remarkable era and four uniquely gifted athletes."  —Jeremy Schaap, ESPN reporter and author, Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History

"Kimball writes with insight and humor. The bigger the fight, the better he tells it."  —Thomas Hauser, author, Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590132386
• ISBN-13: 978-1590132388
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #209,999 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book covering a Fantastic Era in Boxing, October 10, 2008

By	Hawk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing (Hardcover)

George Kimball absolutely nails one out of the park with this well researched book covering a time in Boxing that he lived through covering the sport.

Each fighter: Duran, Leonard, Hagler and Hearns are each given equal coverage and there is absolutely no bias or spin from the author. Given Kimball covered the Sport in Boston for the Herald, Hagler's backyard, this is VERY refreshing.

The book does what you hope it does, cover the nine fights that each of these four greats had against each other, but George adds so much more insight and background and PERSONAL perspective about the fighters and fights, that you are never bored or disappointed.

All Sports books should strive to be this great.

George Kimball has set the bar very high here. I don't anticipate it being reached any time soon.

Hawk

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Workmanlike effort to cover boxing's last golden age, October 14, 2008

By	Joseph C. Sweeney (Portland, Maine) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing (Hardcover)

"Four Kings" is a solid effort by veteran Boston Herald sportswriter George Kimball in his efforts to describe the nine fights fought against each other by Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, and Roberto Duran in the 1980's. Younger sports fan may not recall that boxing was once considered the fifth major sport, since today it is very much a fringe affair not covered at all by most daily papers.

Kimball attended all nine of the fights and works hard to bring the reader back to these important and usually memorable bouts. For anyone who watched all the fights, or at least some of them, "Four Kings" brings back some wonderful memories.

As a Boston sports fan, I can recall when Hagler was as important to the local sports scene as the Bruins or Patriots. He was massively popular in the late 70's and 80's, his heyday. And his greatness is given full credit herein.

So read this book if you recall these fights, as Kimball does a solid job recapturing a lost era.

One note: a free pass is given the heinous boxing promoter Bob Arum. Apparently, Kimball and he are on good relations. Arum is almost as bad as Don King, and in my view is almost as responsible for boxing's demise.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memories, November 23, 2008

By	D. Diaz - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing (Hardcover)

If you are no longer interested in boxing; If Don King's world of Pay Per View and the lack of personalities in the sport have killed your interest; Please allow George Kimball to take you back to another era. If you're under 40 you probably won't believe me. Once upon a time, boxing was bigger than football.