AN Illustrated History Of Boxing [Mass Market Paperback]

Nat Fleischer (Author), Sam Andre (Author), Nigel Collins (Author), Dan Rafael (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Through An Illustrated History of Boxing, fans will experience the careers of fighters in every weight class, from flyweight to heavyweight. They can relive the days when Jack Dempsey, Max Baer, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Mike Tyson ruled the heavyweights, and witness Evander Holyfield's rise to the top of the heap. All the key matches in all divisions are described.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 461 pages
• Publisher: Citadel; 6 edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806522011
• ISBN-13: 978-0806522012
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #887,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of Boxing Scores Stunning KO!, June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: An Illustrated History of Boxing (Paperback)

The History of Boxing by Fleischer and Andre is so riveting that I stayed up all night reading this book! From "Pugilisms First Heroes" to the last chapter update, the content is superb. There are so many priceless photos and illustrations pre-dating photographic equipment, from the British origins to Las Vegas!

As a kid, I remember Hurricane Carter winning a televised Friday Night at the Fights brawl by knocking his opponent out of the ring. And the local Houston, TX heavyweights like Cassius Clay and Cleveland Big Cat Williams. Well, this book chronicles the champions.

If I were to make a complaint, only the champions and their opponents are covered. So spectacular non-title fights are not covered here. I reckon that's the nature of the beast on a "best of" book like this that covers such a long period of time. But for what it is, it is all that and more!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth buying, August 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: AN Illustrated History Of Boxing (Mass Market Paperback)

The good points of the book outweigh the bad in that it is a very good reference that tells the history of boxing in a very comprehensive way. Another great point is the illustrations. Huge photos that percieve the boxers as kings and look very dramatic.

But there are some annoyances. First of all, it is very biased towards certain boxers, especially heavyweights. Pages 8 to 185 are reserved for the heavyweights. Pages 336 to 410 are reserved for the featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight divisions!

Not least in the choice of photos. Why show pictures of Rocky Marciano with his kids or Dempsey at the horse-races or smoking his cigar(which takes up 3/4 page) etcetera etcetera when there are is SUCH an insufficient amount of photos for the lower classes. Why comment on how poor Primo Carnera is and show a photo. Why show so much on each heavy? It is irrelevent how they live their lives outside the ring when there is no photo which shows up Sandy Saddler as great as he was(except wrestling on the floor with Pep).

And the middleweights too. Mickey Walker is shown painting his art, but there are is hardly anything on middleweight legend Carlos Monzon!

These are only certain occurances. I am only recalling ones that are in my memory as of writing. But I would say half of the photos in the book should be replaced with photos of the less popular or lower weight boxers. Yes, HALF of the book's photos is like this.

The fly/bantam/feather sections are short(obviously the bigger men are preferred) especially considering the huge size and huge abundance of pictures in the heavy, light-heavy and middle sections. Jimmy Wilde gets a few good pictures but then again they HAVE to do that he is such a legend.

It may be very biased, but it undoubtedly is a worthwhile purchase. Especially for people who want to know the legends of the past like Jim Jeffries or Sullivan. But they really need to put more on the lower classes and the less popular but BETTER boxers.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The King of Sports, August 8, 2005

By 

Chris Luallen (Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: AN Illustrated History Of Boxing (Mass Market Paperback)

This book documents the history of boxing with excellent writing by respected boxing journalists. But the highlight has be its outstanding collection of photos and sketches. The book was originally written in 1959 and its strength clearly lies with its coverage of earlier heavyweight champions like Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. But the current sixth edition is revised and updated through 2001. The emphasis is definitely on the heavyweights but the lower weight classes are also covered. For serious fans of boxing this is a must have book!