When it comes to brutality in the name of victory, boxing is near the front of the line, but it’s also a sport that’s long attracted outstanding writers. Literary names are as great as Hemingway was enamored with the ring’s drama and its memorable fiction possibilities. And still, others concentrated on the events of real life and produced long-standing gems of nonfiction based on great fights, great fighters, or great personalities.
“To some it is an irony and perfectly logical to others.”
While the scope of those works is too vast and the tastes of readers too varied to boil down to a ranking of the 10 best” boxing-fueled books, click here to get a sample of 10 titles that are worthy additions to any agenda for summer reading.
Articulated below are the best boxing books that can be used for self-motivation & training:
Best Boxing Books
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | RATING | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
TOP PICK
| TOP PICK | World Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price |
 | Kings Boxing Book |
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BEST VALUE  | BEST VALUE | Cus D’Amato Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price |
 | Frazier Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price | |
BUDGET PICK
| BUDGET PICK | The business of Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price |
 | Fight Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price | |
OUR TOP CHOICE
| OUR TOP CHOICE | Mike Tyson Boxing Book |
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 | A Life Boxing Book |
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PREMIUM PICK
| PREMIUM PICK | Defense Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price |
 | Woman’s Boxing Book |
| View Latest Price |
1: Unbeaten: Rocky Marciano’s Fight for Perfection in a Crooked World Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Mike Stanton
- Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
- Publication Date: June 26, 2018
- Pages: 400
Book Description:
Unbeaten is the story of this extraordinary champion, who in a bloody and dramatic fight with Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952, overcame injury, doubt, and the schemes of crooked promoters to win the championship. With an innocent nickname, ‘Suzie Q,’ to which there was no cover, Rocky packed a devastating punch.
Book Author:
The author of The Prince of Providence: The Rise and Fall of Buddy Cianci, the Most Infamous Mayor of America, which was a New York Times bestseller, is Mike Stanton. He is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Connecticut, having previously been the head of the Providence Journal investigation team, where he shared the Pulitzer Prize.
Our Opinion:
2: The Four Kings Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: George Kimball
- Publisher: Mcbooks Press
- Publication Date: September 1, 2009
- Pages: 364
Book Description:
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, before the pay-per-view model, when prize fights were telecast on network television and still captured the nation’s attention, the four Kings formed the pantheon of boxing greats. During this period, championship fights were full of vengeance and rage, frequently pitting one of these storied fighters against another. This treasury of boxing tales brought to life by one of the sport’s greatest authors, full of suspense, dedication, terror, and pain.
Book Author:
George Kimball spent 25 years as the Boston Herald’s sports columnist and was awarded the Nat Fleischer Prize for Excellence in Boxing Journalism in 1986. Over 350 title bouts have been covered, and he is the author of Just Skin Deep and Sunday’s Fools. He resides in the city of New York.
Our Opinion:
3: Iron Ambition: My Life with Cus D’Amato Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Mike Tyson & Larry Sloman
- Publisher: Blue Rider Press
- Publication Date: May 30, 2017
- Pages: 480
Book Description:
Tyson elaborates on the life lessons that D’Amato handed down to him in Iron Ambition, and focuses on how the words of wisdom of the mentor continue to resonate with him outside the arena. The book also chronicles the brave battle of Cus against the mobsters who dominated boxing, revealing more about this singular cultural icon than we have ever known.
Book Authors:
Mike Tyson is the world’s former undisputed heavyweight champion and the first boxer ever to concurrently hold the three largest belts in prizefighting, the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight championships. Larry Sloman is best known for Private Parts and Miss America as Howard Stern’s collaborator. His biography of Houdini, Houdini’s Secret Life, will soon be a major Lions gate motion picture.
Our Opinion:
4: Smokin’ Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Mark Kram Jr.
- Publisher: Ecco
- Publication Date: June 4, 2019
- Pages: 384
Book Description:
Smokin’ Joe is unprecedented in its breadth, complexity, and access, a propulsive and richly textured narrative that is also a compelling tale about race and class in America, and aims to be the definitive biography of a towering American figure whose life was galvanized by violence and whose mark has proven to be enduring.
Book Author:
For his first novel, Like Every Other Day: A Tale of Commitment, Mark Kram, Jr. received the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing in 2013. Articles by him have appeared in The Best American Sports Writing and will be included in The Great American Sports Website, the upcoming anthology. He was honored with the 2011 Sigma Delta Chi Award by the Society of Professional Journalists for feature writing.
Our Opinion:
5: No Way but to Fight: George Foreman and the Business of Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Andrew R.M Smith
- Publisher: University of Texas Press the Fight The Fight
- Publication Date: January 10, 2020
- Pages: 400
Book Description:
The writer follows the life and career of Foreman in No Way but to Fight, from the Great Migration to the Great Society, through the Cold War and Cultural Wars, from urban Houston and onto the world stage, where he discovered that fame brought new challenges.
Book Author:
Andrew R. M. Smith is Nichols College’s Assistant Professor of Sport Management and History. He is originally from The Fight
Guelph, Ontario, and lives in Woodstock, Connecticut, with his wife and daughters.
Our Opinion:
6: The Fight Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Norman Mailer
- Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
- Publication Date: October 15, 2013
- Pages: 256
Book Description:
In 1974, two African-American boxers were paid $5 million each to fight each other in Kinshasa, Zaïre. Muhammad Ali was one of them and George Foreman was the other. Norman Mailer, a commentator of unprecedented energy, was watching them. If he analyses the movements of the warriors, interprets their personalities, or weighs their conflicting claims on the African and American souls, the interpretation of the titanic war by Mailer makes this book a masterpiece of sports literature.
Book Author:
She was born in 1923 in Long Branch, New Jersey, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, was one of the most influential authors of the second half of the twentieth century and for almost sixty years, a leading public intellectual. He is the author of over 30 novels. A winner of the two Pulitzer Prize along with an award for lifetime achievement.
Our Opinion:
7: Undisputed Truth by Mike Tyson Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Mike Tyson
- Publisher: Blue Rider Press
- Publication Date: November 12, 2013
- Pages: 592
Book Description:
Tyson chronicles his turbulent highs and lows in the same genuine, straightforward way we have come to expect from this iconic athlete, painfully frank, raw, and sometimes hilarious. Undisputed Reality is not only a brilliant sports memoir but an autobiography for the ages, a single path from Brooklyn’s ghettos to worldwide fame to prominence, and, ultimately, to quiet wisdom.
Book Author:
Mike Tyson is the world’s former undisputed heavyweight champion and the first boxer ever to concurrently hold the three largest belts in prizefighting, the WBC, WBA, and IBF world heavyweight championships.
Our Opinion:
8: Ali-A Life Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: JONATHAN EIG
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Publication Date: October 3, 2017
- Pages: 640
Book Description:
In the complexity he deserves, Jonathan Eig’s Ali exposes Ali, shedding considerable new light on his politics, faith, personal life, and neurological state. Ali is the story of America, the race, the rough sport and the brave man who shook up the world.
Book Author:
The author of four critically praised novels, two of them best-sellers in the New York Times, is JONATHAN EIG. He grew up in Monsey, New York, and was born in Brooklyn. Eig is a former Wall Street Journal personnel blogger. He has written for publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, and the Washington Post, among others. He appeared with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, and in two Ken Burns’s films for PBS.
Our Opinion:
9: Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Jack Dampesy
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication Date: January 6, 2015
- Pages: 208
Book Description:
Championship Boxing instructs the reader in the theory, preparation, and practice of powerful punching, offensive defense, proper posture, feinting, and footwork with straightforward and thorough examples. For both amateurs and experts, the techniques Dempsey reveals will prove useful.
Book Author:
The World Heavyweight Championship was won by Jack Dempsey (1895–1983) from 1919 to 1926. Many of his fights, including the first million-dollar gate, set financial and attendance records. In 1951, Dempsey was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame and is considered one of the twentieth century’s greatest boxers.
Our Opinion:
10: A History of Woman’s Boxing Boxing Book
Quick information:
- Author: Malissa Smith
- Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
- Publication Date: June 5, 2014
- Pages: 346
Book Description:
A Woman’s Boxing History traces the sport back to the 1700s, through the Olympic Games of 2012, and to the present. Via photos, newspaper clippings, and anecdotes, inside-the-ring action is brought to life, as are the tales of women who have played significant roles outside the ring, from fans and judges to managers and coaches. This book comprises extensive profiles of the pioneers of the sport.
Book Author:
Malissa Smith is an amateur boxer and keeps a popular sports blog, Girl boxing. She often reports on the subject of woman’s boxing and has appeared on the radio show Courts & Sports as a guest to discuss the history of woman’s boxing and woman’s boxing in the Olympics. Smith is a member of the board of the World Boxing Hall of Fame for Women (IWBHF). ⠀
Our Opinion:
FAQs:
How much per fight do boxers make?
Fighters should expect around $1,000 to $4,000 per fight early in their careers or from $5,000 to $10,000 per mid-range fight. There are only about four fights a year for most boxers, so the salaries here are not staggering.
How long do boxers wait between battles?
7 days or 168 hours to fight again before stepping into the ring or cage. This law also has other explanations for this. These explanations would also clarify why, if only at the SAME event, a fighter will fight multiple times within 2-3 days.
Why do boxers stick their hands in rice?
Digging your hands through rice and performing certain grabs and movements helps to strengthen grip and forearm muscles.
Does boxing reinforce braces?
Constructing the strength of your wrist and forearm can help strengthen the strength of your grip, keep your forearm secure and aligned when hitting the bag, and help avoid repeated movements from injuries. From strengthening exercises to stretches, there are many different ways to reinforce boxing wrists.
What are the four boxing styles?
To describe fighters, there are four commonly recognized boxing styles that are used. There are the swarmer, the out-boxer, the boxer-puncher, and the slugger. ⠀
Which nation invented boxing?
The earliest proof of boxing dates back to around 3000 BC in Egypt. In the late 7th century BC, when soft leather thongs were used to bind boxers’ hands and forearms for protection, the sport was introduced to the ancient Olympic Games by the Greeks.