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

I really enjoyed reliving many of the fights of these great boxers as I watched many of them as they occurred. This was truly a special time in boxing and these four men were at the center of many exciting bouts. There is no doubt all four were great boxers and their records speak for their ability. Sadly as a whole boxing has fallen from the must see sport it used to be and it seems to be fading away more each year in my opinion. This is a great book to rekindle memories of these great fighters or for someone who wasn't around at the time to learn about a great time in boxing history.

While we're growing long-in-the-teeth for the great rivalries of the '80s to return to the ring, I picked up George Kimball's `Four Kings: Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Duran, and the Last Great Era of Boxing.'Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran are among the major colonnades of the '70s and '80s for boxing. A lot of fight fans can argue what era and class remains the golden age of boxing. Yet, when you observe the careers of these four fighters, you would be hard-pressed to argue against the tenure of their time.In fact, if HBO and their mesmerizing 24/7 series portrayals of boxers today would have been available in the mid-80s, boxing would have remained one of the most popular sports today. I just wish that someone could turn the classic footage from the HBO Boxing preludes for each fight into a mini 24-7 series...HBO's Greatest Fights are close, but we need more.Yes, it's true. The stories of Leonard, Duran, Hearns, and Hagler and how they intertwined haven't been highly described or investigated in detail. Fortunately, Kimball had the inside look at each fighter's climb with his job writing at the Boston Herald.Throughout the book, he details the camp, pre-lim fights, and although Kimball interjects a lot of his own personal recollections and `I was there' descriptions that can stall the stroies, he provides sharp detail in each fighter's career. He also gives the chewy analysis upon how each fighter intertwined with one another for each fight.Yet, the treats are found in the details provided by his notes and hanging with the great men who were in the corners. For example, due to his proximity to Brockton, Massachusetts as a Boston Herald reporter, Kimball pulls scintillating details from the rise of Hagler and through his conversations with Hagler's trainers, Goody and Pat Petronelli.From Kimball's insights, you're not only able to see what drove Hagler for his fights, but also feel the loyalty, trust, and close bonds that Hagler had instilled throughout his career. Throughout the read, I grew to be a huge Hagler fan just alone upon the close circle that he kept throughout his career.The sincere frustration that Hagler and the Petrocellis must have felt waiting for the big fights to come with Leonard and Hearns is symbolic of Hagler's final fight with Ray Leonard...He was robbed. The saving grace is that we saw him dominate the middleweight division for the time that we had. The bottom line here says that Hagler is the statue of this era, and I wish that we could grab more details upon him and his management team. He is what boxing is about and how fighters should handle their business.Gems are also found in the conversations and details that Kimball gleams from Emmanuel Steward with his experience with Thomas Hearns. Kimball takes great care to compile all of the tidbits to determine who was the greatest talent of them all, and if not for the drama often found in Hearns's camps and pre-fight preparations, we may not even be questioning who the greatest fighter of all-time was.Just for fun, take a look back at the Hearns-Duran fight via YouTube...What a master display of three minutes. The talent is incredible.As for Leonard, Kimball eases through the events and depiction of Leonard. During the read, you definitely get to see the gloss that followed Leonard throughout his career and how the shine shielded a lot of his shortcomings in both in and out of the ring. After Leonard's rise from the `76 Olympics to the mainstream, you almost want to snicker at his results after the `No Mas' decision.Kimball also finds nice details surrounding the rise of Duran and his camps throughout the book. If there is a fighter who seems to be neglected for his legendary career, it's `El Cholo', Roberto Duran, and Kimball fits the bill with great anecdotes and inside details.Although the read provides great details, I would have liked to have seen more details and insights upon Roberto Duran, Kimball touches upon a lot of strong theories into Duran's strategies, his famed `No Mas' call, and his rise to the top of the heap. Yet, I would have liked to have heard more details from "Los Manos de Piedras" himself.As a side note, unfortunately, with the passing of Duran's long-time trainer and boxing legend, Ray Arcel, we're not able to hear Arcel's voice as often as any boxing aficionado would hope to have from the legendary cornerman...(Check out Dave Anderson's "In The Corner" if you're looking for more Arcel nuggets and other tips from boxing great trainers. Kimball used Anderson's book as a reference. (In fact, I'll have another review for you shortly...I'm still reading the chapters on Eddie Futch, Kevin Rooney, and George Benson for a second go-around...Yes, that much fun.)This reader would also like to see more answers of why Aaron Pryor couldn't have been included into rotation...Now, the neglection of Aaron Pryor for the great welterweight division runs, that's an overlooked story...Talk about a travesty for fight fans. (Note of bias: Pryor is this reviewer's favorite all-time fighting talent...Bar-none.)In a lot of ways, I found that the read is more like the diving into the footnotes of the great depictions that were found in SIs and Ring Magazines. Lots of facts and interview snippets without a lot of gloss. The read also explores the great question:Where are the big rivalries in the sport of boxing today...?The book offers the mainstream opinions surrounding the topic.First, the separation of divisions absolutely killed the rivalries. Second, the networks of HBO, Showtime, and other cable outlets dividing the fighters for their own promotions and not allowing them to have bouts within their divisions in order to protect their own promotional interests for their boxing schedules.Kimball adds another theory from Gil Clancy that is a simple one to add to the answer the puzzle for the fall of boxing in the late '80s and '90s...Crack. According to Clancy, you had a whole generation that was skipped because of the inner-city drug wars, and the result is that boxing lost it's hold in the great urban cities.From this blogga's point of view, after watching the fall of USA Boxing over the past decade from our dominance in the Olympics, we need to know more. I wish that we could see rivalries nurture and grow like the `Four Kings.' Yet, I think we'll have to turn to tennis or even ...Yeeech, the UFC in 40 years, to ever see a time like this one again.Here's to Brockton, Mass, Washington, D.C., Guarere, Panama, and Detroit, Michigan...Thanks to George Kimball, and enjoy this read.

Great to read the old classic names they fought

Pete Hamill, American journalist and novelist, writes in his Foreword to George Kimball's book "This book is about the last Golden Age of boxing. That is, it is about a time when the matches themselves transcended the squalor of the business side of the sport, and focused only on the men who fought."This lucky reviewer was privileged to see the end of this era, to watch the last two of the nine super fights these four boxers fought with each other. Thus I was delighted to find this beautiful book, which told me details I had never heard, even though I followed the fighters and the sport closely. "Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing" radiates the feeling boxing fans had in these glorious days.Naturally, all of it began with the childhood of the four kings, Duran, Hagler, Hearns, and Leonard. Please note that I listed their names in alphabetical order because I do not want to give preference to any of them; the book makes clear how each of them helped to bring out the best in all others. Kimball tells us how it happened.Duran came from the very poorest circumstances: "Food was scarce; unable to care for him, his mother literally gave the boy away on several occasions. He (Duran) followed Toti to a boxing gym at the age of eight, and had his first amateur bout a year later."Hagler was shy: "On his first night Hagler once again watched in silence. On the second, Goody (Petronelli) walked over and asked with a smile, "Hey, kid, do you want to learn how to fight?" "That's what I'm here for," said Marvin. Goody told him to come back the next night and bring along his gear. Gear? All he had was a pair of cutoff jeans and some tennis shoes."Hearns was skinny, worked hard, and was grateful to be able to participate at out-of-town trips Kronk Recreation Center's Emmanuel Stewart arranged for. Leonard, who among boxers was described as having "choirboy"-looks really sang in a church choir before he started boxing.The book also tells the stories of their trainers, promoters, and gyms. All of them evolved with their respective fighters. There are also the stories in connection with their names. Ray Charles, after who Leonard was named, sang "America the Beautiful" before the second Leonard-Duran fight, at the Superdome, in New Orleans. Leonard won that fight. Hagler had his name legally changed from Marvin Nathaniel to Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Hearns had gotten his nickname because:"Tommy's like a Hit Man," the manager observed. "He does his business and then gets out of town." And Duran had more colorful descriptions assigned to him and his name, than anybody's mother would like to know.Kimball's writing style is fast-paced, information-packed, and entertaining.Fight Hagler vs Duran: "The rows of scar tissue Hagler wore like combat ribbons around his eyebrows could provide an inviting target, even for a boxer more observant of the Marquis of Queensberry rules than Roberto Duran."Readers, who may not know about the "Queensberry rules for the sport of boxing", (written in the 19th century these are the rules, on which the rules of modern boxing are based), as well as other facts, might have a harder time with this book; boxing fans however will be mesmerized by the riveting content Kimball manages to tie together to complete a beautiful picture of the boxers, the sport and the times.Those, who miss the days when boxing was shown on the networks rather than pay-per-view, when ratings came from who fought who and not from manipulated or hyped stories, and Tommy Hearns (hailing from Detroit) could be "Motor City Cobra" with pride, will love this book.In a way it is a neat thing that this book was written now. I read it close to my computer and watched some of the fights again on Youtube.If you are ever looking for a gift for an important man in your life age 55+, who lived through the Golden Era, I recommend to buy this book. The chances to go wrong with "Four Kings" are remote.Thank you, George Kimball, for this treasure.Gisela Hausmann - author & blogger

I had so much interest in this subject coming. These are four iconic boxers that were before my time, and legends that amazingly coexisted and fought! I breezed through this book and couldn't get enough. I have limited free time to read but can always get an interesting section in before bed time. This book grabs your attention quickly and never lets go and I can't believe how chalk full of information it is without rushing through its source material. If you have any passing interest in these athletes, boxing or sports as a whole I truly believe that this is a must-read!

Once upon a time - many more years ago than I'd care to shout about - there were four kings. Their names were Ray, Marvin, Tommy and Roberto and for a decade or so they achieved the near impossible in putting boxing almost on a par with football in the affection of a generation of sports fans. This superb piece of research, bordering on the obsessive, charts their unstoppable rise to their respective world titles, placing particular emphasis on those glorious occasions when their paths crossed to produce some of the most memorable fights we adicts are ever likely to see in our entire lives. It's a testament to the triumph of the spirit and a tribute to the mind-boggling self-belief of these four individuals, fuelled by their determination to escape from the seemingly inevitable fate their background might have led them to expect.An absolute must for any sports fan.

At its beautiful best, boxing can be a noble battle of the mind, a struggle for dominance using skill and wit, and a gargantuan test of human fitness, heart and endurance. At its worst, it's full of braggarts, money spinners, bullies and hate. In the post Ali late 70s, boxing was tending towards ugliness. During the 80s, these four riveting fighters (Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns), brought back some of the vanishing beauty. And drama, pathos, poetry, and romance.The four boxers couldn't be any more different: Sugar Ray smooth, graceful, all jazz and soul, Duran tough, dirty, raw and playful, Marvellous Marvin a shaven headed macho bullet, and Hearns the talented classy Detroit gentleman.This is a great, thrilling ride through the years when these four were kings of the ring. Kimball writes with the easy flow of a fine sports journalist, with an eye for noirish detail and a sly humour ("a Panamanian street dog had stopped Ken Buchanan with a punch to the family jewels"). There's a hint of Hemingway in the clipped punchy sentences. An atmosphere thick with cigar smoke and the dull thud of gloved fist thumping hard flesh. He records the poetry of boxing; describing rounds as "stanzas" and gifted dancing moves as "pirouettes". The first Leonard/Hearns fight is said to be "a symphony in five distinct movements".Kimball himself could have stepped right out of Damon Runyon - ex hippy poet turned shabby sportswriter, losing an eye in a bar room brawl (may not be true), Lucky Strike chain smoker permanently hustling a deadline.It's a ringside seat that pulls no punches, and takes us to the gyms, promoter's offices, restaurants and lounge bars where deals are made, and to over heated TV broadcasts in saturated blood heavy 80s colour. (And thanks to the ubiquity of YouTube, all these fights are quickly located - the commentary on the first round takedown of Leonard vs Andy Price is timeless).This is Dashiell Hammett for the baby boomers. Writers who can capture this pace and excitement seem long gone, and the boxing ring now seems a detached, hostile place, lacking glamour or style. A much missed era.

This is a fascinating read. The author strikes a great balance around the events of each fight. He brings the fights alive from a very neutral perspective and although your expecting a favourite to emerge, he doesn't seem to have one, giving each boxer the up most respect in their roles. Although I'm old enough to remember the fights,memories fade and this book brings them back to life. An excellent read. Thank you.

Brilliant book that is very detailed and informative about a great era of boxing. The author is evidently very knowledgeable on his subject and gives an insight into one the sports greatest rivalries and how each of these four men pushed each other to greatness. Imperative reading for any boxing lover.

excellent book on the greatest era of boxing, these four champions fought battles in and out of the ring . They were like playground bullies always fighting each other to be top dog.