Men of Steel: The Lives and Times of Boxing's Middleweight Champions - Hardcover

Walsh, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0860518477 ISBN 13: 9780860518471

Publisher: Robson Book Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

Profiles middleweight champions, examining their private lives and their battles in the ring, and offers a look at the history of middleweight boxing from its first fight in 1884

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

While the heavyweight class is considered boxing's glamour division, a case can be made that some of the best fighters have been middleweights (150-160 pounds). British journalist Walsh strengthens that case in this action-packed history. It is noteworthy that even some long-gone champions like Stanley Ketchel and Harry Greb are still well known to fans, and that experts consider the wild bouts between Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano to have been among the greatest fights of all time. And then there is Sugar Ray Robinson: thought by many to be the best ever in any class, Robinson, the welterweight champ from 1946 to 1951, moved up in weight class to become a five-time middleweight champion, first taking the title from Jake La Motta in 1951. More recent titleholders like Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard are also treated in detail. Walsh also writes here about mob control of the sport, which he regards as still a major factor, at one point suggesting that the Sweet Science is about as aboveboard as wrestling. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Heavyweight boxing champions always garner the most publicity, but real aficionados of the sweet science will point to the middleweight division as the sport's most compelling combination of speed, power and strategy. Walsh, a writer for England's Daily Mail, has compiled a fascinating chronological history of the middleweight division. He begins with one John Kelly, an Irish immigrant who changed his name to Jack Dempsey before he won the first-ever middleweight title fight in 1884. To his credit, Walsh doesn't rely only on ringside accounts but researches the fighters' lives to provide a context for their battles. Perhaps the most interesting profile is of Harry Greb, the only man to beat Gene Tunney. Of Greb it was said, "He fought like a wildcat . . . lived like an alley cat." Carlos Monzon, Roberto Duran, Emile Griffith, Marvin Hagler, and Sugar Ray Leonard are among the other champs profiled. This is an intelligent and exciting portrayal of boxing's best fighters. Wes Lukowsky

About this edition

• Publisher: Robson Book Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0860518477
• ISBN 13: 9780860518471
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 245