The Boxing Kings
When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring
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Narrated by:
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Alexander Cendese
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By:
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Paul Beston
About this listen
The Boxing Kings tells the story of the heavyweight title in the days when it was a defining institution in the United States. Author Paul Beston places special emphasis on those champions who held a central place in American culture beyond just in the boxing ring, including John L. Sullivan, who made the title a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who in 1908 became the first black man to claim the title; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; Rocky Marciano, who became an embodiment of the American dream; Muhammad Ali, who took on the US government and revolutionized professional sports with his showmanship; and Mike Tyson, a hard-punching student of boxing history who exemplified the modern celebrity.
The gallery of champions also includes comics, dandies, bookworms, divas, ex-cons, workingmen, and a tough guy turned preacher. The Boxing Kings treats these and other champions as three-dimensional human beings, flawed but sympathetic men placed on great public stages. As the title shifts from one claimant to another, their stories also open a window into the larger history of the United States.
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"I can lick any son of a bitch in the world." So boasted John L. Sullivan, the first modern heavyweight boxing champion of the world, a man who was the gold standard of American sports for more than a decade and the first athlete to earn more than a million dollars. He had a big ego, a big mouth, and even bigger appetites. His womanizing, drunken escapades, and chronic police-blotter presence were godsends to a burgeoning newspaper industry.
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Larger than life
- By Rusty Shackelford on 09-23-24
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The Sweet Science
- By: A. J. Liebling
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This collection of A.J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" brings vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. It depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis' unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goings-on in the ring.
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Liebling is a master wordsmith, Gardner an incredible narrator
- By Josh on 03-29-16
By: A. J. Liebling
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Major Taylor
- The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame
- By: Conrad Kerber, Terry Kerber
- Narrated by: Barrie Buckner
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In the wake of the Tour de France’s fallen heroes, the story of one of history’s most legendary cyclists provides a much-needed antidote. In 1907 the world’s most popular athlete was not Cy Young or Ty Cobb. Rather, he was a black bicycle racer named "Major” Taylor. In his day, Taylor became a spiritual and athletic idol. He was the fastest man in America and a champion who prevailed over unspeakable cruelty. The men who aided him were among the most colorful to emerge from the era.
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Great book terrible narrator
- By B. P. H. on 10-31-18
By: Conrad Kerber, and others
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The Comeback
- Greg LeMond, the True King of American Cycling, and a Legendary Tour de France
- By: Daniel de Vise
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Greg LeMond stunned the sporting world by becoming the first American to win the Tour de France in 1986, defeating French cycling legend Bernard Hinault. Nine months later, LeMond lay in a hospital bed, his career as a bicycle racer seemingly over. And yet, barely two years after this crisis, LeMond mounted a comeback. In 1989, he once again won the Tour - by a narrow margin of eight seconds. It remains the closest Tour de France in history. The Comeback chronicles the life of this great American athlete, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame.
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Good book. Flawed reading.
- By david savage on 07-23-18
By: Daniel de Vise
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What's My Name, Fool?
- Sports and Resistance in the United States
- By: Dave Zirin
- Narrated by: Aaron Abano
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Here Edgeofsports.com sportswriter Dave Zirin shows how sports express the worst, as well as the most creative and exciting, features of American society. Zirin explores how Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flash-time show exposed more than a breast, why the labor movement has everything to learn from sports unions, and why a new generation of athletes is no longer content to "play one game at a time" and is starting to get political.
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Interesting read
- By sosnows8 on 08-16-20
By: Dave Zirin
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Arnie & Jack
- Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry
- By: Ian O' Connor
- Narrated by: Alpha Trivette
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Surprisingly, one of sport’s most contentious, complex, and defining clashes played out not in the boxing ring or at the line of scrimmage but on the genteel green fairways of the world’s finest golf courses. Arnie and Jack. Palmer and Nicklaus. Their 50-year duel, in both the clubhouse and the boardroom, propelled each to the status of American icon and pushed modern golf to the heights and popularity it enjoys today. Yet for all the ink that has been spilled on these two essential golf figures individually, no one has ever examined their relationship in this way.
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No Match
- By Craig Black on 05-11-15
By: Ian O' Connor
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Men in Blazers Present Encyclopedia Blazertannica
- A Suboptimal Guide to Soccer, America's "Sport of the Future" Since 1972
- By: Michael Davies, Roger Bennett
- Narrated by: Roger Bennett, Michael Davies
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Soccer has been America's Sport of the Future since 1972. The Men in Blazers are two English-born, soccer-obsessed broadcasters who have savored the dizzying growth of the game along with millions of Americans, as if it was a rollicking, sporting telenovela playing out in real life. Written in such a way that fully immerses Americans in the history and culture of the world's game, their Encyclopedia Blazertannica relives the careers of such greats such as George Best, Maradona, Beckham...and Alexi Lalas.
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complete horsecrap
- By Jordan on 06-07-18
By: Michael Davies, and others
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Wonder Girl
- The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias
- By: Don Van Natta Jr.
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Texas girl Babe Didrikson never tried a sport too tough and never met a hurdle too high. Despite attempts to keep women from competing, Babe achieved All-American status in basketball and won gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics. Then, Babe attempted to conquer golf. One of the founders of the LPGA, Babe won more consecutive tournaments than any golfer in history. But at the height of her fame, she was diagnosed with cancer. Babe would then take her most daring step of all....
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Great read
- By Jajam on 01-07-18
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Slaying the Tiger
- A Year Inside the Ropes on the New PGA Tour
- By: Shane Ryan
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than a decade, golf was dominated by one galvanizing figure: Eldrick "Tiger" Woods. But as his star has fallen, a new, ambitious generation has stepped up to claim the crown. Once the domain of veterans, golf saw a youth revolution in 2014. In Slaying the Tiger, Shane Ryan introduces us to the volatile, colorful crop of heirs apparent who are storming the barricades of this traditionally old-fashioned sport.
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Reader knows no golf
- By James Trainor on 04-19-18
By: Shane Ryan
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Their Life's Work
- The Brotherhood of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers
- By: Gary M. Pomerantz
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 16 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s won an unprecedented and unmatched four Super Bowls in six years. A dozen of those Steelers players, coaches, and executives have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and three decades later their names echo in popular memory: "Mean" Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth.
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Great Book
- By cap on 07-18-18
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The Sweet Science
- By: A. J. Liebling
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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-
Story
This collection of A.J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" brings vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. It depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis' unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goings-on in the ring.
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Liebling is a master wordsmith, Gardner an incredible narrator
- By Josh on 03-29-16
By: A. J. Liebling
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The War
- Hagler-Hearns and Three Rounds for the Ages
- By: Don Stradley
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
The battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns is remembered as one of the greatest fights of all time. But in the months before the two finally collided on April 15, 1985, there was a feeling in the air that boxing was in trouble.
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great war!
- By Anonymous User on 10-30-24
By: Don Stradley
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Boxing and the Mob
- The Notorious History of the Sweet Science
- By: Jeffrey Sussman
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
More than any other sport, boxing has a history of being easy to rig. There are only two athletes and one or both may be induced to accept a bribe; if not the fighters, then the judges or referee might be swayed. In such inviting circumstances, the mob moved into boxing in the 1930s and profited by corrupting a sport ripe for exploitation. In Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science, Jeffrey Sussman tells the story of the coercive and criminal underside of boxing, covering nearly the entire 20th century.
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Great Book
- By Lester Boggs on 05-22-19
By: Jeffrey Sussman
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The Fight of the Century
- Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971
- By: Michael Arkush
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The first meeting between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden, transcended the world of sports to become a major international media spectacle with tremendous social and political overtones. Sportswriter Michael Arkush draws from interviews with Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee; his doctor, Ferdie Pacheco; and more than 100 others to examine how the fight, watched by more than 300 million viewers around the world, ushered in a new era of sports marketing. From then on, every game would be turned into an "event," powered by over-the-top hype and carefully staged pageantry.
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great narration!
- By Dustin F Lindblad on 06-12-24
By: Michael Arkush
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Macho Time
- The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of Hector Camacho
- By: Christian Giudice, Carlos Acevedo - foreword
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Raised in 1970s Spanish Harlem, Hector Camacho lived a life as fast as his fists flew in the ring. Handsome, flamboyant, and outspoken, Camacho electrified the boxing scene of the 1980s and, shouting his mantra "Macho Time!", beat some of the greatest fighters of his generation. His fast-lane life caught up with him eventually - and tragically - when he was shot dead outside a nightclub in Puerto Rico at the age of 50.
By: Christian Giudice, and others
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The Dark Side of the Game
- My Life in the NFL
- By: Tim Green
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This audiobook is packed with hard-hitting inside information only a former player could know. From the perfect partnership between the mob and the NFL to the shattered lives of former players, no subject is out of bounds. At the same time, you’ll meet the NFL’s role models and true heroes, including the dazzling Deion Sanders and the superb Steve Young.
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Great Insight into the NFL
- By John on 01-23-19
By: Tim Green
-
The Sweet Science
- By: A. J. Liebling
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This collection of A.J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" brings vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. It depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis' unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goings-on in the ring.
-
-
Liebling is a master wordsmith, Gardner an incredible narrator
- By Josh on 03-29-16
By: A. J. Liebling
-
The War
- Hagler-Hearns and Three Rounds for the Ages
- By: Don Stradley
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns is remembered as one of the greatest fights of all time. But in the months before the two finally collided on April 15, 1985, there was a feeling in the air that boxing was in trouble.
-
-
great war!
- By Anonymous User on 10-30-24
By: Don Stradley
-
Boxing and the Mob
- The Notorious History of the Sweet Science
- By: Jeffrey Sussman
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More than any other sport, boxing has a history of being easy to rig. There are only two athletes and one or both may be induced to accept a bribe; if not the fighters, then the judges or referee might be swayed. In such inviting circumstances, the mob moved into boxing in the 1930s and profited by corrupting a sport ripe for exploitation. In Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science, Jeffrey Sussman tells the story of the coercive and criminal underside of boxing, covering nearly the entire 20th century.
-
-
Great Book
- By Lester Boggs on 05-22-19
By: Jeffrey Sussman
-
The Fight of the Century
- Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971
- By: Michael Arkush
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first meeting between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden, transcended the world of sports to become a major international media spectacle with tremendous social and political overtones. Sportswriter Michael Arkush draws from interviews with Ali's trainer, Angelo Dundee; his doctor, Ferdie Pacheco; and more than 100 others to examine how the fight, watched by more than 300 million viewers around the world, ushered in a new era of sports marketing. From then on, every game would be turned into an "event," powered by over-the-top hype and carefully staged pageantry.
-
-
great narration!
- By Dustin F Lindblad on 06-12-24
By: Michael Arkush
-
Macho Time
- The Meteoric Rise and Tragic Fall of Hector Camacho
- By: Christian Giudice, Carlos Acevedo - foreword
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in 1970s Spanish Harlem, Hector Camacho lived a life as fast as his fists flew in the ring. Handsome, flamboyant, and outspoken, Camacho electrified the boxing scene of the 1980s and, shouting his mantra "Macho Time!", beat some of the greatest fighters of his generation. His fast-lane life caught up with him eventually - and tragically - when he was shot dead outside a nightclub in Puerto Rico at the age of 50.
By: Christian Giudice, and others
-
The Dark Side of the Game
- My Life in the NFL
- By: Tim Green
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook is packed with hard-hitting inside information only a former player could know. From the perfect partnership between the mob and the NFL to the shattered lives of former players, no subject is out of bounds. At the same time, you’ll meet the NFL’s role models and true heroes, including the dazzling Deion Sanders and the superb Steve Young.
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-
Great Insight into the NFL
- By John on 01-23-19
By: Tim Green
What listeners say about The Boxing Kings
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dr. Joe de Beauchamp
- 11-29-21
Kings
I found this book to be a particularly very comprehensive. I truly enjoyed all the boxing Kings from the beginning of John l Sullivan. The book led up to Mike Tyson, and a very good book to the Sweet science.
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- veronica d
- 03-18-21
Got me in the head, then the gut
A fantastic trip through the lineage of heavyweight champs, from Sullivan to Tyson. And while the greatest fights are told, there is also a lot about the personalities and history of each champ, and how they related to, or fought against, the times they lived in.
The narrator is perfect. I wish he narrated more books as well-written as this one. His talent is wasted on all those romance books (hard abs and fainting maidens on the cover)!
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- M
- 02-17-23
I love this book
I love this book. Reading it was so inspiring and got me through a hard time and re-ignited my love for boxing. It reads more like a novel than a biography. It’s captivating and I finished it in a week.
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- KDeSantis
- 01-31-19
Heavyweight Boxing History
Absolutely loved this heavyweight boxing book!
If you're a wanna be boxing Heavyweight historian this book is perfect. Book gives one a big bang for the buck giving so many bios of champions in one book. Personally I purchased the Audible version. Narrator was excellent. Bio on each fighter was in-depth and at the same time moved along quickly. This book was so great I emailed the author and asked him if he would consider doing a middleweights boxing champions book also. The author was very polite and said he would consider it. I hope so!!!
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- Juan Burley
- 01-29-19
Amazing collection of stories
This helped rekindle my love of Boxing, and especially the heavy weight title. It demonstrated how the sport mirrored and influenced American society. i loved all the stories about the Champions who's names we've heard.
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- chris
- 01-02-23
Excellent
Remarkably well written and entertaining for any boxing fan. The sprawling history of the heavyweight world title is engaging and fascinating throughout. Highly recommended.
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- gary smart
- 08-23-19
great book covering heavyweight history
loved it great historical heavyweight history recap many insights I never knew about old time champions
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- Stedeej
- 03-15-23
Very interesting and informative
Great brief overview of the great champions. Unbiased and interesting.
I only wish it were longer, so more time could be spent on each.
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- Andrew
- 10-26-17
Enjoyable and informational
This book provides a meaningful overview of the American history and evolution of the heavyweight championship through its demise. It was enjoyable throughout.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lisa R.
- 01-24-23
We need one of these for each weight class
We need one of these for each weight class. I really enjoyed this, good work.
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1 person found this helpful