Description

Sports fans and boxing enthusiasts alike will love this compelling study of the resurgence of boxing in the early 1980s – and the four ‘greats’ who effected that change. Four Kings captures the contests, fighters and the period with a wonderful perception and vividly conjures up those by-gone smoky and raucous ringside nights in Vegas…

‘Thrilling, insightful and often humourous’ – The Independent
‘A flawless and singular account of fights that remain potent and important decades after the final bell’ – Irish Times
‘A fascinating read’ – ***** Reader review
‘Very rarely is a non-fiction book so riveting it’s almost impossible to put down but this is one of those books’ – ***** Reader review
‘Beautifully written and absolutely fascinating’ – ***** Reader review
‘Outstanding’ – ***** Reader review

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By the late 1970s, boxing had lapsed into a moribund state and interest in it was on the wane. In 1980, however, the sport was resuscitated by a riveting series of bouts involving an improbably dissimilar quartet: Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvellous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran.

Like Ali and Frazier, Dempsey and Tunney, Robinson and LaMotta, the ‘Four Kings of the Ring’ brought out the best in each other, producing unprecedented multi-million-dollar gates along the way. Each of the nine bouts between the four men was memorable in its own way and at least two of them – Leonard-Hearns in 1981 and Hagler-Hearns in 1985 – are commonly included on any list of the greatest fights of all time. The controversial outcome of another – the 1987 Leonard-Hagler fight – remains the subject of heated debates amongst fans to this day.

In Four Kings, award-winning journalist George Kimball documents the remarkable effect they had on the sport and argues that we will never see their likes again. Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran didn’t set out to save boxing from itself in the post-Ali era, but somehow they managed to do so.

Publisher Review

An epic poem of a book . . . a book that lifts the heart -- Frank McCourt A distinguished and entertaining addition to our library of classic boxing literature -- Budd Schulberg Kimball writes with insight and humour. The bigger the fight, the better he tells it -- Tom Hauser, www.secondsout.com Thrilling, insightful and often humourous . . . [Kimball] captures the contests, the fighters and the period with a wonderful perception * The Independent * An intoxicating, captivating tale of great boxers in a fatally flawed environment * The Herald *