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

"Four Kings" was an enjoyable read. The information given on political figures such as Ted Kennedy,Kirk Douglas from the entertainment world and Joe Louis, from the boxing world, and you have a fascinating book. There are some great quotes from each of the four kings themselves, and attention is given to what happened to each all-time great after some of the most famous rivalries in all of boxing had come to an end. But among other things Kimball does a great job of making more human the boxing greats, and depicting the complex relationships among all four boxers. Hearns’ trainer Emmanuel Steward comes off as a very warm and tender character. The boxing world has plenty of unique characters, in and out of the ring, and Kimball brings show more you into the mix for every one of these classic fights.
It’s an era the boxing world may never see again, but thanks to Kimball it’s one we’ll never forget. show less

I am a boxing widow. When the fights are on, I could paint the house pink and my husband & his father wouldn't notice one bit.

This book intrigued me. Soon I was immersed in a world that I know nothing about but was fully enjoying the ride. I knew the names of the fighters but nothing about their lives or their boxing careers. As someone who knew nothing about the match-ups between the four, every bout was an absolute thrill. The book also touches lightly upon the seamier side of the boxing industry which was very intriguing.

A well-written book and much enjoyed by this gal.

The Four Kings is the story of Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns. They were the preeminent boxers of the 1980's whose paths crossed in nine fights between the members of the group. The author worked for 25 years as a sports columnist for the Boston Herald and has begun his retirement with the writing of this book. He shows a great love of boxing and a thorough knowledge of the sport and the four fighters. His afterword and acknowledgment show that he was thorough in his research for the book.
The book is a biography of the four men told through a chronological account of the nine fights that made the 80's a decade of glamor and big money in the boxing world. The author covers all aspects of show more boxing and the people involved in these events. The promotion, training regimen and the constant hype that went into each fight are thoroughly covered.
As the author relates the stories of the fights themselves we get literally a blow by blow description of the events. There is a thorough examination of the famous "no mas" fight and an attempt to answer the question of what really happened. The author's conclusion is that Duran quit out of frustration because Leonard danced and boxed and refused to fight.
At the conclusion of the narrative of the fights there is a where are they now chapter on the fighters and the author's thoughts on why boxing has virtually disappeared as a sport in America.
The author blames the demise of boxing on the epidemic of the use of crack cocaine. Users of crack end up on a one way street to oblivion that eliminates the path of hard work and discipline required to become a fighter. The crack dealers have found a quicker and easier way to make a good living than getting beat up for a living. I think the author misses the fact that the violence of boxing has also contributed to its demise. Other sports, primarily basketball and football, find plenty of participants, but boxing has lost its audience. No longer do many Americans enjoy a sport where the primary goal is to inflict a physical beating on your opponent.
This book does succeed as an interesting biography of the four individuals. Roberto Duran was a tough street kid from Panama with no education. In his prime he lived up to the image of a barely civilized man of violence. That is also the way he fought, little style but tough and strong. Now he lives quietly in Miami enjoying what is left of the money he made. Sugar Ray Leonard was probably the most intelligent of the fighters. He was able to adapt his style to what was required to win a fight more effectively than the other fighters. He was a natural celebrity and as the book points out saved his money from the beginning of his career. Thomas Hearns was at 6"1" the tallest of the four. That gave him a consistent advantage in the ring but he did not show the intelligence of Leonard in making use of it. He now lives the life of a rich man enjoying his money. Marvin Hagler was an old fashioned warrior in the ring. He always trained and fought hard. He could fight from both the right and left side making him a difficult opponent. He now lives in Italy and has appeared in a number of films.
This book was well written and edited. The author's journalistic background is evident in his writing style. I would recommend it for anyone who is a fan of boxing.
A copy of this book was provided free by the publisher for the purposes of this review. show less

George Kimball's Four Kings fruitfully conveys the story of "the last great era of boxing" as it could only be told by an eyewitness. By centering his book on the nine fights between members of the four kings- Duran, Hagler, Hearns and Leonard- Kimball captures the excitement of the bouts which attracted millions to follow the sport. In addition, the author does a great job in telling the story of each boxer's career, training and dealings with managers and promoters. Kimball uses his vantage point as a reporter covering boxing to great effect, giving the reader a ringside seat to the fights that electrified the world.

Four Kings is a journalistic account of the boxing careers of 4 boxers who were prominent in the 1980's. Each fought the other at least once, and they were the most famous boxers of their time. George Kimball covered boxing for the Boston Herald American/Boston Herald so he attended all the big fights and many others. He retains many contacts in the boxing world and was able to interview many people and draw on his own extensive notes for this book. Mr Kimball also apparently was close to Marvin Hagler, who came out of Brockton (near Boston) and was a major figure in Boston.

The book is reasonably well written and readable. I felt it went into too much detail and got overwhelming at times. Also, it didn't go very deeply into the show more subjects. It takes as a given that the reader is interested in boxing and either already knows or doesn't care about the history or sociological implications of the sport. Attempts to put the 4 boxers into their own historical context are pretty limited. Nothing really is learned which is why the details get tedious. I also had some trouble keeping the characters straight. There were a lot of characters and not a lot of difference between one and another. The book tells you who was in the corner of each boxer in each fight, and it isn't clear why it matters.

This book would be most interesting to a fight enthusiast or maybe a big fan of one of the boxers.

I wondered, while reading it, if Roberto Duran was drawn as more animalistic than he was, but the book draws on a big biography of Duran & it might all be true. It is nice to think of Marvelous Marvin at La Scala. The book also included a couple of negative stories about Howard Cosell which indicated, I thought, that either Mr. Kimball didn't like Mr. Cosell or (and?) Mr. Kimball thinks Mr. Cosell's reputation is over-rated. (which may be true.) show less

This book is about the last great era of boxing, when there were four superstars fighting at or near the same weight class. Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran will go down in history as four of the greatest boxers of all time. This book covers all four in equal measure. If you remember the great fights that these men had against each other, or if you want to learn more about them, this will be a great book for you to read. It is well written, factual with a lot of interesting anecdotes about the four boxer’s fights and their lives. Even though I was able to watch these four men fight, I learned many things about them and their fights by reading this book. I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down.

In the late 60's and 70's I grew up in a boxing town. My grandfather was a great fan and often took me to the fights on a Saturday night. And on Saturday afternoons we would watch Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, etc pummel whichever unlucky sap happened to be in the ring with them... and on rare occasions watch them fight each other.

Then boxing went into a decline, both nationally and in my own interest. The story of how the "Four Kings" brought it back into the national spotlight is a good one. These were classic fights and fighters. And I thank Mr. Kimball for bringing them back to life for me. I recommend this book for anyone who loves boxing and those who wnat to know more about the sports world through the show more 80's.

Good stuff. show less