By Fakhry Asaad
Title: Four Kings
Author: George Kimball
Publisher: Mcbooks PR
ISBN: 9781590132388
Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.
– William Faulkner
Boxing literature is usually hit-or-miss, and it doesn’t have the same volume of content as other sports like baseball, basketball, or even tennis, which means there are fewer “must-reads.” Another issue surrounding boxing literature is its time frame.
The vast majority of books about boxing centre around “The Golden Age of Boxing”, the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, which were a chaotic and tumultuous time when it came to the way Black boxers were viewed. This makes some of the literature difficult to read in today’s society, like Norman Mailer’s “The Fight” or A.J. Liebling’s “The Sweet Science”.
However, award-winning journalist and former Boston Herald writer George Kimball’s book, “Four Kings”, manages to avoid this pitfall.
The beauty of “Four Kings” lies in its simplicity. By the late 1970s, boxing had lapsed into a moribund state, and interest in it was declining. In 1980, however, the sport was revitalised by a riveting series of fights involving a new generation of boxers: Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran. These “Four Kings of the Ring” would fight one another nine times throughout the decade and win 16 world titles between them.
Each chapter of the book, except the first and last, is dedicated to one of the nine fights between the Kings. It begins with Duran-Leonard I and ends with Duran-Leonard III. While telling the story of the headline fight of each segment, Kimball effortlessly dances between each of the four royal pugilists, describing their journeys as well. This allows the reader to follow the path of all four Kings while still focusing on the main event of each chapter.
This approach also enhances the reading experience by providing the opportunity to watch the fights on YouTube in chronological order. Additionally, the journalist goes beyond the bouts featuring just the Kings and details many major non-foursome bouts within each chapter, briefly describing most of the title fights and defences of each fighter. Watching and reading about the fights in chronological order allows the reader to see the boxers grow, adapt, and change, fully appreciating their artistry.
When it comes to writing style, Kimball may lack the poetic flair of other sportswriters, but his approach is more straightforward. For a non-fiction book loaded with facts, his style effectively conveys information and engages the reader.
As a boxing journalist during the era, Kimball had access to all the major boxing figures at the time: Bob Arum, Don King, Emmanuel Steward, Angelo Dundee, and many more. His insights into the matchmaking and politics of boxing in the 1980s frequently surprise and impress.
He often drops intriguing stories and anecdotes that the mainstream fan may not have heard before, such as the story of Sugar Ray Leonard being invited to the president of HBO Sports’ private box for Wimbledon. Leonard decides to skip the event. However, given his generous nature, he gifts his tickets to two prostitutes, who show up unannounced in his place.
Kimball adds highly interesting revelations and corrects misinterpretations throughout. For instance, did you know that in the run-up to the September 1981 “Showdown” with Leonard, Hearns, while sparring, broke the jaw of future welterweight world champion Marlon Starling?
And did you know that going into the 1980 Marvin Hagler-Alan Minter fight held in England, Minter was actually the betting favourite to keep his belt? It’s quite amazing, in hindsight, what happened in the ring and how easily challenger Hagler dealt with the man who’d foolishly said that “no black man is going to take my title.”
It is little gems like these that help make “Four Kings” such an enjoyable read. There are also some great quotes from each of the four kings themselves, and attention to detail is given to what happened to each all-time great after one of the most famous rivalries in all of boxing had come to an end.
