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

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Editorial reviews

Product Description

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-10-30 rating:
Excellent Story of Boxing's Recent Golden Age
This well researched, well written story by a journalist who was there brings us back to the great rivalries between Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hitman Hearns and Roberto Cholo Duran.

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review by: addicted reader date: 2008-10-30 rating:
memories of great boxers
This book was especially fun to read because my son and I saw several of these fights in pay-per-view venues. These were truly special fighters.

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review by: date: 2008-10-15 rating:
Workmanlike effort to cover boxing's last golden age
"Four Kings" is a solid effort by veteran Boston Herald sportswriter George Kimball in his efforts to describe the nine fights fought against each other by Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, and Roberto Duran in the 1980's. Younger sports fan may not recall that boxing was once considered the fifth major sport, since today it is very much a fringe affair not covered at all by most daily papers.

Kimball attended all nine of the fights and works hard to bring the reader back to these important and usually memorable bouts. For anyone who watched all the fights, or at least some of them, "Four Kings" brings back some wonderful memories.

As a Boston sports fan, I can recall when Hagler was as important to the local sports scene as the Bruins or Patriots. He was massively popular in the late 70's and 80's, his heyday. And his greatness is given full credit herein.

So read this book if you recall these fights, as Kimball does a solid job recapturing a lost era.

One note: a free pass is given the heinous boxing promoter Bob Arum. Apparently, Kimball and he are on good relations. Arum is almost as bad as Don King, and in my view is almost as responsible for boxing's demise.

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review by: date: 2008-10-10 rating:
Fantastic Book covering a Fantastic Era in Boxing
George Kimball absolutely nails one out of the park with this well researched book covering a time in Boxing that he lived through covering the sport.

Each fighter: Duran, Leonard, Hagler and Hearns are each given equal coverage and there is absolutely no bias or spin from the author. Given Kimball covered the Sport in Boston for the Herald, Hagler's backyard, this is VERY refreshing.

The book does what you hope it does, cover the nine fights that each of these four greats had against each other, but George adds so much more insight and background and PERSONAL perspective about the fighters and fights, that you are never bored or disappointed.

All Sports books should strive to be this great.

George Kimball has set the bar very high here. I don't anticipate it being reached any time soon.

Hawk


review by: date: 2008-10-09 rating:
Four Kings. One of whom is a Legend.
Kimball is a boxing insider, and that alone qualifies him to write a book that is long overdue. I've been reading his articles covering the Sweet Science for three decades and his command of the lingo, recollection of details, and his ability to turn a phrase well, make "Four Kings" well worth reading.

Duran, Leonard, Hearns, and Hagler are modern day Greek Heroes. They're more than that. Neither Achilles, nor Odysseus, nor Arthur, nor Beowulf have anything on these four warriors, shrouded in myth and exaggeration as they are. The four kings' conquests, by contrast, can be seen on film.

Roberto Duran was the greatest among them. He came out of the barrios of Panama where he experienced the kind of poverty no American has tasted to become probably the greatest lightweight who ever lived. His reign of terror in his natural division lasted 7 years. He defied history and probability by stepping up a full division to challenge one of the greatest welterweights (that's 12 lbs north of the lightweight division) who ever lived in Sugar Ray Leonard -defeating him over 15 rounds. This hadn't been done in 50 years. Lightweights don't beat welterweights due to the difference in size. For Duran, pushing 30 and in his 70th fight, to defeat Leonard, who was younger, bigger, faster, and in his prime, was a considerable feat that confirmed the greatness of Duran.

Then came the fall. Duran quit in the rematch.

Three years later, he rises from the ashes of his disgrace and takes a 3rd title, once again from a younger, faster, and this time far stronger champion in Davey Moore. He then does the unthinkable. He steps up to the middleweight division and faces a man who is considered among the greatest of the 160 pounders ever -Brockton's own Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Duran becomes the first man to go the distance with Hagler. Only crazy lightweights would challenge middleweights, particularly as dominant a middleweight as Hagler was. And Duran was right there at the last bell, still scowling with those Manson lamps at the shaven-headed champion.

Uninspired and unready, Duran's next bout was with the fearsome punching Thomas Hearns. Duran is carried out on his shield inside of two rounds. But just when you thought it was over for Beowulf, he steps into the ring against another, larger, dragon. Iran Barkley had just knocked out Hearns (!) and decides that he is going to "finish off these legends." A friend of Davey Moore (who had died in an unrelated accident some time after the beating Duran gave him), Barkley had a vendetta to settle. He wants to destroy Duran. It's 1989. For perspective, know that Duran turned professional in 1968. He became lightweight champion in 1972. The champion is 6'1 and in his prime. Duran is 5'7, 25 pounds out of his natural division, and a decade past his prime. Summoning the kind of skill and courage that is rarely seen in the civilized world, Duran knocks down the giant and stands triumphant at the end of 12 rounds -a fourth title is his. Duran is Beowulf. He is Odysseus.

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Duran is the greatest among the kings. There is little doubt about this among analysts and historians of the sport, and Kimball surprises me by failing to fully recognize this. He disappoints as well because he seems to take for granted that Duran was a man who fought as a 135 pounder during his prime, and who nevertheless had the intestinal fortitude to challenge all-time elites in the 147 (Leonard), 154 (Hearns), and 160 (Hagler) pound divisions when each and every one of them were in their primes.

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