Liston and Ali, The Ugly Bear and the Boy Who Would Be King by Bob Mee

As any promoter knows, rivalry sells: Federer v Nadal, Ferguson v Wenger. Youth v experience; skill v strength; idealism v pragmatism. The starker the distinction, the more compelling the story. The most written about of any sports star must be Muhammad Ali.

When Ali first fought Liston, he was still Cassius Clay, an Olympic gold medallist who was establishing a reputation as a boxer of rare speed and agility, with a knack for skilful combinations. His fondness for bragging also singled him out as an entertaining performer.

Kindle Feature Spotlight

He was born into poverty in Arkansas, probably in , and never had much of an education. When he was a teenager his mother moved to St Louis and he fell into crime. Even after these associations were said to be over, the taint of the Mob remained. It was unexpected good fortune when the world champion Floyd Patterson accepted his challenge in President Kennedy reputedly invited Patterson to the White House before the fight and said: But Patterson was knocked out in the first round. What the two men did to reach this point in their boxing careers and their lives is captured in this engrossing book by boxing analyst Bob Mee.

The research is through and the writing detailed as the reader will learn much about both men, especially Liston as it is universally accepted that he was a very complex character and that the truth about many parts of his life was hard to confirm. The writing about Ali is slightly less detailed and covers more of his life in shorter chapters, but still is a good source of information for the casual boxing fan.

The book is more about the lives and management of the two men than it is about the actual fights in Miami and Lewistown, Maine.

Muhammad Ali First Wife With Ali Joking Around

The reader will have to make his or her own conclusions from the information given. This is a book well worth the time to read if one wants to learn more about these two fighters. I avidly read and watch everything on Sonny Liston and this I have just finished and adds more previously unknown facts and treats the leadup to their fight in a most interesting fashion, but again I am a Liston fan from way back and believe he was one of the most misunderstood fighters of our time as well as one of the most talented.

This is a good book if you want a historical review of the Ali-Liston fights. I think in a lot of ways its a good supplement to use with Paul Gallender's excellent book "Sonny Liston, the real story behind the Ali-Liston fights". I think both books are well done and well researched and you can really get the big picture, espcially of Liston by reading them both because I think both authors leave out a few things that the other fills in information for. Good Nuggets of Info. The book is very well researched.

donnsboatshop.com: Ali and Liston: The Boy Who Would Be King and the Ugly Bear: Bob Mee: Books.
Liston and Ali: the Ugly Bear and the Boy Who Would Be King by Bob Mee: review;
Liston and Ali.
Liston and Ali: the Ugly Bear and the Boy Who Would Be King by Bob Mee: review - Telegraph.

I have read a lot about Ali and Liston and I still learned a lot of new information after having read the book. Great book with another view from the era of great heavyweight, two giants seeking one seat We all know the story but we can keep reading it again and again.

Ali and Liston: The Ugly Bear and the Boy Who Would Be King

Mee did a fine job in retelling it and although there is not much new for those who have read countless other versions, this one was put together well and I enjoyed revisiting it. I thought this was a great book. More insight into Sonny Liston in this book than in total of his biographies. Bob Mee puts together good books. One person found this helpful.

The book is very well organized. There is not much new material that I was not previously aware of but it is presented in such a fashion as to make feel new and interesting.

See all 13 reviews. Most recent customer reviews.

Editorial Reviews

Published on May 1, Published on February 9, Published on September 28, Published on May 7, Published on April 20, There's a problem loading this menu right now. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed.
?
Security and Safety in Los Angeles High Rise Building After 9/11.

View or edit your browsing history. Get to Know Us. English Choose a language for shopping. Amazon Music Stream millions of songs. Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon.