The intoxicating and captivating tale of four men who changed the face of boxing from award-winning sports writer George Kimball

Four Kings

The first book to comprehensively tell the story of how four middleweight boxing giants came to dominate the sport throughout the 1980s

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 
 
***************************************************************************** 
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.

An epic poem of a book . . . a book that lifts the heart

A distinguished and entertaining addition to our library of classic boxing literature

Kimball writes with insight and humour. The bigger the fight, the better he tells it

Thrilling, insightful and often humourous . . . [Kimball] captures the contests, the fighters and the period with a wonderful perception

An intoxicating, captivating tale of great boxers in a fatally flawed environment

A flawless and singular account of fights that remain potent and important decades after the final bell . . . Four Kings will, unquestionably, be ranked as a classic boxing book that will take future generations back to those smoky, raucous ringside nights in Vegas

Fight fans wanting a good read on their summer holidays should grab a copy

Certainly the best value of any book out there at the minute as well as being comfortably among the best . . . probably the best boxing book since Kevin Mitchell's War, Baby

A born storyteller, [Kimball] throws in enough yarns and anecdotes to fill three or four books

George Kimball was an award-winning sports writer and covered boxing from the era of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier to the present day. He died in July 2011.

George Kimball

George Kimball's latest book, Manly Art, is a must-read for boxing fans as Kimball compiles the best of his commentary over the last decade

Manly Art is a book that even the mildest fight fan will snuggle up with and wish for a hundred pages more. Kimball writes about people - colourful, intense people - and does it to a turn

Manly Art offers Big George at his best

Dispatches From Ringside

From the legendary Irish Times columnist and award-winning veteran American sports journalist George Kimball, author of the bestselling Four Kings, comes this compilation of boxing-related commentary, criticism, reportage and analysis, representing the best of his work over the last decade. This is a hard-hitting look at the current state of boxing, drawing on columns and articles from a wide variety of sources including the Irish Times, TheSweetScience.com and BoxingTalk.com. Kimball pulls no punches as he dissects the triumphs, defeats and mistakes of the major figures in boxing from yesterday and today including Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya and dozens more. 
 
Sadly, George Kimball passed away in July 2011. This hugely entertaining and informative collection is a fitting tribute to his long association with the sport of boxing and displays just why Kimball is so warmly regarded. This is boxing writing at its best from a master of the craft.

George Kimball

Praise for Manly Art

George Kimball's latest book, Manly Art, is a must-read for boxing fans as Kimball compiles the best of his commentary over the last decade

Manly Art is a book that even the mildest fight fan will snuggle up with and wish for a hundred pages more. Kimball writes about people - colourful, intense people - and does it to a turn

Manly Art offers Big George at his best

George Kimball's latest book, Manly Art, is a must-read for boxing fans as Kimball compiles the best of his commentary over the last decade

Manly Art is a book that even the mildest fight fan will snuggle up with and wish for a hundred pages more. Kimball writes about people - colourful, intense people - and does it to a turn

Manly Art offers Big George at his best

George Kimball's latest book, Manly Art, is a must-read for boxing fans as Kimball compiles the best of his commentary over the last decade

Manly Art is a book that even the mildest fight fan will snuggle up with and wish for a hundred pages more. Kimball writes about people - colourful, intense people - and does it to a turn

Manly Art offers Big George at his best

Books by George Kimball

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter