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

If you are no longer interested in boxing; If Don King's world of Pay Per View and the lack of personalities in the sport have killed your interest; Please allow George Kimball to take you back to another era. If you're under 40 you probably won't believe me. Once upon a time, boxing was bigger than football.

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.

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.

"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.

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