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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Sport
Two of the most prominent and celebrated athletes in the world,
Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard came together to
contest the $100million SuperFight on April 6, 1987 at Caesars
Palace in Las Vegas. From Frank Sinatra to U2, Joan Collins to
Whoopi Goldberg, the stars were drawn to ringside by the huge
box-office appeal of the blue-collar, dominant world middleweight
champion facing his nemesis, the charismatic and flamboyant Sugar
Ray, who was coming out of virtually five years of retirement.
Drawing on his deep reservoir of nerve, outstanding technique and a
strategy which Budd Schulberg - who provided Marlon Brando with the
immortal line, 'I coulda been a contender' - called a compound
optical illusion, Leonard won on points. It was boxing's greatest
comeback, but to this day the judges' decision remains bitterly
contested and not merely by the protagonists. But the story of The
SuperFight is much more than the story of the fight, for it details
two remarkable lives, the demons that drove both men and the
formidable challenges they overcame inside and outside the ring.
Hagler grew up in the Newark, New Jersey ghetto of Central Ward,
where a riot/rebellion rooted in racism claimed the lives of 26
people, injured 1,000 more and, to the young teenager, was "like
the end of the world". Fuelled by anger, he climbed to the top of
his domain and ruled for seven years as champion, one of the most
accomplished in boxing's annals. Leonard was an Olympic gold
medallist and all-American hero whose career was cut short by a
detached retina after he became the world welterweight king. He was
Muhammad Ali's gifted and anointed successor but he succumbed to
alcohol and drug abuse and for years was tormented by a secret -
the sexual abuse he endured as an amateur boxer by a trusted coach.
As provocative and polarising in its own way as Ali's defining
rivalry with Joe Frazier, this is the story of The SuperFight, of
Marvin Hagler and Ray Leonard and a fierce fire that still burns.
Jack Beresford was the first British Olympian to win medals of any
colour in five consecutive Olympic Games. His record of 3 Gold and
2 silver medals at the 5 Olympic Games held between 1920 and 1936
remained until Sir Steve Redgrave won gold at the 2000 Sydney
Games. Historically, men have had two great chances to prove their
mettle; in battle and in sport. While many are aware that Jack
Beresford was one of Britain's greatest oarsmen, this affectionate
but unsentimental tribute by his son, John, reveals what few know,
that Beresford served his country with distinction in war as well
as in peace, and both with a modesty that is usually indicative of
true merit. It is commonly said, show me the boy and I'll show you
the man, and this work reveals that Jack the schoolboy, the soldier
and the sportsman was driven by the same strict principals of duty
and hard work throughout his life. This is, says John, the story
that his Father never wrote. It is also a story with a delicious
(if vicious) irony; the German bullet that wounded 19-year-old 2nd
Lieutenant Beresford in 1918 led to him abandoning rugby and taking
up rowing. Eighteen years later, the German favourites to win the
Olympic Double Sculls paid the price of Jack's change of sport as,
in the final's last 100 metres, Dick Southwood and Jack Beresford
rowed them to a standstill to win Olympic Gold.
'I loved it. I thought it was fascinating - really, really
interesting story that he's got to tell... I've known him for years
and I learned an awful lot.' Marc Priestley Kimi Raikkoenen is the
Finnish superstar Formula One driver with a reputation for being
fast on the track and silent off it - until now! In this superb and
authorised portrait of Raikkoenen, Kari Hotakainen gets to reveal
the side of the man that few beyond his close family and friends
have ever seen. Enigmatic and private, Ferrari's former world
champion driver rarely opens up to outsiders, but he granted
Hotakainen exclusive access to his world and to his way of
thinking. It ensures that this will be a book that will delight all
fans of motorsport, who have long revered the Finn. Including
never-previously-seen photographs from his own collection, The
Unknown Kimi Raikkoenen takes the reader into the heart of the
action at grands prix around the world, behind the scenes as race
strategies are planned, and opens up the private side of his life
that he normally guards so carefully. With all the cult appeal of I
Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the raw excitement of Formula One and the
insight of the best biographies, this is a book every sports fan
will want to treasure.
'The greater the challenge, the sweeter the reward, but also the
greater the risk of failure. And fear of failure is the greatest
barrier to success.' Sabrina Verjee is an ultrarunning phenomenon.
In June 2021, on her fourth attempt, she became the first person to
climb the Lake District's 214 Wainwright hills in under six days,
running 325 miles with a colossal 36,000 metres of ascent. Where
There's a Hill tells the story of an outsider who was never picked
for a school sports team yet went on to become an accomplished
modern pentathlete and adventure racer. After switching her focus
to ultrarunning in her thirties, Sabrina moved to the Lake
District, where she could hone her mountain-running skills on the
local fells. High-profile success in endurance events followed, as
she completed the Dragon's Back Race three times and was the
outright winner of the 2019 Summer Spine Race, beating her nearest
competitor by more than eight hours. However, it was the
Wainwrights Round which really captured Sabrina's imagination.
Having learnt about the challenge from fell-running legend Steve
Birkinshaw, Sabrina began to plan an attempt of her own. Despite
multiple obstacles - including lockdown regulations, bad weather,
injury and controversy - Sabrina's grit and determination shone
through. Where There's a Hill is a frank and inspirational account
of how one woman ran her way into the record books.
One of the most talked-about and bestselling books of last year,
this is the no-holds-barred autobiography of a sporting legend
driven to the brink of self-destruction The bestseller that has
everyone talking. In this, his first, autobiography, 'Iron' Mike
Tyson pulls no punches and lays bare the story of his remarkable
life and career. Co-written with Larry Sloman, author of Antony
Keidis's best-selling memoir 'Scar Tissue', this is a visceral, and
unputdown-able story of a man born and raised to brutality, who
reached the heights of stardom before falling to crime, substance
abuse and infamy. Full of all the controversy and complexity that
you would expect from a man who delighted as much as he shocked,
this is a book that will surprise and reveals a fascinating
character beneath the exterior of violence. If you think you know
all about Mike Tyson, read this book and think again.
"An exciting and engrossing book with stories that are worth
telling. This work will engage fans of Charlie O. Finley and the
Oakland Athletics, along with anyone captivated by baseball
history." -- Library Journal, starred review The Oakland A's of the
early 1970s: Never before had an entire organization so
collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its
outlandish behavior and business decisions. The high drama that
played out on the field--five straight division titles and three
straight championships--was exceeded only by the drama in the
clubhouse and front office. Under the visionary leadership of owner
Charles O. Finley, the team assembled such luminary figures as
Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Vida Blue, and
with garish uniforms and revolutionary facial hair, knocked
baseball into the modern age. Finley's insatiable need for
control--he was his own general manager and dictated everything
from the ballpark organist's playlist to the menu for the media
lounge--made him ill-suited for the advent of free agency. Within
two years, his dynasty was lost. A sprawling, brawling history of
one of the game's most unforgettable teams, Dynastic, Bombastic,
Fantastic is a paean to the sport's most turbulent, magical team,
during one of major league baseball's most turbulent, magical
times.
If you enjoyed the 1994 fictitious movie Forrest Gump, you'll love
Roy Story, the remarkable, rags-to-riches true account of the
colorful, comical and quick-witted Roy Bucek, who succeeded beyond
his wildest dreams on the football field, the battlefield and in
numerous business fields with a combination of a tremendously
strong backbone and an incomparable funny bone. Bucek came from
such poverty that he and his family barely noticed the so-called
"Great Depression." His athleticism earned him a college
scholarship, where he became the first official track and field
All-American in Texas A&M history and helped the 1939 Aggies
win the football national championship. Bucek lost his eye in the
historic Battle of the Bulge in World War II, but he became a man
of remarkable entrepreneurial vision. He built so many successful
businesses in Schulenburg, Texas that he resided in a sprawling
home he built just south of Interstate-10 and at the end of...Bucek
Street. His fascinating stories are guaranteed to mesmerize you and
motivate you to pursue your own dreams, no matter how far-fetched
they may seem. Roy Story is a captivating read that will take you
back in time and challenge you to build a brighter future.
The first definitive biography of basketball legend LeBron James,
by the acclaimed author of Tiger Woods. LeBron is unquestionably
the greatest basketball player of the 21st century. Off the court,
LeBron's political activism, outspoken stance on racism and social
injustice have helped build a social media presence that includes
117 million followers on Instagram and 51 million followers on
Twitter. He is an international brand worth billions of dollars. He
doesn't just have huge endorsement deals with some of the biggest
corporations in the world; LeBron sits on boards of directors and
has an equity stake in the companies he sponsors. He has forged a
close friendship with President Barack Obama and clashed publicly
with President Donald Trump. As a child, LeBron was a lost little
boy living in a public housing project in Akron, Ohio. His mother,
who had LeBron when she was just sixteen, would disappear for days
at a time. Scared and alone, LeBron rarely attended school. He was
dirt poor and fatherless. And he had never played organised
basketball. Yet he would become the most successful and most
popular athlete that the United States has produced this century,
bringing success to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los
Angeles Lakers. To tell this epic story, Benedict has done
exhaustive research, digging through thousands of pages of primary
source documents, articles, books and hundreds of hours of video
footage. He's also conducted hundreds of interviews with the people
who were intimately involved with LeBron from the beginning of his
life to the present. He shows the initial slow rise of a star that
suddenly transformed into a speeding comet during his senior year
of high school. It is a unique and unmissable insight into one of
the world's greatest athletes.
Walter Smith was one of the most respected managers in British
football. This insightful biography casts a reflective and
analytical eye over his life and career, examining this shrewd
professional through the many highs and lows that he has
experienced as a player and manager. He enjoyed an illustrious
career in management at Rangers, joining the Souness revolution in
1987, winning nine successive league titles, a domestic treble in
the 1992-93 season and winning both the Scottish Cup and League Cup
three times. In 1998, Smith accepted a position in England with
Everton, where he was the manager until 2002, before being reunited
with Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2004. In December of that year,
Smith was appointed as Scotland manager and his effort subsequently
earned him the title of 'Scot of the Year' at the prestigious
Glenfiddich 'Spirit of Scotland' awards in 2006. Midway through the
qualifying rounds for Euro 2008, however, and with the Scots
leading their group, he controversially accepted an offer to return
to Ibrox in January 2007. Upon returning to Glasgow, Smith led
Rangers to the UEFA Cup Final and triumph in the Scottish Cup in
2008, a domestic League and Cup double in 2009 and another double -
this time in the domestic League and League Cup - in 2010. He
retired from management in 2011 and died in October 2021.
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