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Books > Biography > 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.
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.
'People think they know him but unless you read this book you will
never know the REAL Alun Wyn Jones' - Warren Gatland 'One of the
greatest, and seemingly indestructible, players in history' - A
Daily Mail Book of the Year Belonging is the story about how the
boy from Mumbles became the most capped rugby union player of all
time. It is the story of what it takes to become a man who is seen
by many as one of the greatest ever Welsh players. What it takes to
go from sitting cross-legged on the hall floor at school watching
the 1997 Lions tour of South Africa, to being named the 2021 Lions
captain. But is it also about perthyn - belonging: playing for
Wales, working his way through the age grades and club rugby and
his regional side. How to earn the right to be there, and what it
feels like to make the sacrifices along the way. Feeling the
connection to players who have come before, and feeling the ties to
the millions in front rooms and pubs across the country, coast to
coast. Knowing that deep down you want to belong, as everyone does.
From playing on the rain-swept pitches of Swansea to making his
test debut against Argentina in Patagonia in 2006; from touring
with the Lions in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021 to dealing with loss
and creating a family - Belonging is the autobiography of one of
the most compelling figures in world rugby. Told with
characteristic honesty, this is his unique personal story of what
it takes and what it means to play for your country: what it means
to belong.
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Off Balance
(Paperback)
Dominique Moceanu; As told to Teri Williams
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R455
R385
Discovery Miles 3 850
Save R70 (15%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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In this searing and riveting "New York Times" bestseller, Olympic
gold medalist Dominique Moceanu reveals the dark underbelly of
Olympic gymnastics, the true price of success...and the shocking
secret about her past and her family that she only learned years
later.
At fourteen years old, Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of
the 1996 US Women's Olympic Gymnastics team, the first and only
American women's team to take gold at the Olympics. Her pixyish
appearance and ferocious competitive drive quickly earned her the
status of media darling. But behind the fame, the flawless floor
routines, and the million-dollar smile, her life was a series of
challenges and hardships.
"Off Balance "vividly delineates each of the dominating characters
who contributed to Moceanu's rise to the top, from her stubborn
father and long-suffering mother to her mercurial coach, Bela
Karolyi. Here, Moceanu finally shares the haunting stories of
competition, her years of hiding injuries and pain out of fear of
retribution from her coaches, and how she hit rock bottom after a
public battle with her parents.
But medals, murder plots, drugs, and daring escapes aside (all of
which figure into Moceanu's incredible journey), the most unique
aspect of her life is the family secret that Moceanu discovers,
opening a new and unexpected chapter in her adult life. A
mysterious letter from a stranger reveals that she has a second
sister--born with a physical disability and given away at
birth--who has nonetheless followed in Moceanu's footsteps in an
astonishing way.
A multilayered memoir that transcends the world of sports, "Off
Balance "will touch anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better
life.
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Tissues
(Hardcover)
Daniel D Servant Mendes
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R1,053
Discovery Miles 10 530
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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