Boxing Book Review by Rowley - May 25, 2011

Mentioned this on a thread the other day that it would be nice if posters who enjoyed reading about the sport could post reviews of books they have read be they positive or negative and hopefully we will be able to build up a decent library of reviews we can use to inform future purchases. As someone who buys a lot of books I will offer a couple to get the ball rolling and hopefully a few others can follow suit, here’s hoping it catches on.

Sam Langford – Boxing’s greatest uncrowned champion – Clay Moyle

Before reading Moyle’s book I’ll be honest my knowledge of Langford was limited. Often saw his name and achievements spoken of with hushed reverence on various websites but probably always harboured the suspicion he was one of those names people throw out to look cool and knowledgeable, like Harry Greb who we now all know did not actually exist. However on the back of reading this outstanding book about Sam I am absolutely convinced he deserves every bit of the esteem he is often afforded. For those unfamiliar with Sam’s story although he stood little more than 5ft 7 he fought anyone and everyone between the lightweight and heavy and his record reads as a who’s who of the era containing as it does names like Gans, Walcott, Ketchel and Johnson as long as multiple battles at heavy with guys like Jeannette, Wills and McVea, despite the fact all of these last few guys held significant size and weight advantages over him.

Moyle has done a truly outstanding job in telling Sam’s story. In my experience of reading a lot about the old timers one of the common pitfalls authors fall into is, through the sheer volume of fights these guys had is writing books that read as little more than lists. The great strength of this book is Moyle avoids the text becoming too dry by offering a flavour of Sam’s personality outside the ring and serving up some genuinely amusing anecdotes which serve to portray Sam as a genuinely likeable guy, which only serves to make his failure to secure the title shots his talent surely deserved all the more heartbreaking.

Moyle covers all the major fights and rivalries in Sam’s life such as Gans, Walcott and Ketchel in admirable detail and provides valuable background to these fights which gives the fights a context otherwise lacking from the raw results. Moyle also gives detailed coverage and analysis of Sam’s long running but ultimately futile attempts to secure a title shot with heavyweight champion Jack Johnson which, for me certainly provided me with a fresh perspective on why this fight failed to come off.

I really cannot recommend Clay’s book highly enough; it is superbly written, well illustrated and exhaustively researched. For anyone with an interest in old time fighters or just wanting to know more about one of the most remarkable fighters to ever step through the ropes Moyle’s book is nigh on essential.