Larry Holmes: Against the Odds

It's a great book. I've met and spent some time with Larry in our hometown of Easton, PA and he really's done great things for the city, though he does gloss over one issue he had when he wanted them to rezone a parcel so he could create a business. He doesn't say that it was going to be a fast-food fried chicken restaurant and that city leaders thought the valuable land could be put to better use than that. Instead, he wonders if it was racial. Other than that, an excellent portrait of the difficulty in rising to the top of the boxing world. It's a real Horatio Alger type story. Phil Berger does a great job ghostwriting it for Larry.

World Champion Larry Holmes recounts his life inside and outside of the ring in his fascinating autobiography. This book is not some former champion hoping to make his life read like a movie script. It is a down to earth story that many sports fans can relate to. Larry pulls no punches in describing his feelings in his personal life and his professional life. It is a captivating account of this mans life and what it took to not only win the championship, but defend it so successfully. Full of humor and unabashed honesty, one comes away with a newfound respect for Larry and his many accomplishments. A lively and engaging read, "Against the Odds" is the perfect name for the life and career of Larry Holmes.

this is a must, even if you dont like larry. his stories of his ongoing, at times surreal wars with don king are hilarious and the most compelling parts of the book, and his accounts of his early years and the weird characters that inhabit boxing, like the huge, strange, surly ex-cons Roy "Tiger" Williams and Jeff Merritt are fascinating. His long car journey up to Scranton, alone at night with the deranged Merritt in the passenger seat is bizarre in the extreme! the one problem is occasionally he skims over important world title defences with no more than a one line account of the fight. this is very frustrating.overall though i put this book in the same class as george foremans "by george", joe fraziers "smokin" and quick tillis's "thinkin big"(all highly enjoyable)and is superb. buy it, and enjoy larrys brutal honesty!!(and sense of humour)

Best boxing book I have read. Starts with Holmes early days even before training with Ali. Then goes through each major fight Holmes experienced. Norton, Ali, Cooney, and all 3 Spinks fights. Another book that compares to this one is King of the World, A similiar book written about Cassius Clay.

Phil Berger does it again. If you loved his work on Joe Frazier's bio, or his equally brilliant, Punch Lines and Blood Season, than you'll love this classic. Holmes' Long awaited biography got overshadowed by Dave Remick's King of THe World, but it was equally as good. Against All Odds reminds everyone just how great a fighter Holmes was. THe book was honest and insightful and just an overall wonderful read. If you grew up in the Ali era and didn't want to accept the great fighter who followed him or were brought up in the heavily hyped Tyson era, I suggest you pick up this book and find out what you missed. Larry Holmes was one of Top Five greatest Heavyweights of All Time and Phil Berger's book reminds us why he is deserving of such a compliment. My personal top 10: 1- Ali, 2- Holmes, 3-Louis, 4-Liston, 5-Foreman, 6-Frazier, 7-Holyfield, 8-Marciano, 9-Tyson & 10-Johnson (Dempsey & CHarles fall in at 11 & 12). Enjoy.