BOXING BY THE BOOK
By Robert Ecksel September 5th, 2005
Gary Todd’s “Boxing’s Greatest Workouts� is a labor of love.
Todd lives and works in Sydney, Australia. He is married, has three children, and boxing has been part of his life forever. He has taken his firsthand knowledge and turned it into something unusual: a book that’s one part inspirational autobiography, one part photo book, and one part how-to-box.
“Boxing Greatest Workouts� is in three parts. In the first part, Todd’s introduction called “Fighting Words,� he writes: “I grew up in a sprawling, multi-story housing estate in Dundee … Life there could be tough. When I was about 11 years old, I noticed a lot of changes taking place. I started watching violent videos around at my mate’s house when his parents were out. I saw some of my mates joining gangs and starting to sniff glue.�
Todd went in another direction and started boxing at the age of twelve. Although he did his fighting and does his writing Down Under, hence his tough guy Aussie prose, replacing ‘multi-story housing estate’ with ‘barrio’ and ‘sniff glue’ with ‘smoke crack’ helps his story hit closer to home.
In the middle section of “Boxing’s Greatest Workouts,� titled “A typical day in the life of a champ,� Todd asks questions of champions like: “How far did you run?� “What time did you go to the gym?� “What time did you leave the gym?� “Did you have a job before you won the title?� followed by champs’ workout schedules.
The champs interviewed for this book include Muhammad Ali, Ricky Hatton, Kostya Tszyu, Roy Jones, Chris Byrd, Fernando Vargas, Jeff Fenech, Mike McCallum, Christy Martin, Aaron Pryor, Ken Buchanan, Ken Norton, Terry Norris and Nigel Benn.
The final section of “Boxing’s Greatest Workouts� is called “My Workout� and has an “action plan� that covers diet, roadwork, sprints, stretching, skipping rope, shadowboxing, pads, sparring, speed, double-end, and heavy bags.
Some say learning to box by reading a book is like learning to fly by sitting in a rocker; but there isn’t a boxing gym and trainer on every corner. If one wants to learn how to box but is geographically challenged, what’s a person to do?
Gary Todd’s “Greatest Boxing Workouts� – with its easy-on-the-eye large type, dramatic graphics, and lots of full-page black and white photos – is as good a place to start as any.
September 5th, 2005 at 5:10 pm
I am very interested in acquiring this book.
September 5th, 2005 at 6:40 pm
Gary Todd’s book - Boxing’s Greatest Workouts - is available a number of places online. For example,
Amazon OR Title Boxing
- Chris Gielty
September 6th, 2005 at 8:00 pm
This book is/was a great idea, and I leapt at it soon as I heard about it. But I was so disappointed by it, I returned it and asked for my money back. Todd relays his “enthusiasm” for training and for boxers, and that’s about it. He is not a writer nor is he an adept reseacrcher or interviewer. So nothing significant is gleaned. As a boxing gym rat since I was in my teens, I was looking for helpful hints, the inside dope on how the champions trained; SPECIFIC info. This book had zilch.
The worst part is arriving to the Kostya Tszyu section, which I was so looking forward to. Everyone knows he’s a beast when it comes to training and incorporates all sorts of unorthodox methods…methods which he remains very secretive about. Rest assured, all his secrets are safe.
Todd seems like an earnest, well-intentioned fellow, and I don’t mean to knock him, but his book is a let-down. Any hardcore gym will feel the same, I suspect.
Dave Anderson’s “In the Corner,” which is written in the as-told-to form, showcases what a great interviewer/reporter can squeeze out of a subject. Even though helpful training tips was not Anderson’s interest, it is still filled with many helpful nuggets to the aspiring boxer.
September 10th, 2005 at 12:55 am
i bought “workouts from boxings greatest champs” by gary todd while on holiday in new york. i flicked thru the first few pages and bought it. i couldnt wait to read the rest. it was so good that i read it over and over. todd has done his homework and is obviously passionate about the sport of boxing. since then, i have been a fan of his articles on the websites around the web. this book will inspire and keep boxing fans, gym rats, and people interested in getting motivated to train like a champion. 5 stars out of 5. stephen. boxing trainer.
September 10th, 2005 at 1:09 am
boxings greatest workouts” by gary todd is the best boxing book i have read in a long while. i introduced it to the guys at my gym and they loved it. it’s great for the kids as it helps them see what the champions do to become world champions. truly inspirational .
September 11th, 2005 at 5:49 am
I recently bought a copy of this book and loved it so much I read it twice.
The first section is about the author himself and how he grew up in rough housing estate in scotland where all around him his friends were joining gangs and taking drugs. He goes on to give a fascinating account about joining his first gym at the age of 12 and how this lead to a lifelong fixation with fitness and boxing.
The middle section of the book is my favorite where the author has interviews and workouts from a list of great champs past and present including Muhammad Ali, Nigel Benn, Roy Jones Jnr, Ken Buchanan and Ricky Hatton to name but a few. Its astonishing to read the different training programmes and diets these guys all had/have although each method has been successful for its owner.
The book is finished off with the author giving a ‘how to’ on all the excercises described in the middle section and finally he rounds off by giving us his own training programme which covers from complete beginners through to the guy who already works out.
All in all an excellent read and I would recommend this book to anyone.
September 11th, 2005 at 10:59 pm
I have no ax to grind with Mr. Todd, truly. But with all due respect, readers Mr. Deller, Mr. Osbourne and Mr. Girvan must all be close, personal friends of the author. That, or they’ve been deprived of what passes for actual boxing literature–paging W.C. Heinz. I can think of no other explanation?! “5 stars out of 5,” “Best boxing book I’ve read in a long time,” “I read it twice.” Come on, people! You’re going to disappoint some discerning TSS readers. Boxing enthusiasts read this site b/c they know what is the wheat and what is the chaff.
September 12th, 2005 at 4:21 pm
Boxing enthusiasts, yes I’ll be one of those then and I wasn’t dissapointed, far from it, and i would like to make clear that i have never met Gary Todd! We all have the right to give our views and I am simply giving mine.
October 1st, 2005 at 8:43 am
I was recommended to buy this book from Australia by a friend and I have to say I wasn’t dissapointed one bit. I usually read autobiographies and story type books when it comes to boxing, so this is a different type of book than what I am used to. I have always been interested in how a fighter prepares himself physically and mentally, but until finding this book I have never read such a comprehensive book on how world class fighters like Kostya Tszyu, Muhammad Ali, Mike McCallum, Ricard Lopez train. I recommend it to anybody who wants to train, or just stay healthy, but especially to boxing fans who like me, want to know what a fighter puts into his training.