Have you ever wanted a book (or really, anything) you felt was really inappropriate and had to wait a long time to obtain but still would be great to read? This book fits that category.
Title/Author:
“Beloved Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Alexis Arguello” by Christian Giudice
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review:
Alexis Arguello was one of few boxers who won the championship in three different weight classes - featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight. His dedication to the sport and his gentlemanly demeanor both in and out of the sport made him a figure well respected by many. This book by boxing author Christian Giudice is an excellent account of Arguello’s life, including his shocking death in 2009.
Having read two other books by Giudice on Latino boxing legends - Roberto Duran and Hector Camacho - I expected this one to be very good and it did not disappoint. Through extensive research and many interviews, Giudice provides the reader with a fair and balanced portrayal of the boxer from Nicaragua.
It’s balanced because while Arguello’s excellence in the ring, having won 77 of 85 fights including 62 knockouts, is covered in excellent detail, his problems out of the ring are also explained very well. In addition to his extramarital affairs (he was married 4 times), his alcoholism and the mishandling of his finances , it included his support and fighting for the Contras in the Nicaraguan civil war in the early 1980’s. His subsequent support for the opposing Sandinista government later in life (who had taken all his property and forced his family into exile) is also explained as is his entry into politics. It was here where after he was elected mayor of Managua, the capital city, he was found dead in 2009 of an apparent suicide shooting to the chest. Some don’t believe it was suicided, a question still asked today. This political part of Arguello’s life is very well chronicled, a testament to Giudice’s work and dedication to tell this side of Arguello’s life.
This is in stark contrast to how so many who were involved in boxing and knew him through the sport remember him, including his opponents. They fondly recall his as gracious and kind, never having a bad word to say about anyone. Most notably, the one boxer who defeated Arguello twice, Aaron Pryor, also felt the same way despite fighting his own demons. Pryor twice stopped Arguello from obtaining a championship in a fourth weight class.
No matter who’s aspect of Arguello’s life a reader wants to learn about, this book is one of the best sources to get a good start at that goal.
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