Book Review: The Greatest Ever Boxing Champions

By Anthony Cocks

Most fight fans will never get the chance to meet their idols—let alone watch them train and understand what makes them tick. Gary Todd is the exception to the rule. Through hard graft and sheer persistence, the Australian-based Scotsman has traveled the world, meeting and interviewing some of the biggest names in the sport, including Gennady Golovkin, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Jai Opetaia, and Tim Tszyu. The result of that effort is his third boxing book, Greatest Ever Boxing Champions: Their Minds, Their Workouts, and Their Journeys. It’s an engaging and insightful read, profiling each boxer individually before moving into one-on-one interviews that explore every aspect of their fight preparation—training routines, mindset, diet, and more.

While there are clear similarities in how champions prepare—early nights, early mornings, and plenty of eggs for breakfast—the real value of the book lies in the differences. Some fighters do minimal roadwork, while others view it as essential for building endurance. Even stretching divides opinion. Released just in time for Christmas, this book is a must-have for any hardcore boxing fan who wants an inside look at what a professional training camp truly involves. Last week, I had the chance to speak with Gary and pick his brain about his motivation for writing the book and the journey that brought it to life.

How did the whole idea for this book come about and how did you go about making contact with the boxers?

This book has been part of a 30-year plan. When I wrote my first book, I never even knew how to turn a computer on, to be honest with you. I was working on a construction site and I was going to training afterwards, as usual. I started thinking about some of the world champions, because I knew a lot of them had jobs and a tough life. So, I started thinking about it. I wondered why I couldn't find out a bit more about their training regimes. I couldn't find any information. The only way to go was to go and speak to the boxers myself. At the time, I had access to a couple of boxers I was training with, like Jeff Harding and, later on, Kostya Tszyu. After that, it was Anthony Mundine. When I wrote my first book, that's what got it started. I thought to myself, if I put my mind to it, I can do this. I was working two jobs, sometimes three jobs, to get the money to travel. It became a bit of an adventure.

Getting into the gyms was the first hurdle. You had to look the part; you had to be fit and strong, which I was. After that, it was just a matter of gaining their confidence.

How did you get into boxing yourself?

I've always been a bit of a trainer. I never got into boxing to get punched in the nose. I wanted to get strong enough to be able to defend myself and my mum from my dad. My dad was a psychopath. I was always scared that when he got out of prison, he would come back for me. That was my mentality, to get myself reasonably strong. I got a wee bit of confidence in myself, which is what boxing gave me. As the years went on, I fell in love with the gym. We were a bunch of kids and I was one of them. I just really loved it. I had somewhere to go, a purpose. There were a lot of people like myself. We needed someone to believe in. Somebody to look after us. That's what boxing gave me. It's carried on right through my life.

You've been to gyms around the world. Tell me a little about those experiences.

Going into most gyms, when you walk in, they stop and stare at you. When you walk into a Mexican gym, it’s always the same and it always ends up the same way. All they want is for you to do a few rounds of sparring. Because you're reasonably big and reasonably strong, I suppose, and there are not too many big Mexicans, they grab you for sparring. And you can't spar with them. You're getting bombarded by these wee Mexicans. They're like mosquitoes. They're bad for you.

Tell me about your experience meeting Tommy Hearns.

That was a chance encounter. I had been for a run along the Las Vegas strip. I had finished and I was walking through Caesar’s Palace and I heard a lot of shouting and I could see a big group of men in different coloured suits with fancy hats on. I walked toward them and I saw Tommy Hearns was one of them. He was a hero of mine and I had to try and get an interview for my book. I approached him andafter listening to me, he smiled and said, "If you can beat me at arm wrestling, we can talk." I had fancied my chances as I used to arm wrestle for money in Sydney’s Chinatown. We arm wrestled across the crap table and I was able to beat him. His friends were going crazy and a big crowd was around us. They were saying, "Motherfucker has beaten Tommy!" That was just one fond memory. Boxing people are fun and humorous. I have had so much fun, particularly interviewing some of the older boxers, the retired boxers, and things like that. It’s been a long journey, a labour of love in many ways but I am proud of the book, knowing that the fighters will be remembered.

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