Hudson scores KO with e

Book review by David Finger

It goes without saying that many encyclopedias of boxing tend to be heavy on facts and light on entertainment. After all, few readers want a narrative when they purchase one. But for author David Hudson Jr., it looks like the perfect balance between informative and engrossing was met with his exceptional book “Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia of Wrestling, Fighting, and Mixed Martial Arts”.

Hudson, a writer for Fightnews who is the co-author of “Boxing’s Most Wanted” scores another knockout with “Combat Sports”.

From the opening entry of former UFC star David “Tank” Abbott, readers are hooked at the informative summaries of the fighters. It goes without saying that many fans of boxing are only casual fans of UFC and vice versa, and “Combat Sports” gives not only the diehard fans an engrossing stroll down memory lane but also gives the less informed a detailed summary of the careers of the fighters.

But “Combat Sports” not only gives the fighters detailed biographies, but also gives the reader fascinating historical summaries (for example, the true, and disturbing, story behind what “battles royal” were), detailed explanations of the rules and regulations (such as the ten-point must system) and includes many of the power brokers in both boxing and mixed martial arts.

In fact, it is hard not only to put the book down, but also to read it from cover to cover. After reading about Mills Lane, you feel compelled to turn to the chapter on Oliver McCall to revisit what Hudson has to say about McCall’s legendary breakdown in the ring against Lennox Lewis. When you read about Royce Gracie’s legendary battle with Kimo Leopold in UFC 3, you can’t help but turn to the section on Steve Jennum to see how his career unfolded after becoming the most “unlikely of UFC champions” when Gracie was forced to bow out of the tournament. Many of the entries include facts that even die-hard fans were likely to have forgotten or never known. Although it was well known that Saoul Mamby fought well into his 40s, many boxing fans might be surprised to have known he fought a fight at the age of 60.

What sets this book above and beyond is how informative it is, but as with any encyclopedia, particularly one limited to under 400 pages, the reader often is left wondering “how did he get left out?”

With only five wrestlers (all connected to mixed martial arts) one feels that the sport of wrestling is a bit under represented, and it at times is discouraging to read about a fighter winning a huge fight (such as Iran Barkley’s KO over Darrin Van Horn) only to discover that there is no entry (for Van Horn) to cross reference it with. But to include everyone and everything is certainly a large task, and credit is due to Hudson and Greenwood Press for doing the best job of editing under the circumstances.

I do feel that an extra 100 pages or so would have rounded off the book nicely, but in the big picture, “Combat Sports’ still scores the knockout and gives boxing and UFC fans the perfect supplement to their library with one of the best encyclopedias in the business. “Combat Sports” is not only a must read, but a must have for any serious fan of boxing or UFC. Copies can be obtained through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com), or via the publisher at www.greenwood.com.