Listen free for 30 days
-
The Good Son
- The Life of Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini
- Narrated by: Holt McCallany
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Entertainment & Celebrities
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £21.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Atlas
- From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man
- By: Teddy Atlas, Peter Alson
- Narrated by: Teddy Atlas
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In sharing his stories, Atlas reveals the philosophy by which he lives. Like Teddy Atlas - inimitable, tough, honest, and wise - this book inspires. It is about so much more than boxing. It is a story of overcoming hardships, of compassion for those in need, of tremendous personal integrity, and of personal and professional triumph.
-
-
Gifted storyteller
- By Junkets on 15-05-20
-
Tales from the 5th Street Gym
- Ali, the Dundees, and Miami's Golden Age of Boxing
- By: Ferdie Pacheco
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tales from the 5th Street Gym is the first book to chronicle the fascinating history of the 5th Street Gym from one of its insiders - Dr. Ferdie Pacheco - with crucial contributions from Tom Archdeacon, Angelo Dundee, Suzanne Dundee Bonner, Enrique Encinosa, Howard Kleinberg, Ramiro Ortiz, Edwin Pope, Bob Sheridan, and Budd Schulberg. Discover the secret history of one of boxing's most hallowed grounds, as Pacheco recalls the rise, heyday, and fall of the "sweet science" at Miami Beach.
-
-
A Great Boxing History
- By Parvenu on 06-04-21
-
Even This I Get to Experience
- By: Norman Lear
- Narrated by: Norman Lear
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The legendary creator of iconic television programs All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Norman Lear remade our television culture - while leading a life of unparalleled political, civic, and social involvement. Sharing the wealth of Lear's 90 years, Even This I Get to Experience is a memoir as touching and remarkable as the life he has led.
-
Starmaker
- Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack, & 600 More Stars Who Fired Me
- By: Jay Bernstein
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revealingly candid, this Hollywood memoir is the story of Jay Bernstein, an entertainment industry fixture who helped launch and sustain the careers of many celebrities including Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a television producer, Bernstein’s life is chronicled in his own words.
-
-
Hmm not sure
- By Trebor on 18-07-15
-
Beast
- Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts
- By: Doug Merlino
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beast follows four high-level fighters at one of the sport's elite gyms, Florida's American Top Team. Doug Merlino had unprecedented access, training alongside the men for two years, traveling to their matches, and eating in their homes. Mirsad Bektic, a young Bosnian refugee who started in karate as a boy in Nebraska, dreams of stardom. Jeff Monson, a battered veteran at 41, is an outspoken, tattooed anarchist enjoying a bizarre burst of celebrity in Russia.
-
Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation
- By: Tom Cushman
- Narrated by: Todd Belcher
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Cushman, one of boxing's great sportswriters, followed the "Ali generation" of fighters from New York to Las Vegas, Nassau to Zaire, reporting for the Philadelphia Daily News from 1966 to 1982 and for the San Diego Tribune, 1982 to 1992. Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation chronicles the behind-the-scenes stories of the great athletes in boxing's biggest-and-best age, their victories and struggles, crimes and passions, heydays and swansongs.
-
-
A good insight into the lives that made boxing.
- By Ninja on 25-08-15
-
Atlas
- From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man
- By: Teddy Atlas, Peter Alson
- Narrated by: Teddy Atlas
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In sharing his stories, Atlas reveals the philosophy by which he lives. Like Teddy Atlas - inimitable, tough, honest, and wise - this book inspires. It is about so much more than boxing. It is a story of overcoming hardships, of compassion for those in need, of tremendous personal integrity, and of personal and professional triumph.
-
-
Gifted storyteller
- By Junkets on 15-05-20
-
Tales from the 5th Street Gym
- Ali, the Dundees, and Miami's Golden Age of Boxing
- By: Ferdie Pacheco
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tales from the 5th Street Gym is the first book to chronicle the fascinating history of the 5th Street Gym from one of its insiders - Dr. Ferdie Pacheco - with crucial contributions from Tom Archdeacon, Angelo Dundee, Suzanne Dundee Bonner, Enrique Encinosa, Howard Kleinberg, Ramiro Ortiz, Edwin Pope, Bob Sheridan, and Budd Schulberg. Discover the secret history of one of boxing's most hallowed grounds, as Pacheco recalls the rise, heyday, and fall of the "sweet science" at Miami Beach.
-
-
A Great Boxing History
- By Parvenu on 06-04-21
-
Even This I Get to Experience
- By: Norman Lear
- Narrated by: Norman Lear
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The legendary creator of iconic television programs All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Norman Lear remade our television culture - while leading a life of unparalleled political, civic, and social involvement. Sharing the wealth of Lear's 90 years, Even This I Get to Experience is a memoir as touching and remarkable as the life he has led.
-
Starmaker
- Life as a Hollywood Publicist with Farrah, The Rat Pack, & 600 More Stars Who Fired Me
- By: Jay Bernstein
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Revealingly candid, this Hollywood memoir is the story of Jay Bernstein, an entertainment industry fixture who helped launch and sustain the careers of many celebrities including Farrah Fawcett and Suzanne Somers. From his childhood in Oklahoma City and his first job in a Hollywood mail room to the ownership of his own public relations firm and his work as a television producer, Bernstein’s life is chronicled in his own words.
-
-
Hmm not sure
- By Trebor on 18-07-15
-
Beast
- Blood, Struggle, and Dreams at the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts
- By: Doug Merlino
- Narrated by: Eric Vale
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beast follows four high-level fighters at one of the sport's elite gyms, Florida's American Top Team. Doug Merlino had unprecedented access, training alongside the men for two years, traveling to their matches, and eating in their homes. Mirsad Bektic, a young Bosnian refugee who started in karate as a boy in Nebraska, dreams of stardom. Jeff Monson, a battered veteran at 41, is an outspoken, tattooed anarchist enjoying a bizarre burst of celebrity in Russia.
-
Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation
- By: Tom Cushman
- Narrated by: Todd Belcher
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Cushman, one of boxing's great sportswriters, followed the "Ali generation" of fighters from New York to Las Vegas, Nassau to Zaire, reporting for the Philadelphia Daily News from 1966 to 1982 and for the San Diego Tribune, 1982 to 1992. Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation chronicles the behind-the-scenes stories of the great athletes in boxing's biggest-and-best age, their victories and struggles, crimes and passions, heydays and swansongs.
-
-
A good insight into the lives that made boxing.
- By Ninja on 25-08-15
-
Solo
- A Memoir of Hope
- By: Hope Solo
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hope Solo is the face of the modern female athlete. She is fearless, outspoken, and the best in the world at what she does: protecting the goal of the U.S. women's soccer team. Her outsized talent has led her to the pinnacle of her sport - the Olympics and the World Cup - and made her into an international celebrity who is just as likely to appear on ABC's Dancing with the Stars as she is on the covers of Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, and Vogue.
-
Unscripted
- The Unpredictable Moments That Make Life Extraordinary
- By: Ernie Johnson Jr., John Smoltz
- Narrated by: Ernie Johnson Jr.
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ernie Johnson, Jr., has been in the game a long time. With one of the most recognized voices in sports broadcasting, he is a tireless perfectionist when it comes to preparing and delivering his commentary. Yet he knows that some of sports' greatest triumphs - and life's greatest rewards - come from those unscripted moments you never anticipated.
-
-
Recommended with an asterisk
- By Amazon Customer on 20-06-21
-
Fathers' Blood
- True Stories of Pro Wrestling Dads Facing Their Greatest Challenger - Parenthood
- By: Sean Oliver
- Narrated by: Sean Oliver
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were nomadic warriors, their business shrouded in secrecy. They navigated a world fraught with pitfalls. Abuse was rampant. Their world was perilous. And they had kids. This is the true story of pro wrestlers raising children while working the unrelenting road. All content was constructed via personal new interviews with the stars and their families. See how Sullivan, Atlas, Bischoff, Poffo, Russo, Santana, Bigelow, and more scored their most important wins and heartbreaking losses, told in a most riveting narrative style.
-
-
Sean Oliver, master of the wrestling book
- By Iain Roberts on 15-11-18
-
Rebel
- My Life Outside the Lines
- By: Nick Nolte
- Narrated by: Nick Nolte, Christian Baskous
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a career spanning five decades, Nick Nolte has endured the rites of Hollywood celebrity. Rising from obscurity to leading roles and Oscar nominations, he has been both celebrated and vilified in the media; survived marriages, divorces, and a string of romances; was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People magazine; and suffered public humiliation over his drug and alcohol issues, including a drug-fueled trip down a "long road of nothingness" that ended in arrest.
-
-
Ok
- By alan coyle on 02-05-18
-
Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons
- By: Greg Fitzsimmons
- Narrated by: Greg Fitzsimmons, Zach Galifianakis, Adam Carolla, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's what he was raised to do. Most parents would hide or destroy any evidence so clearly demonstrating their child's failures, but-lucky for us-Greg Fitzsimmons's family has preserved each mistake in its original envelope like a trophy in a case, lest he ever forget where he came from.
-
Joe DiMaggio
- The Hero's Life
- By: Richard Ben Cramer
- Narrated by: Richard Ben Cramer
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking biography, Richard Ben Cramer presents a stunning, often shocking portrait of the hero nobody knew. It is a story that sweeps through the 20th century, bringing light to America's national game, movie stars, mobsters, as well as the birth - and the price - of national celebrity.
-
Ted Williams
- The Biography of an American Hero
- By: Leigh Montville
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was one of the greatest figures of his generation and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? New York Times best-selling author Leigh Montville delivers an intimate, riveting account of this extraordinary life.
-
When the Clock Runs Out
- 20 NFL Greats Share Their Stories of Hardship and Triumph
- By: Bill Lyon
- Narrated by: Bill Lyon, Cynthia Zordich
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through one-on-one interviews, this evocative collection of life stories explores the bittersweet tales of some of the NFL's most famous men, including, Mike Ditka, Hollywood Henderson, Ron Jaworski, Ronnie Lott, Dan Reeves, Rocky Bleier, and Pat Summerall. Co-creator Cynthia Zordich, wife of former pro safety Michael Zordich, had the presence of mind to dive into a world yet traveled and ask questions of those who had already left the game.
-
Every Day I Fight
- Making a Difference, Kicking Cancer's Ass
- By: Stuart Scott, Larry Platt
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell - foreword, Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shortly before he passed away, on January 4, 2015, Stuart Scott completed work on this memoir. It was both a labor of love and a love letter to life itself. Not only did Stuart relate his personal story - his childhood in North Carolina, his supportive family, his athletic escapades, his on-the-job training as a fledgling sportscaster, his being hired and eventual triumphs at ESPN - but he shared his intimate struggles to keep his story going.
-
The Kid
- The Immortal Life of Ted Williams
- By: Ben Bradlee Jr.
- Narrated by: Dave Mallow
- Length: 35 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Williams was the best hitter in baseball history. His batting average of .406 in 1941 has not been topped since, and no player who has hit more than 500 home runs has a higher career batting average. Those totals would have been even higher if Williams had not left baseball for nearly five years in the prime of his career to serve as a Marine pilot in WWII and Korea.
-
The Peter Norman Story
- By: Andrew Webster, Matt Norman
- Narrated by: Matt Norman
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is Peter Norman? He's the greatest Australian hero you don't know. Peter Norman is the 'forgotten man' in one of the most powerful and influential photos of all time. Peter is in the photo because he won Australia a silver medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics after running the 200 metres in 20.06 seconds. In 2018, 50 years on, it is still the Australian record. But Peter Norman is a hero to millions today not for the race or the record but for what he did next....
-
Behind the Laughter
- A Comedian’s Tale of Tragedy and Hope
- By: Anthony Griffith, Dr. Brigitte Travis-Griffin, Mark Caro
- Narrated by: Avery Waddell, Paula Jai Parker
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just as Anthony’s career in stand-up comedy launched him onto the stage of The Tonight Show, he and his wife Brigitte faced an unimaginable personal nightmare: their two-year-old daughter, Brittany Nicole, was dying from cancer. While Anthony performed under bright lights, he struggled not to succumb to the darkness of losing a child.
Summary
From the best-selling, critically acclaimed author of Namath and Pistol comes another remarkable biography: the life of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.
In the early 1980s, Mancini was more than the lightweight champ. He was a national hero. Sinatra fawned over him. Warren Zevon wrote a tribute song. Sylvester Stallone produced his life story as a movie of the week. After all, an adoring public considered Boom Boom the real Rocky. Lenny Mancini - the original Boom Boom, as he was known - had been a lightweight contender himself before fragments of German mortar shell almost killed him in 1944. By winning the championship just as he vowed - for his wounded father - Ray produced his own feel-good fable for network television.
But it all came apart in a brutal 1982 battle against an obscure Korean challenger. Deuk Koo Kim lost consciousness in the fourteenth round and died within days. Three months later, his despondent mother took her own life. The deaths would haunt Ray and ruin his image, turning boxing’s All-American Boy into a pariah. Now, 30 years later, Kriegel finally uncovers the story’s full dimensions, tracking the Mancini and Kim families across generations and excavating mysteries - from the killing of Mancini’s brother to the fate of Kim’s son. Even as the scenes move from Youngstown to New York, Las Vegas to Seoul, Reno to Hollywood, The Good Son remains an intimate history, a saga of fathers and fighters, loss and redemption.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What listeners say about The Good Son
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 21-02-22
So engaging
Easily one of the best boxing books. I felt part of it and felt every emotion. superb
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mark
- 26-08-16
Best biography I have ever heard or read!
If you are old enough to remember boom boom mania in the early 80's please listen to this book. It is a beautifully moving and insightful look at a real and honest man who faced his battles with courage and dignity.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- R. Schechter
- 20-09-13
Very absorbing
This was a fascinating read about an era in which I was thoroughly involved in pro boxing. The book helped me remember fights like they happened yesterday, and I learned all kinds of things about them I didn't know. Also, learning about Ray's personal life and his broken marriage was quite revealing. If you were a boxing fan during the early 80's, this book is a must!
1 person found this helpful