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Hard Road to Glory JOHNNY NELSON comes across as smart and articulate with a dry sense of humour as a Sky TV pundit. All of that and lots more translates to the page in his autobiography, Johnny Nelson: Hard Road To Glory, How I became champion of the world. Whether it's discussing his bust-up with best buddies Naseem Hamed and Herol "Bomber" Graham, winning and defending the WBO crown or discussing his humble and tricky beginnings in Sheffield, Nelson doesn't shy away. But where this book really comes into its own is making the reader realise how Nelson was exiled after his flop against Carlos De Leon following his first world title challenge. Not only was Nelson ostracised by the boxing community but "friends" also shunned him. Johnny's life is mapped out neatly by Richard Coomber, his ghostwriter, whom some readers may recognise having penned star referee Micky Vann's life story. Johnny's childhood is examined early on with bittersweet memories making fointeresting anecdotes, including times when he dabbled in crime. It is, at times, hard to see how the young Nelson became such a success, especially when in his early days he was used as a punchbag by gym mates and 10 of his 13 amateur opponents. His brother was so embarrassed by him that Johnny had to promise not to tell anybody at the famed Brendan Ingle St Thomas's Gym that they even knew each other. Herol Graham and Brian Anderson took turns to beat him up in sparring, but it helped shape him as a man and a fighter. So too did gruelling sparring sessions in East Germany when he was sent over as live bait for Axel Schulz, Henry Maske, Torsten and Rudi May. They would take turns trying to batter their sparring partner into oblivion. His relationship with his German colleagues is another interesting thread, while also of great interest is his relationship with mentor Ingle. Brendan was an ally and Johnny credits him with helping the former WBO cruiserweight champ become a success in and out of the ring. Johnny remembered Ingle serving pearls of wisdom such as: "If you can only box orthodox or southpaw, you're going to be very limited." When Johnny was hit at first, he would look to Brendan and be told: "And whose fault was it you let yourself be hit?" Nelson ranks his British title win over Andy Straughn as one of his finest and conceded that when he has knocked opponents out, "It may sound barbaric, but it's a lovely feeling." The tales of his time "Under the wing of Bomber" are fascinating. According to Nelson, their relationship culminated with himdropping Herol in sparring, although it had been on the rocks long before that. "His nose smashed and he went down with blood pouring on the canvas," Nelson recalled of the "thudding right" that did for his former friend. He later goes on to write that Chris Eubank also laid Graham "out cold" in a separate sparring incident. His relationship with Naz has a prominent place. Nelson pulls few punches on how their relationship fell apart. Of equal interest are the author's stories of how he almost fought Mike Tyson - in and out of the ring - and how a worrying plan to kidnap his family was foiled by an extensive police operation. In an interview with me last year, Nelson said that after being forced to quit the game through injury it was "like Christmas had been taken away." That comes across in the final chapter where he discusses how his knee injury just wouldn't allow him to fight Enzo Maccarinelli. Johnny, of course, was criticised for being boring as a fighter, something he more than happily often refers to in the book. However, this account of his life is anything but. The hardback book is published by John Blake and retails at £17.99. |
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