Sixties boxing golden boy Billy Walker was the David Beckham of his day: a wealthy sporting hero with film star looks, who became a household name after millions of TV viewers saw him knock out a giant American in less than a minute.
Billy’s fearless courage and relentless determination made him the biggest box-office attraction in British boxing history, and his record for the number of successive Wembley sell-outs has never been beaten.
The most popular and richest sportsman of his generation, he enjoyed a swashbuckling, playboy lifestyle, revelling in all that London’s Swinging Sixties had to offer.
A sumptuous Belgravia home, stocked with expensive champagne and fine wines… top-of-the-range sports cars…desired by the country’s most glamorous women…the former fish market porter had it all.
But then he retired. And when the gloves came off, his world started falling apart.
Believing his older brother George’s business brain had made him one of the richest men in the country, Billy thought he was set up for life. But he left the fight game without even a mortgage-free home of his own, betrayed and shunned by the brother he adored.
Billy discovered the wife George bullied him into marrying was in love with his playboy image, not the real person. His second wife was a compulsive gambler, who all but bankrupted him. And his third wife – the soul mate he truly loved – died tragically young.
Now happily married for a fourth time – to a wealthy divorcee he met when he was her husband’s Best Man at their wedding 30 years ago – Billy has bared his soul in an uproarious, sexy and, at times, deeply moving autobiography, acclaimed as one of the best sporting stories of recent times.
It is the disarmingly candid story of a cheerful Cockney charmer, whose bravery and engaging personality transformed him into Britain’s first celebrity sporting superstar - literally overnight.
An enthralling story of one of the most famous faces of the sixties, who led a spectacular life most men only dream about.
Billy’s fearless courage and relentless determination made him the biggest box-office attraction in British boxing history, and his record for the number of successive Wembley sell-outs has never been beaten.
The most popular and richest sportsman of his generation, he enjoyed a swashbuckling, playboy lifestyle, revelling in all that London’s Swinging Sixties had to offer.
A sumptuous Belgravia home, stocked with expensive champagne and fine wines… top-of-the-range sports cars…desired by the country’s most glamorous women…the former fish market porter had it all.
But then he retired. And when the gloves came off, his world started falling apart.
Believing his older brother George’s business brain had made him one of the richest men in the country, Billy thought he was set up for life. But he left the fight game without even a mortgage-free home of his own, betrayed and shunned by the brother he adored.
Billy discovered the wife George bullied him into marrying was in love with his playboy image, not the real person. His second wife was a compulsive gambler, who all but bankrupted him. And his third wife – the soul mate he truly loved – died tragically young.
Now happily married for a fourth time – to a wealthy divorcee he met when he was her husband’s Best Man at their wedding 30 years ago – Billy has bared his soul in an uproarious, sexy and, at times, deeply moving autobiography, acclaimed as one of the best sporting stories of recent times.
It is the disarmingly candid story of a cheerful Cockney charmer, whose bravery and engaging personality transformed him into Britain’s first celebrity sporting superstar - literally overnight.
An enthralling story of one of the most famous faces of the sixties, who led a spectacular life most men only dream about.
