#6: ‘Dark Trade’ by Donald McRae

This is the first of what will be several posts about books by Donald McRae. ‘Dark Trade’ is McRae’s exploration of the, often murky, business of boxing and what attracts the fighters who entertain fans of the sport.

Some of the sport’s biggest names of the 90s appear throughout, though there is a particular focus on the American (mostly) middleweight James ‘Lights Out’ Toney. I didn’t know much about James Toney prior to getting this book, and DMcR does a great job of describing a life and career which is/was outrageous and chaotic, even by boxing’s wild standards.

Donald McRae is a very very good writer.