Writers on Boxing

Reading List

  • #25: ‘The Road to Nowhere’ by Tris Dixon

    #25: ‘The Road to Nowhere’ by Tris Dixon

    ‘The Road to Nowhere – A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands’ by Tris Dixon is a record of Dixon’s travel across numerous U.S. states, attempting to speak to forgotten boxers. I have a special fondness for any book in which the author goes off on a quest to talk to a group of people before it’s… Read more

  • #24: ‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind’ by John Harding

    #24: ‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind’ by John Harding

    ‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind’ by John Harding is the story of British-Jewish boxer Jack ‘Kid’ Berg. As with my previous post about Teddy Baldock, this book is a fantastic account of British boxing at a time where boxing gyms were found in numbers throughout the working-class areas of London, and other British cities, and boxing cards… Read more

  • #23: ‘Teddy Baldock – The Pride of Poplar’ by Brian Belton

    #23: ‘Teddy Baldock – The Pride of Poplar’ by Brian Belton

    ‘Teddy Baldock – The Pride of Poplar’ by Brian Belton is the story of Britain’s youngest ever boxing world champion. Born at Poplar in east London in 1908, and coming from a family of fighters, Teddy Baldock went on to beat American Archie Bell at the Royal Albert Hall and take the world bantamweight title.… Read more

  • #22: ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’ by Donald McRae

    #22: ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’ by Donald McRae

    ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’ by Donald McRae is a book looking at the history of amateur boxing on both sides of the Troubles in Belfast and Northern Ireland, and the effect which the amateur eventually had on the pro game. Over the past two years Donald McRae has become one of my favourite authors… Read more

  • #21: ‘Berserk’ by Don Stradley

    #21: ‘Berserk’ by Don Stradley

    The subtitle for ‘Berserk’ by Don Stradley is ‘The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero’, which is one of the most succinct and apt taglines for a book that I’ve come across. Even within the confines of boxing, which is full of wild stories, Valero’s is truly shocking. This is mainly a tale of… Read more

  • #20: ‘The Bittersweet Science’ edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra

    #20: ‘The Bittersweet Science’ edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra

    ‘The Bittersweet Science’ is a collection of fifteen essays about American boxing and boxers, edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra. Now, this is no judgement on this book, but I almost have no recollection of reading it, though this has much more to do with the fact that I read this book around 18… Read more