Writers on Boxing

Reading List

  • #19: ‘War, Baby’ by Kevin Mitchell

    #19: ‘War, Baby’ by Kevin Mitchell

    ‘War, Baby’ by Kevin Mitchell is a book centring on the ill-fated 1995 world title bout between Nigel Benn and Gerald McLellan. I have to start by saying that if you, like me, hold any conflict about watching boxing as entertainment, and the safety and wellbeing of the boxers, then this book is not going… Read more

  • #18: ‘Nosher’ by Nosher Powell (and I’m sure a ghost writer)

    #18: ‘Nosher’ by Nosher Powell (and I’m sure a ghost writer)

    ‘Nosher’ by Nosher Powell is the autobiography of boxer, and TV and film stunt man, Nosher Powell. I normally avoid books about self-titled ‘hard men’, unless the lives of the men are particularly interesting outside of the violence. I got this book because Powell is from the same part of south London as a lot… Read more

  • #17: ‘My Sisters and I at a New York Prizefight’ by Djuna Barnes

    #17: ‘My Sisters and I at a New York Prizefight’ by Djuna Barnes

    ‘My Sisters and I at a New York Prizefight’ is an article taken from ‘Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth’, a collection of the early works of avant-garde writer Djuna Barnes. The article describes Barnes and a group of women friends attending a boxing event in 1914, at Brown’s Athletic Club in New York, headlined… Read more

  • #16: ‘Shadow Box’ by George Plimpton

    #16: ‘Shadow Box’ by George Plimpton

    ‘Shadow Box’ by George Plimpton is an example of a boxing book regularly making ‘top ten’-style lists. Plimpton is best known for a series of books he wrote as a ‘participatory journalist’, in which he played (backup) quarterback for the Detroit Lions, trained as an ice hockey goalie with the Boston Bruins, and, in this… Read more

  • #15: ‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee

    #15: ‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee

    ‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee tracks the author’s journey from boxing as a means to test one’s limits, to white collar boxer, to being the first trans man to box on a bill at Madison Square Garden. I always enjoy stories in which amateurs describe their own relationships to and journey through boxing, as there… Read more

  • #14: ‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley

    #14: ‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley

    ‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley is a collection of interviews with professional boxers making a living as supporting cast members to those trying to climb the ratings ladder and build their records. I think this type of book is a vital insight into how the professional game functions; how vital journeyman boxers are to the development… Read more