Writers on Boxing

Reading List

  • #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

  • #13: ‘Bunce’s Big Fat Short History of British Boxing’ by Steve Bunce

    #13: ‘Bunce’s Big Fat Short History of British Boxing’ by Steve Bunce

    ‘Bunce’s BFSHoBB’ is a summary of the diaries and notebooks Steve Bunce has meticulously kept in his role as possibly the most prominent boxing correspondent and broadcaster currently working in Britain. The book spans 1970-2017, with each chapter focusing on an individual year and giving a remarkably detailed overview of that year’s action. I have Read more

  • #12: ‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ by Markus Zusak

    #12: ‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ by Markus Zusak

    ‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ is a fiction novel written for the Young Adult audience by Markus Zusak. Set in Australia, this book is centred around two brothers, Ruben and Cameron, who accidentally find their way into the world of underground unlicensed boxing. The book explores themes of class, aggression, violence and masculinity through the eyes of Read more

  • #11: ‘The Boxer’ by Reinhard Kleist

    #11: ‘The Boxer’ by Reinhard Kleist

    ‘The Boxer’ by Reinhard Kleist is a non-fiction graphic novel, telling the story of Holocaust survivor Hertzko ‘Harry’ Haft. I haven’t read many graphic novels before as I find the mixture of text and detailed images a little overwhelming – as embarrassing as this is to admit, with children regularly coping with far more complicated Read more

  • #10: ‘A Man’s World’ by Donald McRae

    #10: ‘A Man’s World’ by Donald McRae

    I LOVE THIS BOOK!! ‘A Man’s World (The Double Life of Emile Griffith)’ by Donald McRae is an utterly absorbing and, at times, distressing account of the life and boxing career of Emile Griffith. The book follows Griffith’s arrival in New York from the Virgin Islands, his beginnings as a boxer, the sad death of Read more