Writers on Boxing

Reading List

  • #81: ‘Dog Rounds – Death and Life in the Boxing Ring’ by Elliot Worsell

    #81: ‘Dog Rounds – Death and Life in the Boxing Ring’ by Elliot Worsell

    ‘Dog Rounds – Death and Life in the Boxing Ring’ is Elliot Worsell’s commendable, yet perhaps uncomfortable, exploration of the darkest side of the sport of boxing: when tragedy strikes and a boxer is profoundly injured or killed. The book is framed by the ill-fated bout between Chris Eubank Jr and Nick Blackwell, March 2016,… Read more

  • #80: ‘Pugilism in Petticoats: Women and Prize-Fighting in Victorian Britain’ by Grace Di Méo

    #80: ‘Pugilism in Petticoats: Women and Prize-Fighting in Victorian Britain’ by Grace Di Méo

    ‘Pugilism in Petticoats: Women and Prizefighting in Victorian Britain’ by Grace Di Méo originally appeared in Volume 27, Issue 4 of the Journal of Victorian Culture, October 2022. This article attempts to add to the growing body of research into the role played by women in the early development of boxing, during the late-Georgian period… Read more

  • #79: ‘Somebody Ring the Bell!’ by Willie Toweel and Peter McInnes

    #79: ‘Somebody Ring the Bell!’ by Willie Toweel and Peter McInnes

    ‘Somebody Ring the Bell!’ is the autobiography of South African professional boxer Willie Toweel, co-authored by Peter McInnes. Willie Toweel, who boxed between 1953 and 1960, is a member (product?) of one of the 20th Century’s most famous boxing families. Willie and several of his brothers were born in South Africa to Lebanese parents, and… Read more

  • #78: ‘Brutal Artistry’ by Thomas Hauser

    #78: ‘Brutal Artistry’ by Thomas Hauser

    ‘Brutal Artistry – Great Fighters and Great Fights’ is a collection of articles written by boxing-writing stalwart, Thomas Hauser. The book is set out in the following four sections: For those who are familiar with this blog, you may have noticed a lack of books specifically written about Muhammad Ali; of course, the many anthologies… Read more

  • #77: ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volume 2’ by Melanie Lloyd

    #77: ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volume 2’ by Melanie Lloyd

    ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volume 2’ is the second instalment of Melanie Lloyd’s ‘Sweet Fighting Man’ series of interview-format books, in which she assembles self-recorded conversations with a selection of British professional boxers. Volume 2 features the following boxers: Read more

  • #76: ‘This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own’ by Jonathan Rendall

    #76: ‘This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own’ by Jonathan Rendall

    ‘This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own – A Journey to the End of Boxing’ is Jonathan Rendall’s retelling of his own, slightly odd, fortuitous and short-lived, ramble through boxing. Books and stories like this are always going to appeal to me as I recognise myself in any author that has no ‘real’… Read more