Writers on Boxing

Reading List

  • #83: ‘Slaughter in the Streets – When Boston Became Boxing’s Murder Capital’ by Don Stradley

    #83: ‘Slaughter in the Streets – When Boston Became Boxing’s Murder Capital’ by Don Stradley

    ‘Slaughter in the Streets’ is Don Stradley’s whistlestop tour of 20th-Century Boston’s murky links to organised crime, and its often fatal links to boxing. It is published by Hamilcar Noir which is fast becoming one of my favourite publishers. To paraphrase my old nan: This book is just one bloody thing after another! Beginning with… Read more

  • #82: ‘Ring Battles of the Century’ by Gilbert E. Odd

    #82: ‘Ring Battles of the Century’ by Gilbert E. Odd

    ‘Ring Battles of the Century’ by Gilbert E. Odd is a collection of fight reports, embellished by further musings meant to contextualise these reports. The overarching theme of the book is that Odd has selected the most outstanding and colourful contests in ring history for the past thirty years [the early 20th Century]. I don’t… Read more

  • #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