Writers on Boxing

Reading List

  • #67: ‘Born To Box – The Extraordinary Story of Nipper Pat Daly’ by Alex Daley

    #67: ‘Born To Box – The Extraordinary Story of Nipper Pat Daly’ by Alex Daley

    ‘Born To Box’ is Alex Daley’s affectionate portrait of his grandfather, ‘Nipper’ Pat Daly, published by Pitch Publishing. If you were to come across the life and career of ‘Nipper’ Pat Daly on the TV or in the cinema, you’d dismiss it as ludicrous and beyond farcical. Nipper made his pro boxing debut in 1923 Read more

  • #66: ‘Knock Out! – The True Story of Emile Griffith’ by Reinhard Kleist

    #66: ‘Knock Out! – The True Story of Emile Griffith’ by Reinhard Kleist

    ‘Knock Out!’ is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Reinhard Kleist. Kleist also authored ‘The Boxer’, which I have covered previously, in post #11. Emile Griffith is the boxer I have covered most in this blog and probably the one sports person I’ll never get bored reading, thinking and writing about. I’m sure there Read more

  • #65: ‘The Fight’ by William Hazlitt

    #65: ‘The Fight’ by William Hazlitt

    ‘The Fight’ by William Hazlitt is, alongside the writing of Egan Pierce, one of the most quoted and cited boxing essays, informing boxing writers for over two hundred years. This essay is, as a young lad working on the building site I’m currently on says, a stone cold classic! I don’t know how many times Read more

  • #64: ‘Sweet Fighting Man’ by Melanie Lloyd

    #64: ‘Sweet Fighting Man’ by Melanie Lloyd

    ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Inside Stories from British Boxers’ is a collection of 14 interviews with former British boxers, compiled by Melanie Lloyd. Book the first in what is now a series of three books. I ordered the second volume at the same time as the first so that will feature on the blog sometime Read more

  • #63: ‘Grimmish’ by Michael Winkler

    #63: ‘Grimmish’ by Michael Winkler

    ‘Grimmish’ is Michael Winkler’s exploded non-fiction novel about Italian-American boxer Joe Grim’s time in Australia. Published in the UK by Peninsula Press and in the US by Coach House Press. Note: This post differs quite widely from the others on this blog. This is due to the nature of the book and my own response Read more

  • #62: ‘Champion’ by Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer

    #62: ‘Champion’ by Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer

    ‘Champion’ is an opera composed by jazz musician Terence Blanchard, with libretti by Michael Cristofer, based on the life and career of Emile Griffith. It debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in May 2023. This is the first opera that I’ve sat through entirely and I’ll be honest, if it wasn’t based on one of my Read more