Tag: books
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#54: ‘Unlicensed’ by Jon Hotten
‘Unlicensed – Random Notes from Boxing’s Underbelly’ by Jon Hotten. It’s funny how your brain does or, in fact, doesn’t work, but I have next to no recollection of reading this book! Though, please don’t take that as a judgement of its quality; I often binge when I’m interested in a subject, so it’s very…
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#53: ‘The Gloves’ by Robert Anasi
‘The Gloves – A Boxing Chronicle’ by Robert Anasi is the author’s account of his own attempt to enter the New York Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament. This is a really great description of just how tough it is to enter amateur boxing at a competitive level as an adult, as Anasi was when he…
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#52: ‘Rope Burns’ by F.X. Toole
‘Rope Burns’ is a collection of short stories by F.X. Toole who, as well as authoring this book, has had a substantial career as a trainer of, and cut man to, professional boxers. Perhaps most notably this collection contains the short story Million $$$ Baby, which was later dramatised in the film Million Dollar Baby,…
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Latest eBay delivery – June
Looking forward to reading and blogging about these fantastic looking books form my latest eBay shopping spree. In the post were: * ‘Boxing – a Cultural History’ by Kasia Boddy* ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volumes 1 & 2’ by Melanie Lloyd* ‘Saga of Sock’ by John V Grombach* ‘Brutal Artistry – Great Fighters and Great…
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#51: ‘The Tragedy of Randolph Turpin’ by Jack Birtley
‘The Tragedy of Randolph Turpin’ by Jack Birtley tells the story of British Middleweight Randolph Turpin’s rapid rise as a professional boxer, and the ultimately tragic end to his life. In 1951, Turpin shocked the boxing world by beating the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson to win the world middleweight title. This, unfortunately, was a high…
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#50: ‘Hook to the Chin’ by Lev Kreft
‘Hook to the Chin’ is an article originally published in Physical Culture and Sports Studies and Research, written by Lev Kreft, from the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts – University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. (DOI: 10.2478/v10141-009-0005-1) This article focuses on how artists of the Avant-Garde during the 1920s and 30s held sport, and specifically boxing,…
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#49: ‘Chatteris Thunderbolt’ by Bob Lonkhurst
‘Chatteris Thunderbolt – The Eric Boon Story’ is a biography of Eric Boon, written by Bob Lonkhurst. Despite going to secondary school in Chatteris and walking past a portrait of Dave ‘Boy’ Green everyday, and being very aware of his boxing legacy, I had never heard of Eric Boon – the original boxing Fen Tiger…
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#48: ‘Willie Pep Remembers… Friday’s Heroes’ with Robert Sacchi
‘Friday’s Heroes’ takes a look at the boxers who made their names on TV during the 1950s, appearing on the Friday Night Fights. Featherweight legend Willie Pep remembers the likes of Sandy Saddler, Tony Janiro, Tiger Jones, Tony Canzoneri and ‘Kid’ Gavilan, weaving in personal stories as he does so.
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#47: ‘The Black Lights’ by Thomas Hauser
‘The Black Lights – Inside the World of Professional Boxing’ is an investigation of the world of professional boxing, by Thomas Hauser. The book follows the trials and tribulations of former WBC Super-Lightweight Champion, Billie Costello. I really liked this format, following a boxer who was far from a superstar, and who had to just…
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#46: ‘Cashel Byron’s Profession’ by Bernard Shaw
‘Cashel Byron’s Profession’ is Bernard Shaw’s fictional life story of English champion bare knuckle fighter Cashel Byron. There are some interesting aspects to this story, namely the aspects around how bouts were arranged and held while under the scrutiny of the local authorities. Because of Bernard Shaw’s firm interest in boxing and its history, it…
Writers on Boxing 