Tag: british boxing
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#35: ‘The Tartan Legend’ by Ken Buchanan
‘The Tartan Legend’ is Ken Buchanan’s autobiography, published in 2000. I don’t read a lot of boxers’ autobiographies as they usually follow the same dull pattern of empty, glossy celebrity books, totally lacking in substance. However, I’ve always been a big fan of Buchanan’s fighting style so I’ve had this book on my reading list…
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#34: ‘Old Holborn Book of Boxing’ edited by Peter Wilson
Published in 1969, the ‘Old Holborn Book of Boxing’ is a collection of articles, edited by Peter Wilson, about a number of boxers, including Rocky Marciano, Joe Louis, Sandy Sadler, Benny Lynch and Henry Cooper. There’s also a quiz – which I did very badly at!
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#33: ‘East End Born and Bled’ by Jeff Jones
‘East London Born and Bled – The Remarkable Story of Boxing in London’ by Jeff Jones. I really enjoyed reading this book and being led through the east end of London via its boxing clubs, gyms and venues, most of which don’t exist anymore. Though luckily for the boxing historians out there, east London does…
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#32: ‘Fen Tiger’ by Bob Lonkhurst
‘Fen Tiger – The Success of Dave “Boy” Green’ is an official biography compiled and written by Bob Lonkhurst. I was born in south London but when I was young my parents moved to Cambridgeshire and I ended up attending secondary school at Cromwell Community College in Chatteris. Sport, mainly rugby, was a big part…
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#31: ‘The Woman in the Corner’ by Gilbert Odd
‘The Woman in the Corner – Her Influence on Boxing’ is a collection of 25 essays about the wives, girlfriends and mothers of boxers, written by Gilbert Odd. This book was published in 1978 so I wasn’t expecting it to share the more enlightened language readers expect today, when it comes to discussing women’s roles…
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#28: ‘The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing’ by David Scott
‘The Art and Aesthetics of Boxing’ by David Scott is a really great exploration of how artists have tried to represent boxing and boxers, through literature and visual arts. As Scott lays out the history of artistic representation of the sport and its participants, there is also a parallel thread building, addressing the necessity to…
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#24: ‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind’ by John Harding
‘The Whitechapel Whirlwind’ by John Harding is the story of British-Jewish boxer Jack ‘Kid’ Berg. As with my previous post about Teddy Baldock, this book is a fantastic account of British boxing at a time where boxing gyms were found in numbers throughout the working-class areas of London, and other British cities, and boxing cards…
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#23: ‘Teddy Baldock – The Pride of Poplar’ by Brian Belton
‘Teddy Baldock – The Pride of Poplar’ by Brian Belton is the story of Britain’s youngest ever boxing world champion. Born at Poplar in east London in 1908, and coming from a family of fighters, Teddy Baldock went on to beat American Archie Bell at the Royal Albert Hall and take the world bantamweight title.…
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#22: ‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’ by Donald McRae
‘In Sunshine or in Shadow’ by Donald McRae is a book looking at the history of amateur boxing on both sides of the Troubles in Belfast and Northern Ireland, and the effect which the amateur eventually had on the pro game. Over the past two years Donald McRae has become one of my favourite authors…
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#19: ‘War, Baby’ by Kevin Mitchell
‘War, Baby’ by Kevin Mitchell is a book centring on the ill-fated 1995 world title bout between Nigel Benn and Gerald McLellan. I have to start by saying that if you, like me, hold any conflict about watching boxing as entertainment, and the safety and wellbeing of the boxers, then this book is not going…
Writers on Boxing 