Tag: professional boxing
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#113: ‘The Last Bell: Life, Death and Boxing’ by Donald McRae
The Last Bell: Life, Death and Boxing, published by Simon and Schuster, is Donald McRae’s exploration of grief, sporting and political corruption, and is most likely his final book on the subject of boxing. The book cover features a painting by the wonderfully talented Amanda Kelley. This book is a follow-up of sorts to McRae’s…
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#110: ‘Chasing The Great Gatsby: Freddie Welsh’s Saga’ by Gene Pantalone
‘Chasing The Great Gatsby’ is essentially a biography of former world lightweight champion Freddie Welsh, by Gene Pantalone. There is, however, a large twist to this book which sets it apart from other boxer biographies: Pantalone’s theory that F. Scott Fitzgerald based the character of Jay Gatsby, protagonist of ‘The Great Gatsby’, on Welsh. This…
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#109: ‘President of Pandemonium’ by Luke G. Williams
‘President of Pandemonium’ is Luke G. Williams’ attempt to document the wild life story of 1990s heavyweight prospect Ike Ibeabuchi. Published by Hamilcar Noir. This might seem quite a claim considering some of the crazy life stories written about in the books on this blog, but this might be the saddest boxing story I’ve read.…
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#108: ‘Going for Gold’ by Lisa Lintott
‘Going for Gold’ by Lisa Lintott is a play based on the remarkable and sad story of Frankie Lucas. The play is currently on at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, until 30 November 2024. The play text is published by Salamander Street. Born in St. Vincent, Lucas moved to Croydon, south London as a…
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#106: ‘Sweet Fighting Man: Ring of Truth’ by Melanie Lloyd
Hi! It’s been a couple of months since I last posted. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m preparing to start a creative writing MA so have a lot of pre-reading (and writing!) that I’ve chosen to get into ahead of that course beginning. Also, for any of you that don’t already know, Lizzy…
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#105: ‘The Promise of Women’s Boxing: A Momentous New Era for the Sweet Science’ by Malissa Smith
In The Promise of Women’s Boxing, the follow up to her book A History of Women’s Boxing, author Malissa Smith covers the international developments in women’s boxing between 2012 and 2014. The book is published by Rowman and Littlefield. (This will likely be my last book post for a while as I’m due to start…
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#104: ‘Fights’ by Steven J. Fowler
This 2nd edition of Steven J. Fowler‘s Fights was published in 2015 by Veer Books, and from what I understand is a more slimmed down, and considered, version of the 2011 1st edition (also Veer Books). I know Steven from when my life existed almost entirely beneath the shadow of poetry. This all seems so…
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#103: ‘Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye: 50 years in boxing’ by J. Russell Peltz
Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye is J. Russell Peltz’s look back at his 50-year career as a boxing promoter and matchmaker. Peltz took his first steps as a promoter in 1969, at the now legendary Blue Horizon in north Philadelphia. At the age of 22 this was, and still would be, a very bold…
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#100: ‘The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The untold stories’ by Ferdie Pacheco
‘The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing’ is Ferdie Pacheco’s attempt to list just that, 12 single rounds of boxing which he believes meet the following criteria: 1) Rounds that had a significant, lasting effect on the rules of boxing2) Rounds that affected a fighter’s career3) Rounds of international importance beyond their boxing significance4) Rounds in…
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#99: ‘Kill The Body, The Head Will Fall’ by Rene Denfeld
‘Kill The Body, The Head Will Fall: A closer look at women, violence, and aggression’ was written by Rene Denfeld, and published by Vintage in 1997. What a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be! I completely expected it to be a personal story about the author’s experiences as an amateur boxer (which I…
Writers on Boxing 