Tag: sports writing
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#89: ‘The Constant Sinner’ by Mae West
‘The Constant Sinner’, published in 1930, is Mae West’s novel whose protagonist, Babe Gordon, grows up around New York’s 1920s professional boxing circuit. The novel opens by introducing us to Babe, who is essentially a teenage prostitute being used by boxing promoters to either sabotage the chances of an opponent, by disrupting their training and…
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#88: ‘Dancing Shoes is Dead’ by Gavin Evans
‘Dancing Shoes is Dead’ is Gavin Evans’ memoir about his life as a political activist and lifelong boxing fan. The book is published by Black Swan. The memoir charts Evans’ life growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa and his early involvement as a committed activist, eventually aligning with the ANC. His political ideals are interwoven…
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#87: ‘The Saga of Sock’ by John V. Grombach
‘The Saga of Sock’ by John V. Grombach, published in 1949, was a contemporary attempt to trace the history of boxing from its inception (as stated in this book) in Ancient Greece, through the place it held in the Roman Empire, to its reemergence in Georgian Britain, with the ultimate intention of showing the influence…
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#86: ‘Mighty Atoms’ by Amanda Whittington
‘Mighty Atoms’, written by Amanda Whittington, is a play which was commissioned by Hull Truck Theatre in 2017, the year in which Hull was named as Britain’s City of Culture. As with so many plays, I heard about this one only weeks after it was performed near where I live. Annoyingly, the play was staged…
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#85: ‘The Final Round’ by Jane Couch and Abi Smith
‘The Final Round’ is the autobiography of Jane Couch, co-written by Abi Smith and published by Pitch Publishing. It feels like perfect timing that I am writing this blog post about the autobiography of one of the most influential women boxers in recent history, while my wife and I are at one of the world’s…
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#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…
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#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…
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#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,…
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#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…
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#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…
Writers on Boxing 