Tag: sports writing
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#78: ‘Brutal Artistry’ by Thomas Hauser
‘Brutal Artistry – Great Fighters and Great Fights’ is a collection of articles written by boxing-writing stalwart, Thomas Hauser. The book is set out in the following four sections: For those who are familiar with this blog, you may have noticed a lack of books specifically written about Muhammad Ali; of course, the many anthologies…
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#77: ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volume 2’ by Melanie Lloyd
‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volume 2’ is the second instalment of Melanie Lloyd’s ‘Sweet Fighting Man’ series of interview-format books, in which she assembles self-recorded conversations with a selection of British professional boxers. Volume 2 features the following boxers:
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#76: ‘This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own’ by Jonathan Rendall
‘This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own – A Journey to the End of Boxing’ is Jonathan Rendall’s retelling of his own, slightly odd, fortuitous and short-lived, ramble through boxing. Books and stories like this are always going to appeal to me as I recognise myself in any author that has no ‘real’…
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#75: ‘Henry Armstrong – Boxing’s Super Champ’ by John Jarrett
‘Henry Armstrong – Boxing’s Super Champ’ is John Jarrett’s retelling of the career of genuine boxing legend Henry Armstrong, the only boxer to ever simultaneously hold world titles at three different weights. The book is published by Pitch Publishing. Along with Barbara Buttrick, Benny Leonard and Kid Chocolate, Henry Armstrong is one of the names…
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#74: ‘On The Ropes’ by Vernon Vanriel and Dougie Blaxland
‘On The Ropes’ is the story of former British professional boxer Vernon ‘The Entertainer’ Vanriel, co-written by Dougie Blaxland and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour for its debut at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, north London. I haven’t posted for a while as I’ve been busy with work, and I’ve got a writing project of…
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#73: ‘Boxer: An anthology of Writings on Boxing and Visual Culture’
Edited by David Chandler, John Gill, Tania Guha and Gilane Tawadros, ‘Boxer’ was published to accompany an exhibition of the same name at Walsall Museum and Art Gallery (29 July – 10 September 1995). This anthology of essays stands out within my collection as it’s the first boxing-related book I’ve read which can be described…
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#72: ‘Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers’ by Stephen McGrath
‘Jimmy Sharman’s Boxers’ is the story of Sharman’s legendary Australian travelling boxing troupe, written by Stephen McGrath and published 1 September by Big Sky Publishing. This book is the culmination of many years’ worth of research by McGrath, and it portrays the lives of many historical characters, while employing some fictional figures, in order to…
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#70: ‘No Middle Ground’ by Sanjeev Shetty
‘No Middle Ground – Eubank, Benn, Watson and the Last Golden Era of British Boxing’ is Sanjeev Shetty’s attempt to document the influential period of British boxing from the late 1980s through to the 1990s, which was dominated by a number of talented middleweights. I don’t put too much thought into the order in which…
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#69: ‘Rope Burns – One Man’s Reluctant Obsession with Boxing’ by Ian Probert
‘Rope Burns’ is Ian Probert’s story of a life stalked, shadowed and punctuated by professional boxing. Probert describes himself as a reluctant boxing fan and this book is an attempt to avoid writing about boxing; so much so that if it weren’t for the ‘Rules of Boxing’ which end each chapter, you might wonder during…
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#68: ‘Boxing – A Cultural History’ by Kasia Boddy
‘Boxing – A Cultural History’ is Kasia Boddy’s comprehensive attempt to document boxing’s influence over, and its own responses to, the many cultures it has existed in. It is published by Reaktion Books. First off, I have to say that this blog isn’t really an adequate space in which to attempt any form of response…
Writers on Boxing 