Tag: the sweet science
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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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#21: ‘Berserk’ by Don Stradley
The subtitle for ‘Berserk’ by Don Stradley is ‘The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero’, which is one of the most succinct and apt taglines for a book that I’ve come across. Even within the confines of boxing, which is full of wild stories, Valero’s is truly shocking. This is mainly a tale of…
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#20: ‘The Bittersweet Science’ edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra
‘The Bittersweet Science’ is a collection of fifteen essays about American boxing and boxers, edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra. Now, this is no judgement on this book, but I almost have no recollection of reading it, though this has much more to do with the fact that I read this book around 18…
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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…
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#18: ‘Nosher’ by Nosher Powell (and I’m sure a ghost writer)
‘Nosher’ by Nosher Powell is the autobiography of boxer, and TV and film stunt man, Nosher Powell. I normally avoid books about self-titled ‘hard men’, unless the lives of the men are particularly interesting outside of the violence. I got this book because Powell is from the same part of south London as a lot…
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#17: ‘My Sisters and I at a New York Prizefight’ by Djuna Barnes
‘My Sisters and I at a New York Prizefight’ is an article taken from ‘Vivid and Repulsive as the Truth’, a collection of the early works of avant-garde writer Djuna Barnes. The article describes Barnes and a group of women friends attending a boxing event in 1914, at Brown’s Athletic Club in New York, headlined…
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#16: ‘Shadow Box’ by George Plimpton
‘Shadow Box’ by George Plimpton is an example of a boxing book regularly making ‘top ten’-style lists. Plimpton is best known for a series of books he wrote as a ‘participatory journalist’, in which he played (backup) quarterback for the Detroit Lions, trained as an ice hockey goalie with the Boston Bruins, and, in this…
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#15: ‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee
‘Amateur’ by Thomas Page McBee tracks the author’s journey from boxing as a means to test one’s limits, to white collar boxer, to being the first trans man to box on a bill at Madison Square Garden. I always enjoy stories in which amateurs describe their own relationships to and journey through boxing, as there…
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#14: ‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley
‘Journeymen’ by Mark Turley is a collection of interviews with professional boxers making a living as supporting cast members to those trying to climb the ratings ladder and build their records. I think this type of book is a vital insight into how the professional game functions; how vital journeyman boxers are to the development…
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#13: ‘Bunce’s Big Fat Short History of British Boxing’ by Steve Bunce
‘Bunce’s BFSHoBB’ is a summary of the diaries and notebooks Steve Bunce has meticulously kept in his role as possibly the most prominent boxing correspondent and broadcaster currently working in Britain. The book spans 1970-2017, with each chapter focusing on an individual year and giving a remarkably detailed overview of that year’s action. I have…
Writers on Boxing 