Tag: the sweet science
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#52: ‘Rope Burns’ by F.X. Toole
‘Rope Burns’ is a collection of short stories by F.X. Toole who, as well as authoring this book, has had a substantial career as a trainer of, and cut man to, professional boxers. Perhaps most notably this collection contains the short story Million $$$ Baby, which was later dramatised in the film Million Dollar Baby,…
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Latest eBay delivery – June
Looking forward to reading and blogging about these fantastic looking books form my latest eBay shopping spree. In the post were: * ‘Boxing – a Cultural History’ by Kasia Boddy* ‘Sweet Fighting Man – Volumes 1 & 2’ by Melanie Lloyd* ‘Saga of Sock’ by John V Grombach* ‘Brutal Artistry – Great Fighters and Great…
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#51: ‘The Tragedy of Randolph Turpin’ by Jack Birtley
‘The Tragedy of Randolph Turpin’ by Jack Birtley tells the story of British Middleweight Randolph Turpin’s rapid rise as a professional boxer, and the ultimately tragic end to his life. In 1951, Turpin shocked the boxing world by beating the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson to win the world middleweight title. This, unfortunately, was a high…
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#49: ‘Chatteris Thunderbolt’ by Bob Lonkhurst
‘Chatteris Thunderbolt – The Eric Boon Story’ is a biography of Eric Boon, written by Bob Lonkhurst. Despite going to secondary school in Chatteris and walking past a portrait of Dave ‘Boy’ Green everyday, and being very aware of his boxing legacy, I had never heard of Eric Boon – the original boxing Fen Tiger…
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#48: ‘Willie Pep Remembers… Friday’s Heroes’ with Robert Sacchi
‘Friday’s Heroes’ takes a look at the boxers who made their names on TV during the 1950s, appearing on the Friday Night Fights. Featherweight legend Willie Pep remembers the likes of Sandy Saddler, Tony Janiro, Tiger Jones, Tony Canzoneri and ‘Kid’ Gavilan, weaving in personal stories as he does so.
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#47: ‘The Black Lights’ by Thomas Hauser
‘The Black Lights – Inside the World of Professional Boxing’ is an investigation of the world of professional boxing, by Thomas Hauser. The book follows the trials and tribulations of former WBC Super-Lightweight Champion, Billie Costello. I really liked this format, following a boxer who was far from a superstar, and who had to just…
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#46: ‘Cashel Byron’s Profession’ by Bernard Shaw
‘Cashel Byron’s Profession’ is Bernard Shaw’s fictional life story of English champion bare knuckle fighter Cashel Byron. There are some interesting aspects to this story, namely the aspects around how bouts were arranged and held while under the scrutiny of the local authorities. Because of Bernard Shaw’s firm interest in boxing and its history, it…
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#45: ‘It’s your (basic) footwork’ by You Don’t Know
‘It’s your (basic) footwork’ is a short piece of writing and audio from writing collective You Don’t Know. I have been going back and forth with this post as it feels a little self-indulgent – it includes some writing by me and my wife Lizzy. In June 2022 we were invited to submit to KINETIC,…
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#44: ‘Sparring for Luck’ by Stephen ‘Johnny’ Hicks
‘Sparring for Luck’ by Stephen ‘Johnny’ Hicks is the confluence of what might be the three main areas of my cultural life over the past ten years: Socialism, poetry and boxing. This book tells the life story of Stepney-born Stephen Hicks, fortuitously found and published by The Tower Hamlets Arts Project. This is a story…
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#43: ‘Ringside, Hearthside’ by Dave Kaszuba
‘Ringside, Hearthside – Sports Scribe Jane Dixon Embodies Struggle of Jazz Age Women Caught Between Two Worlds’ is an article by Dave Kaszuba originally published in Journalism History. (DOI: 10.1080/00947679.2009.12062796) Jane Dixon regularly wrote about boxing during the 1920s, for both the New York Herald Tribune and New York Tribune, and was, according to Dave…
Writers on Boxing 