CharlesListon wrote:Looking for a Fight, by David Matthews.
He was a journo and boxing fan that decided to write a book about becoming a pro. It took him years and he lost his debut and sole fight.
Its a good read and insight into pro boxing in the UK.
I think
Looking for a Fight is one of the best books on combat sports ever written. If I can be permitted some indulgence, I would go as far as to say that it is a classic of participatory journalism. It is a great, great book and I would recommend it highly. It got some plaudits when it came out and was well reviewed but I don't think that it was a massive hit. That's a real shame.
If you liked it, I would also recommend Matthew's second book
Man buys Dog. It's not about boxing at all but it continues giving you an insight into the life of David Matthews.
I would also recommend a book called
This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own by the late Jonathan Rendall. It's a very well written book and details Rendall's adventures in boxing. It makes an interesting companion to Mathew's book as some of the same characters pop up in it. Howard Rainey is a significant character in both.
Rendall was a wonderful writer who lived a very troubled existence. He died earlier this year aged 48. If you're interested in him the
Sabotage Times did a nice piece on him back in February (
http://sabotagetimes.com/people/the-bru ... n-rendall/). Brilliant but troubled, that was how he was described in his obituaries.
Anyway, the product description of
This Blood Mary is the Last Thing I Own boxing book sums it up much better than I could. So, I will just copy and paste that.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Bloody-Mar ... hing+I+own
Publication Date: 20 April 1998
The sport of boxing is dying in a last explosion of dollars. Its beleaguered performers are reaching up for a last payday with bravery, one-liners and self-delusion. Fittingly it is in boxing's capital, in a faded downtown Vegas casino with a hooker for company, that the author, a boxing writer and sometime boxer's agent, reflects on his own exit from the scene. As the boxing world starts to recede, the characters he has lived with, and for, rear sharply into focus one last time: the astonishing Jack Kid Berg, and Kid Chocolate the Havana Dandy, and 'Sweet C' McMillan. This Bloody Mary is the journey of an obsession. It started innocently enough. But as it proceeds, the arc lights begin to shift, until even the shadows in the minds of those who inhabit and surround the ring seem caught in their glare.
