Ungloved: Memories from the Ring - Softcover

"Not so much a nod as a headbutt to Peter Heller's 1970s classic In This Corner. That gem helped me to get hooked on boxing and there's probably enough in here to do likewise for a new generation. There's nothing like hearing it from the horse's mouth and I find these fast-paced, potted histories much more entertaining than padded, drawn-out biographies." --Racing Post

"Don't you just love boxers to bits? The ring is the loneliest place in the world - and it takes a special kind of bravery to climb over the ropes and into the ring for one-to-one combat. And even after they are long retired from the game, they are still fighting imaginary battles. At the risk of calling for the blokes with the white coats, Jim McDonnell is quoted in a new boxing book: "I fancy myself against Mayweather at 9st 4lb. I genuinely believe I could have beaten anyone," pointing to the fact that when he was in his prime he ate one meal a day and dried out for two or three. Features some fascinating interviews with old boxers such as Rod Douglas, Horace Notice, Derek Williams, Billy Schwer and James Cook, all with stories to tell." --Book of the Week, Blackpool Gazette

Ben Calder-Smith travelled around the UK for 18 months meeting and interviewing a broad cross-section of former fighters and boxing personalities. He now presents the stories of huge forgotten talents, coulda-been contenders and men who established a foothold in British boxing history, highlighting the highs and lows of their careers in and out of the ring. From the agonies of injury and enforced retirement to a poignant late comeback inspired by personal tragedy; from a British Boxing Board of Control-licensed ringside doctor to a late-blossoming veteran of the ring, Ungloved features unique, varied and personal accounts of the 'noble art' from a bygone age. Memories are relayed with the same passion as was expended in the ring, describing the good, the bad and the ugly with brutal honesty and heart-warming humility. These moving accounts provide living proof that, when knocked down, the human spirit has infinite capacity to bounce back.