John L. Sullivan and His America


Book Description

A knockout biography of John L. Sullivan that puts the fabled boxing champ squarely in the context of his rough-and-tumble times. Drawing on a wealth of contemporary sources, including the scandalous National Police Gazette, Isenberg (History/Annapolis) recounts how Sullivan brawled his way from a working-class background in Boston's Irish ghetto to the top of the prizefighting world.




The Bare-Knuckle Boxer's Companion


Book Description

The Comprehensive Guide to Bare-Knuckle Boxing Techniques Martial artists David Lindholm and Ulf Karlsson present this practical guide to learning and effectively applying the classic combative skill of bare-knuckle boxing in real-world situations. This age-old fighting practice, also known as pugilism, began long ago in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire and developed over time into a precursor to the modern sport of boxing. Lindholm and Karlsson discuss the differences between the bare-knuckle approaches used by various historical teachers, and provide useful technical instruction on how to implement the strategies yourself. They cover stances, strikes, punches, kicks, counters, throws, and avoidance as well as essential components of training and conditioning. Studying these time-tested techniques and carefully practicing the patterns will allow you strike hard yet still protect your ungloved hands, and be able to do so in a variety of conditions and scenarios. The Bare-Knuckle Boxer's Companion is illustrated with hundreds of pictures depicting classical actions and poses, and is also rounded out with a superb bibliography of recommended historical source texts. This valuable guide is a must-have resource for any modern-day self-defense student, from beginners to experienced martial artists, as well as anyone interested in the history of fighting and boxing. This book is also available from Echo Point Books in paperback (ISBN 1648370993).




Heavyweight


Book Description

In Heavyweight, Jordana Moore Saggese examines images of Black heavyweight boxers to map the visual terrain of racist ideology in the United States, paying particular attention to the intersecting discourses of Blackness, masculinity, and sport. Looking closely at the “shadow archive” of portrayals across fine art, vernacular imagery, and public media at the turn of the twentieth century, shedemonstrates how the images of boxers reveal the racist stereotypes implicit in them, many of which continue to structure ideas of Black men today. With a focus on both anonymous fighters and notorious champions, including Jack Johnson, Saggese contends that popular images of these men provided white spectators a way to render themselves experts on Blackness and Black masculinity. These images became the blueprint for white conceptions of the Black male body—existing between fear and fantasy, simultaneously an object of desire and an instrument of violence. Reframing boxing as yet another way whiteness establishes the violent mythology of its supremacy, Saggese highlights the role of imagery in normalizing a culture of anti-Blackness.




Bareknuckle


Book Description

As bareknuckle fighting is poised to steal MMA’s spotlight, its greatest modern-day champion tells his story of rising to the top in the brutal sport. Steeped in the tradition of his Irish Traveller ancestry, Bartley Gorman also embraced its dangerous subculture: bareknuckle fighting. Though it gave birth to boxing as we know it today, the sport has remained underground—and illegal in most developed countries. But that didn’t stop Gorman from rising through the prize-fighting ranks of Great Britain and Ireland and staying undefeated for twenty years. Now, through Gorman’s thrilling memoir, readers get a front row view of the punches exchanged in back parking lots and fair grounds, the gritty characters populating the fight circles, and the hazards facing a sought after champion. “A rare glimpse into a secret world,” Bareknuckle celebrates one man’s mastery of fighting in its purest form and heralds the rebirth of one of the oldest combat sports in history (The Independent on Sunday). “Every page shines. A tremendous book.” —Traveller Magazine “Well-written and interesting.” —Boxing News




Players All


Book Description

"Players All is a stunning accomplishment, an agenda-setting work; it opens the space for a bold, and innovative, critical, performance-based discourse on mass sport, sport as entertainment, and spectatorship in the global, postmodern society." -- Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign In a book that is both scholarly and engagingly personal, Robert E. Rinehart takes us into the world of contemporary sport performances, from the Olympic Games to "The eXtreme Games," the Super Bowl to "The American Gladiators." He introduces us to sports tourism and the highly commercialized world of global sport. Rinehart analyzes the emergence of such "sports" as paint ball (and its associations with the Vietnam War) and indoor rock climbing (and its links to environmentalism and self-mastery). He shows how sports have become theatrical events and paints a revealing portrait of the new postmodern culture of sports.




Prizefighter - The Searing Autobiography of Britain's Bareknuckle Boxing Champion


Book Description

'You can get a couple of years for beating the shit out of another bloke, or a couple of grand. I chose to do the latter'. Decca's story is that of a bullied boy with an impossible dream. Of solvent abuse, violence, drug addiction, depression, boxing and bareknuckle fighting but - ultimately - redemption. It begins on a council estate in Carlisle where, as the victim, of cruel bullies, a young Decanaesthetised himself from the pain and humiliation by sniffing solvents. In his mid-teens the fear fell away to be replaced by fury, as the bullies discovered to their cost. Memories of that frightened boy fuelled a rage that forged a fearsome street-fighter and future champion. Working on the doors attracted more trouble but further enhanced his growing reputation. At the age of nineteen, life was good until the love of his life left him. Depression set in and prevailed. For almost ten years, he fell prey to a rampant cocaine habit, which provoked his demons, making him unpredictable and dangerous to be around. Serious jail time seemed inevitable. Out of sheer desperation, his Dad arranged Decca's first unlicensed boxing match. He won and became instantly hooked. Having gotten fit, hungry, and off the drugs, he was lured into the bloody arena of bareknuckle fighting. Many brutal undefeated fights followed, as did two BKB heavyweight titles. A chance meeting with renowned boxing promoter Ricky English led to Decca's shot at the iconic 'Guv'nor' title. The rest, as they say, is history.




Loonyology


Book Description

Lifer Charlie Bronson's reputation precedes him - ‘Britain's most violent prisoner’ - or does it? Do we really know the true Charlie, or are our impressions the result of media hype? Well, what is in no doubt is that Loonyology is 200% Bronson and will transport the reader on the dizziest no-holds-barred roller-coaster ride of their lives, from suspense and shock to laughter and tears, and from Bronson the ‘Solitary King’ to Bronson the Philosopher, the Poet, the Artist, the Author, the Joker, the Walking Scar and the Freedom Fighter. Now 55 years old, and having spent most of his last 34 years as a maximum security ‘Bronco Zoo’ inmate, he’s a much wiser man as he looks back on his crazy journey of unpredictable behaviour, his ever-alert mind darting from reminiscences of his teenage years to memories of fellow-cons, the screws, the cranks, letters and news reports, prison life and procedures, and the overall madness (‘loonyology’) of the legal and penal systems, peppering his stories with diary entries, true gems of information, sound advice and hilarious one-liners. Together with his many supporters and with the aid of a top lawyer, Charlie is campaigning for the parole board to finally allow him his freedom, but begging is not his style: he calls a spade a spade and is determined to win with dignity, fighting with his pen and his brain to achieve his aim of a life outside ‘the cage’. In his words: “I chose to be a villain. I’m not proud of it, nor am I ashamed of it. I have paid my debt to society and it’s time to go home.”




The Mammoth Book of Hard Bastards


Book Description

They know who they are and what they're capable of - cross them at your peril. No real hard bastard needs to brag or bully; most are modest, thoughtful and quiet. They have nothing to prove, as opposed to wannabe tough guys, who may pump themselves full of steroids or devote themselves to the study of a martial art, but can they handle themselves during an aggressive confrontation? It is the real hard bastard's absolute willingness to fight literally anyone, his ability to be uncompromisingly violent, his complete lack of fear, and unwillingness to admit defeat that makes him stand out in a crowd. A real hard bastard exudes an unmistakable air of confidence and authority. The full list of Hard Men is: Geoff Thompson (Former British nightclub bouncer and world-famous martial artist. Now a BAFTA-award-winning writer); Thomas Silverstein (America's most dangerous prisoner); Arthur White (Once one of London's most notorious debt collectors. Now reformed and a Christian); Tom Taylor (A former US Presidential bodyguard); Don Murfet (Minder to the rock band Led Zeppelin); Charlie Bronson (Britain's most violent prisoner - also an artist and writer); Gary Alexander (Full-contact fighting champion of North America); Roy Shaw (British bare-knuckle fighting champion; Ali vs Tyson; Hard Bastards: what exactly are they?; Noel 'Razor' Smith (Former British gangster serving multiple life sentences); Street Kings & Bare-Knuckle Fighters (the toughest of them all); Mike Tyson (Boxer); The Krays (Britain's most infamous gangsters); Dave 'Boy' Green (British boxer); Luciano Leggio (Sicilian gangster); Bob Honiball (Martial arts expert currently training Eastern European special forces); Peter Rollack aka 'Pistol Pete' (New York City gang member); Gregory Peter John Smith (Australian bandit); John Brawn (Ireland's hardest man, martial artist and bouncer); William Coss (Just a regular US citizen put in an extreme situation); Mickey Francis (Manchester's most notorious football thug and gangster, now a professional wrestler); Jake LaMotta (Boxer); Vladimir Bogomolov (Soviet bodyguard); Big Joe Egan (Probably the hardest white man on the planet); Dennis Martin (Doorman, bodyguard and Liverpool's hardest man).




King of the Gypsies


Book Description




Primal Cut


Book Description

Eight years ago, the national tabloids had a feeding frenzy over the 'Primal Cut' killings. The Garrod brothers, East End butchers, had turned their expertise to rendering human flesh. The case made DS Alison Dexter notorious. She identified the murderers and ended their orgy of killing, but in the process took what Bartholomew Garrod most valued: his brother's life. With her career in ruins and her personal safety in jeopardy, Dexter was transferred to Cambridgeshire. Now Dexter finds herself drawn into an investigation probing the underbelly of the area's crime scene - bare-knuckle boxing, dog fights and murder. As she gets closer to the truth, it's clear Garrod hasn't forgotten the debt she owes him - he wants his pound of flesh and will do whatever it takes to get it.