Boxing Nostalgia

The Good, the Bad and the Weird

Alex Daley

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785314957
• Year: 2018

The champs and challengers, unsung heroes and eccentrics, tragedies and bizarre little-known tales from the history of boxing are all here. This unique assortment of articles comes from the popular Boxing News "Yesterday's Heroes" column. In this compilation, Alex Daley has delved deep into the archives and interviewed ex-fighters to uncover some of boxing's most intriguing stories. British legends like Jimmy Wilde, Jim Driscoll, Ted Kid Lewis, Jock McAvoy, Benny Lynch, Freddie Mills, Randolph Turpin, John Conteh, and Terry Downes all feature, as do American greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Sonny Liston, and Jack Dempsey. Read about the world champion who was sold to a boxing booth by his father, the bareknuckle champ who became an MP, women's boxing pioneers, and the fighter who started a mutiny. Boxing Nostalgia takes you on a journey through British ring history, from the bareknuckle era to the late 20th century, with stories that are often sad, staggering, or downright bizarre.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Author’s Note
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. The Incredible Mr Reeve
• 2. Indelible Echoes
• 3. The Lesser-Known Patterson
• 4. ‘Smashing, Dashing, Crashing Kid’
• 5. Empire King
• 6. Once Is Not Enough
• 7. The First Man to KO Cockell
• 8. Manchester Memories
• 9. Craftsman Cullen
• 10. When Foster Fought Finnegan
• 11. McAvoy puts ‘Babe’ to Sleep
• 12. ‘Terrible Terence’s’ TV milestone
• 13. The English Carnera
• 14. The Spectacular Life of John Gully
• 15. Ten Years a Champion
• 16. How Winstone Got his Cauliflower
• 17. Like Mother, Like Son
• 18. Memorialised
• 19. Floored by Flames
• 20. Premierland
• 21. Glencross and ‘the Mini-Ali’
• 22. Unbeatable
• 23. Boxing Booth Memories
• 24. Rudkin and the ‘Cold- eyed Killer’
• 25. Gloved Dynamite
• 26. Schooled by a Cuban Legend
• 27. Sid Nathan, 1922–2016
• 28. Nicky’s Trip to the Top
• 29. Panama Al Brown in Britain
• 30. Memories of a Fairground Legend
• 31. Happy 80th, Terry Downes
• 32. The NSC’s Last Hurrah
• 33. ‘The Tipton Slasher’
• 34. Punching Pitman
• 35. The Last Brit to Face Ali
• 36. Caldwell Immortalised in Bronze
• 37. Pompey Boxing Heroes
• 38. Mystery Man Sam
• 39. Dangerous Dan
• 40. ‘Gunboat’ and ‘the Orchid Man’
• 41. Richmond Unchained
• 42. Only the Brave
• 43. You Only Fight Twice
• 44. The Forgotten Weights
• 45. Farewell, Dai Dower
• 46. Genuine Sheffield Steel
• 47. Randolph’s Castle
• 48. Mighty Middles
• 49. Catford’s Welsh Dragon
• 50. ‘Nippy Needham’
• 51. Benny’s Hardest Fight
• 52. KO’d by Hitler
• 53. Miracle Man
• 54. ‘Peerless’ Jim’s Last Stand
• 55. Globetrotting Great
• 56. Graveyard of Champions
• 57. ‘Smiling’ Sammy
• 58. Jimmy Tippett, 1932–2016
• 59. Lancaster’s ‘Toy Bulldog’
• 60. Lonsdale’s First Belt
• 61. Undervalued
• 62. Campaign for ‘Newport’s Rocky’
• 63. The Chalton Ring
• 64. ‘Inkredible’ Ike
• 65. Lennie ‘the Lion’ Williams, RIP
• 66. Portsmouth Plaque
• 67. The Showbiz Collector Strikes Back
• 68. The Genius of Jimmy Wilde
• 69. Happy 75th, Vic Andreetti
• 70. Boxing Booths of the Swinging ’60s
• 71. The Playwright and the ‘Professor’
• 72. Harold’s History
• 73. Lagos Liverpudlian
• 74. Danny’s US Invasion
• 75. Born Entertainer
• 76. Fighting Greb
• 77. Voice of Brighton Boxing
• 78. Greb in Great Britain
• 79. Gardner vs Sykes
• 80. Undercover Pro
• 81. Hughie Smith, 1923–2017
• 82. Teddy’s 90-year Anniversary
• 83. Turpin in Bournemouth
• 84. Battling Barbara
• 85. The Promoter who Vanished
• 86. Winstone vs Carroll
• 87. ‘Boy’ Done Good
• 88. Mountain Men
• 89. Len’s Farewell Fight
• 90. Mauled by the ‘Toy Bulldog’
• 91. Tommy’s Toon Bar
• 92. Crowd Rage
• 93. Ali in Ireland
• 94. One of a Kind
• 95. Cauliflower Famine
• 96. Fred’s Gym
• 97. Light-fly Pioneer
• 98. A True Professional
• 99. Joe’s Belt
• 100. Portsmouth Monument
• 101. The Two That Got Away
• 102. Peter Fallon, 1928–2017
• 103. From Boxing to Business
• 104. Monocled Mauler
• 105. A Belting Idea
• 106. Vintage Downes
• 107. ‘Palace of Punch’
• 108. Mile End Arena
• 109. Heavyweight Pioneer
• 110. Brown’s Belt
• 111. Trailblazer
• 112. Corbett Remembered
• 113. Remember the Name
• 114. Famechon Honoured
• 115. The Champion and the Child
• 116. Digger’s Sad Tale
• 117. A Remarkable Life
• 118. Liston in Newcastle
• 119. Conteh’s Longest Round
• 120. The KO Queen
• 121. ‘The Liverpool Dane’
• 122. South Coast Mr Boxing
• 123. Miracle Men
• 124. Gangster Tales
• 125. Long Arm of the Law
• 126. A Tragic Tale
• 127. Ricky’s Rocky Road
• 128. Porter’s Second Act
• 129. The Tragic Champion
• 130. Hollywood Heavyweight
• 131. ‘The Fighting Bus Conductor’
• 132. Lost Traditions
• Photos