On bended knee, he leaned over the stricken boxer and counted him out. When he waved the fight over, there was exactly one second to go in the dramatic and brutal world championship bout and Víctor Galíndez had retained his title. But the referee, his shirt stained with the champion’s blood, had cemented his reputation as a cool professional, one destined to become an esteemed figure in world boxing.

South Africa’s own Stanley Christodoulou has officiated an unprecedented 242 world title fights over five decades, some of them among the most iconic in boxing history, and became his nation’s very first inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He rose from humble beginnings, learning his trade in the South African townships of the 1960s, and went on to lead his national boxing board as it sought to shed the racial restrictions of the apartheid era. It was a contribution to his country’s sporting landscape that saw him recognised by the president of the ‘new’ South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

The Life and Times of Stanley Christodoulou is Stanley’s memoir in boxing. It takes the reader to a privileged position, inside the ropes with champions and into the company of boxing legends.

Two of the most prominent and celebrated athletes in the world, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard came together to contest the $100million SuperFight on April 6, 1987 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. From Frank Sinatra to U2, Joan Collins to Whoopi Goldberg, the stars were drawn to ringside by the huge box-office appeal of the blue-collar, dominant world middleweight champion facing his nemesis, the charismatic and flamboyant Sugar Ray, who was coming out of virtually five years of retirement. Drawing on his deep reservoir of nerve, outstanding technique and a strategy which Budd Schulberg - who provided Marlon Brando with the immortal line, 'I coulda been a contender' - called a compound optical illusion, Leonard won on points. It was boxing's greatest comeback, but to this day the judges' decision remains bitterly contested and not merely by the protagonists. But the story of The SuperFight is much more than the story of the fight, for it details two remarkable lives, the demons that drove both men and the formidable challenges they overcame inside and outside the ring. Hagler grew up in the Newark, New Jersey ghetto of Central Ward, where a riot/rebellion rooted in racism claimed the lives of 26 people, injured 1,000 more and, to the young teenager, was "like the end of the world". Fuelled by anger, he climbed to the top of his domain and ruled for seven years as champion, one of the most accomplished in boxing's annals. Leonard was an Olympic gold medallist and all-American hero whose career was cut short by a detached retina after he became the world welterweight king. He was Muhammad Ali's gifted and anointed successor but he succumbed to alcohol and drug abuse and for years was tormented by a secret - the sexual abuse he endured as an amateur boxer by a trusted coach. As provocative and polarising in its own way as Ali's defining rivalry with Joe Frazier, this is the story of The SuperFight, of Marvin Hagler and Ray Leonard and a fierce fire that still burns.

Pulitzer prize nominee and William Hill award-winning writer Thomas Hauser's tribute to Ali, the greatest sporting icon the world has ever seen. Few global personalities have commanded an all-encompassing sporting and cultural audience like Muhammad Ali. Many have tried to interpret in words his impact and legacy. Now, Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to the Greatest allows us to more fully appreciate the truth and understand both the man and the ways in which he helped recalibrate how the world perceives its transcendent figures. In this companion volume to his seminal biography of Ali, New York Times bestselling author Thomas Hauser provides an updated retrospective of Ali's life. Relying on personal insights, interviews with close associates and other contemporaries of Ali, and memories gathered over the course of decades on the cutting edge of boxing journalism, Hauser explores Ali in detail inside and outside the ring. Muhammad Ali has attained mythical status. But in recent years, he has been subjected to an image makeover by corporate America as it seeks to homogenise the electrifying nature of his persona. Hauser argues that there has been a deliberate distortion of what Ali believed, said, and stood for, and that making Ali more presentable for advertising purposes by sanitising his legacy is a disservice to history and to Ali himself. Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to the Greatest strips away the revisionism to reveal the true Ali, and, through Hauser's assembled writing and hitherto unpublished essays, recounts the life journey of a man universally recognised as a unique and treasured world icon.

Thirty years after he burst onto the scene as a gold medal light-heavyweight at the Rome Olympics, Muhammad Ali is still a magical figure. His accomplishments in the ring were the stuff of legend -- the two fights with Sonny Liston, when he proclaimed himself "The Greatest" and proved he was; the three epic wars against Joe Frazier; the stunning victory over George Foreman in Zaire; and the shocking loss and final win that made him the first man to win back the heavyweight crown twice, fourteen years after he had first claimed it.

Ali's life has been played out as much on the front pages as on the sports pages. With brilliant immediacy and unprecedented candor, bestselling author Thomas Hauser recreates this extraordinary man. In the words of more than 200 of Ali's family members, opponents, friends, world leaders, and others who have known him best, the real Muhammad Ali emerges: deeply religious, mercurial, generous, a showman in and out of the ring.

Miami, 1963. A young boy from Louisville, Kentucky, is on the path to becoming the greatest sportsman of all time. Cassius Clay is training in the 5th Street Gym for his heavyweight title clash against the formidable Sonny Liston. He is beginning to embrace the ideas and attitudes of Black Power, and firebrand preacher Malcolm X will soon become his spiritual adviser. Thus Cassius Clay will become 'Cassius X' as he awaits his induction into the Nation of Islam. Cassius also befriends the legendary soul singer Sam Cooke, falls in love with soul singer Dee Dee Sharp and becomes a remarkable witness to the first days of soul music. As with his award-winning soul trilogy, Stuart Cosgrove's intensive research and sweeping storytelling shines a new light on how black music lit up the sixties against a backdrop of social and political turmoil - and how Cassius Clay made his remarkable transformation into Muhammad Ali.

Aged fifty, on a whim, Marion Dunn joined a boxing gym. Training to improve fitness quickly became something of an addiction, and then a source of transformation. This is her myth-busting tale of four years of slogging in an amateur boxing gym in northern England. Marion's story is one of a developing love affair with the 'sweet science'. It's also about obsession, hard work, companionship and occasional bravery. But The Boxing Diaries is not just a story of hard graft. It's a revealing account of life in the amateur boxing gym: its idiosyncratic inhabitants, non-judgmental spirit, dedicated coaches and respect for all comers, irrespective of age or gender - provided their commitment to training is total. From the sweat and toil in draughty halls, Marion takes us through the years of preparation before she is finally ready to spar in the ring. Every micro-improvement, every emotion is laid bare, and along the way she considers the influences and events that might have ignited her passion for the sport in the first place. Warning: this is a knockout memoir that could make you want to start swinging punches, too.

BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2017. SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR. WINNER OF THE PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING. THE TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR. The most comprehensive and definitive biography of Muhammad Ali that has ever been published, based on more than 500 interviews with those who knew him best, with many dramatic new discoveries about his life and career. When the frail, trembling figure of Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996, a TV audience of up to 3 billion people was once again gripped by the story of the world's most famous sporting icon. The man who had once been reviled for his refusal to fight for his country and for his fast-talking denunciation of his opponents was now almost universally adored, the true cost of his astonishing boxing career clear to see. In Jonathan Eig's ground-breaking biography, backed up with much detailed new research specially commissioned for this book, we get a stunning portrait of one of the most significant personalities of the second half of the twentieth century. We are not only taken inside the ring for some of the most famous bouts in boxing history, we also learn about his personal life, his finances, his faith and the moments when the first signs of his physical decline began to show. Ali was a symbol of freedom and courage, a hero to many, but this is also a very personal story of a warrior who vanquished every opponent but was finally brought down by his own stubborn refusal to quit. An epic tale of a fighter who became the world's most famous pacifist, Ali: A Life does full justice to an extraordinary man. 'Ali: A Life is the business - 640 pages of patient scholarship and intelligent reassessment written in crackly prose' Giles Smith, The Times '[A] richly researched, sympathetic yet unsparing portrait ... Ali: A Life is an epic of a biography' Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times

Damage has been shortlisted for the 2021 William Hill Sports Book of The Year award! "This is the book that boxing has always needed...It is shattering yet moving, informative yet tender...An essential read for anyone who cares about boxing and its courageous, damaged fighters."-Donald McRae, The Guardian "Anyone who loves boxing-even the sport's most die-hard supporters-must take a longer and more serious look at the issues that Tris Dixon writes about with such nuance and humanity in Damage..."-Greg Bishop, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated It's an old story-a fighter gains fame, drives fast cars, makes piles of cash, and dates beautiful women. Then comes the fall-booze, drugs, depression, poverty, illness. This dark narrative has been playing out for a hundred years. Doctors first identified "Punch Drunk Syndrome" in 1928. It later became known as "Dementia Pugilistica." Today, we call it CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). The secret history of this disease in boxing has never been fully told- until now. In Damage, Tris Dixon uncovers the difficult truths of boxing and CTE and chronicles the lives of fighters affected by it. He interviews some of the sport's biggest names, some lesser-known journeymen, and highly respected trainers and other figures to try to understand why no one wants to discuss CTE or take responsibility for it. Ultimately, Dixon takes aim at what boxing can do to help the warriors who sacrifice their health seeking glory in the ring. Will this book finally drive the sport to address the issue and help fighters get the help they deserve?

One of the most talked-about and bestselling books of last year, this is the no-holds-barred autobiography of a sporting legend driven to the brink of self-destruction The bestseller that has everyone talking. In this, his first, autobiography, 'Iron' Mike Tyson pulls no punches and lays bare the story of his remarkable life and career. Co-written with Larry Sloman, author of Antony Keidis's best-selling memoir 'Scar Tissue', this is a visceral, and unputdown-able story of a man born and raised to brutality, who reached the heights of stardom before falling to crime, substance abuse and infamy. Full of all the controversy and complexity that you would expect from a man who delighted as much as he shocked, this is a book that will surprise and reveals a fascinating character beneath the exterior of violence. If you think you know all about Mike Tyson, read this book and think again.

'He had the dream again last night... He taps the gloves of his unbeaten Polish opponent. There are rumours that the loser will be sent to the gas chamber.' In 1943, the Dutch champion boxer, Leen Sanders, was sent to Auschwitz. His wife and children were put to death while he was sent 'to the left' with the others who were fit enough for labour. Recognised by an SS officer, he was earmarked for a 'privileged' post in the kitchens in exchange for weekly boxing matches for the entertainment of the Nazi guards. From there, he enacted his resistance to their limitless cruelty. With great risk and danger to his own life, Leen stole, concealed and smuggled food and clothing from SS nursing units for years to alleviate the unbearable suffering of the prisoners in need. He also regularly supplied extra food to the Dutch women in Dr. Mengele's experiment, Block 10. To his fellow Jews in the camp, he acted as a rescuer, leader and role model, defending them even on their bitter death march to Dachau towards the end of the war. A story of astonishing resilience and compassion, The Fighter of Auschwitz is a testament to the endurance of humanity in the face of extraordinary evil.

"He is the greatest fighter alive today" Daily Express Tyson Fury is colossal - six feet nine inches tall and a whisker under 20 stones in weight. He is spectacularly fast. He has a punch that could knock over a rhino and he can dance and weave like no one since the great Muhammad Ali. When he destroyed the fearsome Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas to become two-time world heavyweight champion in February 2020, the world held its breath. Fury was born in 1988 and named after Mike Tyson, who was then the world heavyweight champion. Tyson comes from a long line of gypsy bare knuckle fighters. His father, Gypsy John Fury and grandfather, Tiger Gorman, both fought as professionals. Tyson's success has not come easily, but he has fought the terrible battles of his personal life as bravely as those in the ring. In this extraordinary biography you will read how he overcame addiction to cocaine and alcohol and lost a staggering eight stone in weight to make his comeback. His bravery in talking about his mental health problems is an inspiration to many. Now he is happy and at the top of his game. There seems little doubt that, for Tyson Fury, Gypsy King of the World, the best is yet to come...

Matthew Saad Muhammad was arguably the most exciting fighter of all time. He was WBC light-heavyweight champion from 1979 to 1981, but it wasn't what he did that captured the hearts of fight fans, it was how he did it. Fight after fight was war after war. He would get beaten up, cut, dropped and virtually knocked out only to astonishingly rally and score come-from-behind victories. But through it all there was a shocking backstory. Abandoned by his birth parents aged just four, Matthew was raised in a Catholic orphanage and then adopted by a Portuguese family. He fell into a life of gangs and prison before boxing provided an escape, becoming a vehicle for him to find his real identity: who was he, and who were his parents? His rise to stardom was followed by a long, sad decline as he travelled the world trying to reclaim his former glories. He spent his final years in a Philadelphia homeless shelter, plagued by health issues. This is the definitive account of Matthew's incredible but heart-rending story.

A Sunday Times Book of the Year 'Rahaman has, at last, written the definitive biography on his late brother, which tells the real Ali story' - Mike Tyson 'The real life of the Great One' - George Foreman More words have been written about Muhammad Ali than almost anyone else. He was, without doubt, the world's most-loved sportsman. At the height of his celebrity he was the most famous person in the world. And yet, until now, the one voice missing belonged to the man who knew him best - his only sibling, and best friend, Rahaman Ali. No one was closer to Ali than Rahaman. Born Cassius and Rudolph Arnett Clay, the two brothers grew up together, lived together, trained together, travelled together, and fought together in the street and in the ring. A constant fixture in his sibling's company, Rahaman saw Ali at both his best and his worst: the relentless prankster and the jealous older brother, the outspoken advocate, the husband and father. In My Brother, Muhammad Ali, he is able to offer a surprising insider's perspective on the well-known stories, as well as never-before-told tales, painting a rich portrait of a proud, relentlessly polarizing, yet often vulnerable man. In this extraordinary, poignant memoir, Rahaman tells a much bigger and more personal story than in any other book on the great man - that of two brothers, almost inseparable from birth to death. It is the final and most important perspective on one of the most iconic figures of the last century.

Glyn Rhodes MBE has devoted his life to boxing. Since wandering into the world-famous St Thomas' gym in Sheffield as a directionless teenager, he has spent more than 40 years working inside and outside the ropes. Cognisant of how this hardest of sports both saved and brutalised him, he is now ready to tell his story. Rhodes' reflections offer fresh perspectives on the likes of Naseem Hamed, Johnny Nelson, Herol Graham, Clinton Woods, the British Boxing Board of Control, plus his complicated relationship with the iconic Brendan Ingle. He reveals how boxing lifted him from his childhood on Sheffield council estates to royal appointments and financial security. Yet ultimately, the sport that gave him so much nearly broke him, causing him to seek psychiatric help. As boxing continues to attract both support and condemnation, Rhodes' story shows how the sport's defenders and detractors suffer the same delusion. You cannot truly love or hate boxing, because it is such different things, at different times, to different people.

Black and White: The Birth of Modern Boxing is the definitive history of the early years of transatlantic pugilism. It reveals the poisonous racism disfiguring the sport and the black boxers fighting an uphill struggle for equality. It lays bare ugly attempts by authorities to stifle or ban a sport that millions flocked to see, and exposes the unethical actions of distinguished figures such as Lord Lonsdale and Sir Winston Churchill. Black and White brings to life some of the greatest fights in history as the narrative charts boxing's growth from underground sleaze to fashionable spectacle. Along the way we hear the stories of the great champions of the era including Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Jimmy Wilde and Ted 'Kid' Lewis. The book culminates in the 'Fight of the Century', where a gallant European and an unpopular American battled for supremacy as the world looked on with trepidation.

2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the first bout in the epic battle between Nigel Benn, Michael Watson and Chris Eubank to contest the WBO Middleweight Championship that would keep us entertained for five manic, magnificent and ultimately tragic years, marking the start of an epic saga in British Boxing. The fight took place a month after the Hillsborough disaster and was screened live on TV, in a slot now dominated by talent contests. It was a time when kids could stay up late to watch 12 rounds of madness. It was also the last Golden Era of British Boxing. While for us these greats of British boxing provided entertainment away from the hooliganism of football, for them it was much more personal. Rivalries exist in every sport, but their loathing was real and in the ring it nearly became deadly. But this is what the swaggering early-90's Britain tuned in for. These three fighters were Britain's alpha-ego. They made the country proud. No Middle Ground takes us back to the years when these boxers pounded the heavy bags and tells their story as well as that of Britain's love affair with the sport, and how these fight came to define them and us. In tracing the boxers' journeys to centre-stage Sanjeev Shetty reveals the story of the dark side of Thatcher's nation - the blood, the sweat, the dangerous hatred that fuelled these men, and the ultimate price they would pay for their moment in the sun.

Blood, Brawn, Brains and Broken Noses explores the evolution of pugilism, better known as boxing, from its origins in Ancient Greece and Rome to the present day. In England, pugilism became a popular form of entertainment, leading to a golden age, which the book covers in detail along with the careers of five champion pugilists. But the sport hit a major hitch when bare-knuckle pugilism clashed with Victorian morals, and it was superseded by gloved boxing. Afterwards, bare-knuckle boxing went underground and was practised clandestinely and seen only by a select few. The book examines the thoughts of ancient philosophers to explain why pugilism became part of British culture. Nineteenth-century philosophies such as Social Darwinism, Muscular Christianity and Rational Recreation are also explored along with how Rational Recreation influences boxing today. What are the sociological factors that motivate people to take up boxing? And how can the sport prevent societal ills? Blood, Brawn, Brains and Broken Noses holds the answers.

The King is dead. The Walrus is shot. The Greatest is no more. Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali. These three icons changed not only the worlds of music, film, and sports, but the world itself. Their faces were known everywhere, in every nation, across every culture. And their stories became larger than life - until their lives spun out of control at the hands of those they most trusted. In Killing the Legends, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard explore the lives, legacies, and tragic deaths of three of the most famous people of the 20th century. Each experienced immense success, then failures that forced them to change; each faced the challenge of growing old in fields that privilege youth; and finally, each became isolated, cocooned by wealth but vulnerable to the demands of those in their innermost circles. Dramatic, insightful, and immensely entertaining, Killing the Legends is the twelfth book in O'Reilly and Dugard's Killing series: the most popular series of narrative history books in the world, with more than 18 million copies in print.