Drink, drugs, depression, sex scandals, financial meltdowns and serious health issues are just some of the fights British boxers have faced once they've quit the ring. A Champion's Last Fight examines just why and exactly how some of Britain's greatest boxers have self-destructed in retirement. It tells the stories of former world champions who have struggled in life away from the spotlights and the glare that comes with boxing success; delving into the post-boxing lives and tribulations of Benny Lynch, Randolph Turpin, Freddie Mills, Ken Buchanan, John Conteh, Alan Minter, Charlie Magri, Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Naseem Hamed, Scott Harrison, Herbie Hide, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. With interviews and new revelations, A Champion's Last Fight is an emotional journey through boxing history that examines the struggles many former champions experience after hanging up the gloves - and asks what, if anything, can be done to help the nation's boxing greats adjust to life away from the ring?

Held on June 22, 1938, in Yankee Stadium, the second Louis-Schmeling fight sparked excitement around the globe. For all its length-the fight lasted but two minutes-it remains one of the most memorable events in boxing history and, indeed, one of the most significant sporting events ever. In this superb account, Lewis A. Erenberg offers a vivid portrait of Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, their individual careers, and their two epic fights, shedding light on what these fighters represented to their nations, and why their second bout took on such international importance. Erenberg shows how in the first fight Schmeling shocked everyone with a dramatic twelfth-round knockout of Louis, becoming a German national hero and a (unwilling) symbol of Aryan superiority. In fact, the second fight was seen around the world in symbolic terms-as a match between Nazism and American democracy. Erenberg discusses how Louis' dramatic first-round victory was a devastating blow to Hitler, who turned on Schmeling and, during the war, had the boxer (then serving as a paratrooper) sent on a series of dangerous missions. Louis, meanwhile, went from being a hero of his race-"Our Joe"-to the first black champion embraced by all Americans, black and white, an important step forward in United States race relations. Erenberg also describes how, after the war, the two boxers became symbols of German-American reconciliation. With Schmeling as a Coca Cola executive, and Louis down on his luck, the former foes became friends, and when Louis died, Schmeling helped pay for his funeral. Here then is a stirring and insightful account of one of the great moments in boxing history, a confrontation that provided global theater on an epic scale.

When French sociologist Loic Wacquant signed up at a boxing gym in a black neighborhood of Chicago's South Side, he had never contemplated getting close to a ring, let alone climbing into it. Yet for three years he immersed himself among local fighters, amateur and professional. He learned the Sweet science of bruising, participating in all phases of the pugilist's strenuous preparation, from shadow-boxing drills to sparring to fighting in the Golden Gloves tournament. In this experimental ethnography of incandescent intensity, the scholar-turned-boxer dissects the making of prizefighters and supplies a model for a "carnal sociology" capable of capturing "the taste and ache of action." Body & Soul marries the analytic rigor of the sociologist with the stylistic grace of the novelist to offer a compelling portrait of a bodily craft and of life and labor in the black American ghetto at century's end, but also a revealing tale of self transformation and social transcendence. And, by fleshing out Pierre Bourdieu's signal concept of habitus, it deepens our theoretical grasp of human practice.

"Every once in a while, a book publisher comes up with a great concept for a series of books that deserve more than superficial recognition. Such a series is The Greatest (fill in the blank) Stories Ever Told, anthologies that should win places on many bedside tables. On the long winter nights that lie ahead, such stories make great reading." -The Lexington County Chronicle "THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD assembles some of the best writing available on the sweet science and illuminates boxing in all its literal and symbolic glory. Each piece in this varied collection connects with the sort of powerful punch one can only expect from the world's greatest writers." -Boxing Digest In THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD, editor Jeff Silverman delivers a knockout collection of not only the best writing ever penned on the subject of "the sweet science," but also stories that relate to the larger human issues the brutal sport has come to embody. Whether the story be about the triumph of a heroic champion, a tragic death in the ring, the shady tactics of fight promoters, or victories against seemingly impossible odds, each story in this varied collection connects powerfully with the reader. THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD is the perfect gift for fight fans and non-fight fans alike, and with its allstar lineup of "contenders" throwing "haymakers" and "uppercuts" in every round, it stands as the definitive volume of short stories on this enduring pugilistic pastime.

Abandoned on the streets of Philadelphia at age four, Matthew Saad Muhammad (1954-2014) survived orphanages, street gangs and prison to become one of the most exciting prizefighters of boxing's last Golden Age of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Time and again he battled back from the brink of defeat to win against the best fighters of the era. His victory over Marvin Johnson for the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship was described by one veteran boxing writer as the only fight he covered where it seemed both fighters might die. He fought not just for wealth and fame but to discover his identity--he had no idea who he was, where came from or what happened to his parents. This book reveals the full story of "Miracle Matthew" and how he became one of Philadelphia's great ring legends.

Nothing to lose...When nineteen-year-old Tommy Carter throws away a promising career as a professional boxer to work for local villain Davey Abbott, everyone thinks he's made a huge mistake - collecting debts and working in strip clubs is no life for a young lad just starting out in life. Everything to gain. A brutal fighter, Tommy quickly earns a reputation for himself - feared and respected by everyone - and becomes Davey's trusted right-hand man. But when Davey is murdered Tommy is shocked to learn that Davey has left his business empire to him - Tommy's the boss now. No one believes Tommy will succeed. But there is only one rule Tommy lives by...always back the underdog. Because Tommy is on the way up. This book was previously published as Barking Boy. Another gripping gangland read by Kerry Kaya. Perfect for fans of Kimberley Chambers, Martina Cole, Heather Atkinson and Caz Finlay.

“Rahaman has, at last, written the definitive biography on his late brother, which tells the real Ali story.” —Mike Tyson 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 near-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, Rahaman offers an insider's perspective on the well-known stories as well as never-before-told tales, painting a rich and intimate 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 Muhammad Ali—that of two brothers, almost inseparable from birth to death. It is the final and most important perspective on an iconic figure.