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Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing
Brought to you by Penguin.
Fully revised and updated with three new chapters.
Boxing is Steve Bunce's game. He has filed thousands and thousands of fight reports from ringside. He has written millions and millions of words for national newspapers previewing boxing, profiling boxers and proselytising on the business. He has been the voice of British boxing on the airwaves, both radio and television, with an army of loyal fans. And now it's time to put those many years of experience into penning his history of the sport of kings on these isles. It's Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing.
Starting in 1970, the beginning of modern boxing in Britain, Bunce takes us from Joe Bugner beating Henry Cooper to an explosion then in the sport's exposure to the wider British public, with 22 million watching Barry McGuigan win his world title on the BBC. All boxing royalty is here - Frank Bruno taking on Mike Tyson in Las Vegas; Benn, Watson, Eubank and Naseem; Ricky Hatton, Lennox Lewis and Calzaghe; Froch and Haye - through to a modern-day situation where with fighters as diverse as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, we have more world champions than ever before. And besides the fighters, there are the fixers, the managers, the trainers, the duckers and divers....
Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing has every high and impossible low, tragic deaths and fairy tales. It is a record of British boxing, British boxing people and 50 years of glory, heartache and drama.
Fully revised and updated with three new chapters.
Boxing is Steve Bunce's game. He has filed thousands and thousands of fight reports from ringside. He has written millions and millions of words for national newspapers previewing boxing, profiling boxers and proselytising on the business. He has been the voice of British boxing on the airwaves, both radio and television, with an army of loyal fans. And now it's time to put those many years of experience into penning his history of the sport of kings on these isles. It's Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing.
Starting in 1970, the beginning of modern boxing in Britain, Bunce takes us from Joe Bugner beating Henry Cooper to an explosion then in the sport's exposure to the wider British public, with 22 million watching Barry McGuigan win his world title on the BBC. All boxing royalty is here - Frank Bruno taking on Mike Tyson in Las Vegas; Benn, Watson, Eubank and Naseem; Ricky Hatton, Lennox Lewis and Calzaghe; Froch and Haye - through to a modern-day situation where with fighters as diverse as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, we have more world champions than ever before. And besides the fighters, there are the fixers, the managers, the trainers, the duckers and divers....
Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing has every high and impossible low, tragic deaths and fairy tales. It is a record of British boxing, British boxing people and 50 years of glory, heartache and drama.
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Published May 6, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 26, 2019
I love Buncie - I think he's one of the best sports commentators I have ever listened to; animated, informed and exciting to listen to. I listen to his podcast with Costello and any other boxing cast on Five Live. I'm not a massive boxing fan (or wasn't before I started listening to Buncie) and have never actually seen a fight. His use of words, his excitement, his knowledge of boxing makes me feel like I need to see a fight and as if I've experienced a fight already although, in actuality, I never actually have. His book was full of facts, written as he speaks but not outstanding. Not really sure what I'd expected really. I think I enjoyed it more as it moved into my living memory (just about) to hear his first hand experience of fights that have become eulogised but to hear what really happened. Also, his stories and honestly about fights that end with a boxer being dead or permanently disabled is always disarmingly frank, honest and uncomfortable to read. I enjoyed the book, probably not as much as I'd hoped, but it got better as it went on but I think that was because it was within my living memory as opposed to distant history. If you're a boxing fan it's well worth a read but really is a list of multiple facts with very little fill.
July 11, 2017
I wouldn't say I am a boxing fan, but it's so full of characters and has a certain soap opera type appeal. This book covers a lot and in certain places reads a bit like a list of fighters, fights and belts. So many different boxing organisations do not make it the easiest sport to follow or write about. I wish this book had been written following the boxers rather than in a yearly format but I suppose some of the lesser boxers would have been lost then. So many of them seem to have tragic disordered lives, is that why they box or did boxing do this to them ? There's no answers here. But it's an interesting enough read and I learnt a fair bit.
September 26, 2021
Steve Bunce, probably boxing’s best story teller.
A fabulous read with decades of his personal experience documented in the pages. Without the focus ever leaving the fights and fighters themselves.
5*
A fabulous read with decades of his personal experience documented in the pages. Without the focus ever leaving the fights and fighters themselves.
5*
December 17, 2023
Legend of boxing from England. Saw him once at ALI PALLY when Lucas Goehrig was fighting there with Samar & Roman. Brilliant book, here are the best bits:
at the end of four, Buchanan sat down with a severely swollen left eye. There was no way he could fight the next eleven rounds with the eye closing and Laguna knew it, sensing that the injury could end the fight and he would regain his title. In the corner, Buchanan looked up at Eddie Thomas. The Welsh maestro produced a razor blade and cut a small incision at precisely the right point in the swelling; the blood oozed out, the swelling instantly reduced, and Laguna's chance was gone.
A woman called his room and offered to visit, there was a blatant attempt to get Buchanan to drink from a tainted bottle, and before the water trick a Mexican was discovered under the ring apron hiding in an attempt to eavesdrop on the talk in the Scot's corner.
He had Buchanan back against the ropes and then, in rapid succession, three things seemed to happen simultaneously: the bell's long ring started, Durán connected with a very low right hand, and then his right knee landed where the illegal punch had connected.
The bell finally stopped trilling. One, two, three and ouch. Buchanan's protective box had been dislodged and the boxer was in agony, over on his side and then his back.
A boxer is most vulnerable to verbal infection in the hours after a win. The morning after the fight he arrived at promoter Harry Levene's office in Soho and, according to Mickey Duff, he was screaming, 'You don't know what it's like in there!' Long after the fight Conteh sat with George Francis, probably in their favourite café near the entrance to the Fields where my auntie Annie worked. Conteh told Francis that the last rounds had been like being in a tunnel, a dark tunnel, and that he could not see light at the end. There was enough despair in Conteh's words to serve as a terrible warning for the fury of his future problems.
'In Mexico City they pulled a few strokes; one geezer tried to break my hand when he shook it, and in the sparring they followed every punch with their nut. One of them cut me and Lawless went mad. He cleaned it up and told me to go and knock the bastard out. I did.
John H. Stracey on the days before fighting José Nápoles
On the night, in front of 9,000 people, Buchanan was boxing behind his educated jab, mindful of the eye injury, and it went well until the bell to end the fifth round. 'He hit me on the eye after the bell and that was it - I had just the one eye, the left, and I had to go on like that. The ref warned him, but it was too late. The damage was done.' It went the full fifteen; two judges had it by a slim margin for Guts, the third, a Japanese judge, went by nine rounds for his country's idol. Buchanan was desolate.
Parlov had entered the ring with a synthetic skin across his eyebrows. His cornermen had complained about Conteh's use of the head and they had taken the drastic action to avoid losing on a cut. A boxer can smear his eyebrows in Vaseline, often treated with a drop or two of adrenalin, but plastering on a fabric to form a protective membrane is against the rules.
After the fight Minter and Jacopucci met at a restaurant and had a drink. Later, Minter saw the Italian after he'd left the restaurant. He was leaning over a bridge spewing up, but I thought he'd just had too much to drink,' said Minter. Jacopucci collapsed soon after that final chance encounter, was taken to hospital, and died three days later.
He was 29. The defeat to Minter was his third in thirty-six fights and two years earlier he had beaten Bunny Sterling to win the European title.
It's my formula, the secret is the tannic acid in the tea leaves.
I told the doctor, but I was not telling that fucking limey or the yoyo from the Commission?
Adolph Ritacco, cornerman, defends his secret potion for cuts
Duff was not bothered by the comment. He wore an invisible overcoat which allowed him to work with people he hated, a traditional piece of clothing that all the very best boxing operators have to wear at one time or another.
I was six feet from McClellan's corner and at the end of round three he told his trainer, Stan Johnson, 'Something's not right?' I witnessed the exchange and, in the middle of the night, Johnson confirmed the words.
'He was easy to hit and I was too fast, but he hit me on the back of the neck and that was it, I lost all feeling in my arms.'
'Getting floored means nothing,' said James Oyebola. "When you are knocked down it proves you have nerves [of steel] when you get up. I want it so badly that I get up?'
Ward went repeatedly for body shots to the liver (which should be illegal), turning each punch a fraction and landing in a slightly different place, and then finished Neary with left hooks.
The following Saturday Danny Williams entered boxing folklore with a display of incredible bravery. Williams won the vacant British heavyweight title when he dropped and stopped Mark Potter in round six. The story of the fight was mad: Williams was over in the first, Potter in the second, and in the third Williams pulled out of a clinch and dislocated his right shoulder. It was hanging lame, visible from the cheap seats. At the bell to end round three, Jimmy McDonnell in the corner let Danny Tovey pop the shoulder back in. 'Be sensible for a round or two,' Tovey screamed at Williams. At ringside, Warren wanted the fight stopped. In rounds four and five Williams retreated, mostly just using the left, though he could use the right. In the sixth it popped out again. I swear I heard it at ringside and Then clearly heard a yelp from Williams.
The referee, John Coyle, took a look
after fifteen seconds. Williams continued to move and his right arm was tight to his side: he was a one-armed fighter.
Khan packed his bags, went to
Los Angeles and walked into Freddie
Roach's Wild Card gym. There was no publicity, no cameras. Khan sparred with Manny Pacquiao and it was savage from the first day. 'I had to find out if the kid could fight, said Roach. At night the kid from Bolton cried. It was a long, long road back and he was still only
21. A fight was made with Oisin Fagan for the ExCel in December and Khan won in a scrappy two rounds. Dean Powell replaced Rubio in the corner because Roach was busy with Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
'He's not far from a world title,' said Roach. T'm just trying to teach him some patience.' Ten months after the Prescott loss there was a world title fight for Khan. It remains British boxing's most outstanding salvage job.
My childhood was trashed,' Valuev told a few of us in Germany. It was sport, only sport. People looked at my size and wondered what I could do for them. I had no childhood, and that is why I don't box with passion. It got better. His favourite author was Agatha Christie, and he showed us a well-thumbed translated edition. His grandfather was eight feet tall and a paid assassin.
'He can't hurt me, he is too small to hurt me, said Ricky Hatton two days before fighting Manny Pacquiao. Hatton ended a dreadful April training camp in early May by climbing through the ropes at the MGM in Las Vegas. It is estimated that 18,000 British fans traveled out for the fight and that took his total for five fights in Las Vegas to just over 90,000, according to US immigration figures. It was over before it had started, arguably finished in the weeks and days before the first bell. Hatton had over-trained, peaked too soon, and knew he would lose as he was walking to the ring.
There always seemed to be a sense that Froch was easy to spook and opponents constantly tried. Froch had his insecurities, like all great fighters, but he was mentally tough once it was fight time.
His corner needed to let the referee know that Peterson's head was dangerous, make the ref think twice about what he was doing. Men like Mickey Duff, Angelo Dundee and Dean Powell would have been driving Cooper crazy, pointing out the dangerous head and screaming.
Instead there was silence, and then in round twelve there was disaster.
On the day of the fight Asif Vali, who had worked with Amir Khan after the Olympics, led a tiny delegation to the arena and they discovered two inches of extra foam under the canvas. Wlad knew Fury would move and the extra padding would have drained him, ruined his plans. There was an ultimatum or two and the padding was dragged out.
at the end of four, Buchanan sat down with a severely swollen left eye. There was no way he could fight the next eleven rounds with the eye closing and Laguna knew it, sensing that the injury could end the fight and he would regain his title. In the corner, Buchanan looked up at Eddie Thomas. The Welsh maestro produced a razor blade and cut a small incision at precisely the right point in the swelling; the blood oozed out, the swelling instantly reduced, and Laguna's chance was gone.
A woman called his room and offered to visit, there was a blatant attempt to get Buchanan to drink from a tainted bottle, and before the water trick a Mexican was discovered under the ring apron hiding in an attempt to eavesdrop on the talk in the Scot's corner.
He had Buchanan back against the ropes and then, in rapid succession, three things seemed to happen simultaneously: the bell's long ring started, Durán connected with a very low right hand, and then his right knee landed where the illegal punch had connected.
The bell finally stopped trilling. One, two, three and ouch. Buchanan's protective box had been dislodged and the boxer was in agony, over on his side and then his back.
A boxer is most vulnerable to verbal infection in the hours after a win. The morning after the fight he arrived at promoter Harry Levene's office in Soho and, according to Mickey Duff, he was screaming, 'You don't know what it's like in there!' Long after the fight Conteh sat with George Francis, probably in their favourite café near the entrance to the Fields where my auntie Annie worked. Conteh told Francis that the last rounds had been like being in a tunnel, a dark tunnel, and that he could not see light at the end. There was enough despair in Conteh's words to serve as a terrible warning for the fury of his future problems.
'In Mexico City they pulled a few strokes; one geezer tried to break my hand when he shook it, and in the sparring they followed every punch with their nut. One of them cut me and Lawless went mad. He cleaned it up and told me to go and knock the bastard out. I did.
John H. Stracey on the days before fighting José Nápoles
On the night, in front of 9,000 people, Buchanan was boxing behind his educated jab, mindful of the eye injury, and it went well until the bell to end the fifth round. 'He hit me on the eye after the bell and that was it - I had just the one eye, the left, and I had to go on like that. The ref warned him, but it was too late. The damage was done.' It went the full fifteen; two judges had it by a slim margin for Guts, the third, a Japanese judge, went by nine rounds for his country's idol. Buchanan was desolate.
Parlov had entered the ring with a synthetic skin across his eyebrows. His cornermen had complained about Conteh's use of the head and they had taken the drastic action to avoid losing on a cut. A boxer can smear his eyebrows in Vaseline, often treated with a drop or two of adrenalin, but plastering on a fabric to form a protective membrane is against the rules.
After the fight Minter and Jacopucci met at a restaurant and had a drink. Later, Minter saw the Italian after he'd left the restaurant. He was leaning over a bridge spewing up, but I thought he'd just had too much to drink,' said Minter. Jacopucci collapsed soon after that final chance encounter, was taken to hospital, and died three days later.
He was 29. The defeat to Minter was his third in thirty-six fights and two years earlier he had beaten Bunny Sterling to win the European title.
It's my formula, the secret is the tannic acid in the tea leaves.
I told the doctor, but I was not telling that fucking limey or the yoyo from the Commission?
Adolph Ritacco, cornerman, defends his secret potion for cuts
Duff was not bothered by the comment. He wore an invisible overcoat which allowed him to work with people he hated, a traditional piece of clothing that all the very best boxing operators have to wear at one time or another.
I was six feet from McClellan's corner and at the end of round three he told his trainer, Stan Johnson, 'Something's not right?' I witnessed the exchange and, in the middle of the night, Johnson confirmed the words.
'He was easy to hit and I was too fast, but he hit me on the back of the neck and that was it, I lost all feeling in my arms.'
'Getting floored means nothing,' said James Oyebola. "When you are knocked down it proves you have nerves [of steel] when you get up. I want it so badly that I get up?'
Ward went repeatedly for body shots to the liver (which should be illegal), turning each punch a fraction and landing in a slightly different place, and then finished Neary with left hooks.
The following Saturday Danny Williams entered boxing folklore with a display of incredible bravery. Williams won the vacant British heavyweight title when he dropped and stopped Mark Potter in round six. The story of the fight was mad: Williams was over in the first, Potter in the second, and in the third Williams pulled out of a clinch and dislocated his right shoulder. It was hanging lame, visible from the cheap seats. At the bell to end round three, Jimmy McDonnell in the corner let Danny Tovey pop the shoulder back in. 'Be sensible for a round or two,' Tovey screamed at Williams. At ringside, Warren wanted the fight stopped. In rounds four and five Williams retreated, mostly just using the left, though he could use the right. In the sixth it popped out again. I swear I heard it at ringside and Then clearly heard a yelp from Williams.
The referee, John Coyle, took a look
after fifteen seconds. Williams continued to move and his right arm was tight to his side: he was a one-armed fighter.
Khan packed his bags, went to
Los Angeles and walked into Freddie
Roach's Wild Card gym. There was no publicity, no cameras. Khan sparred with Manny Pacquiao and it was savage from the first day. 'I had to find out if the kid could fight, said Roach. At night the kid from Bolton cried. It was a long, long road back and he was still only
21. A fight was made with Oisin Fagan for the ExCel in December and Khan won in a scrappy two rounds. Dean Powell replaced Rubio in the corner because Roach was busy with Pacquiao in Las Vegas.
'He's not far from a world title,' said Roach. T'm just trying to teach him some patience.' Ten months after the Prescott loss there was a world title fight for Khan. It remains British boxing's most outstanding salvage job.
My childhood was trashed,' Valuev told a few of us in Germany. It was sport, only sport. People looked at my size and wondered what I could do for them. I had no childhood, and that is why I don't box with passion. It got better. His favourite author was Agatha Christie, and he showed us a well-thumbed translated edition. His grandfather was eight feet tall and a paid assassin.
'He can't hurt me, he is too small to hurt me, said Ricky Hatton two days before fighting Manny Pacquiao. Hatton ended a dreadful April training camp in early May by climbing through the ropes at the MGM in Las Vegas. It is estimated that 18,000 British fans traveled out for the fight and that took his total for five fights in Las Vegas to just over 90,000, according to US immigration figures. It was over before it had started, arguably finished in the weeks and days before the first bell. Hatton had over-trained, peaked too soon, and knew he would lose as he was walking to the ring.
There always seemed to be a sense that Froch was easy to spook and opponents constantly tried. Froch had his insecurities, like all great fighters, but he was mentally tough once it was fight time.
His corner needed to let the referee know that Peterson's head was dangerous, make the ref think twice about what he was doing. Men like Mickey Duff, Angelo Dundee and Dean Powell would have been driving Cooper crazy, pointing out the dangerous head and screaming.
Instead there was silence, and then in round twelve there was disaster.
On the day of the fight Asif Vali, who had worked with Amir Khan after the Olympics, led a tiny delegation to the arena and they discovered two inches of extra foam under the canvas. Wlad knew Fury would move and the extra padding would have drained him, ruined his plans. There was an ultimatum or two and the padding was dragged out.
June 5, 2022
Only a casual boxing fan but have always found Steve Bunce to be an entertaing pundit and any time I have heard his speak he makes me more interested in the sport.
This book is magnificent. Every British champion from 1970 to 2020 is in there as Bunce breaks down each year in detail.
I was hooked and loved reliving some memories.
This is a must for devoted and casual boxing fans or even for someone who loves someone writing with true passion for the subject.
Brilliant
This book is magnificent. Every British champion from 1970 to 2020 is in there as Bunce breaks down each year in detail.
I was hooked and loved reliving some memories.
This is a must for devoted and casual boxing fans or even for someone who loves someone writing with true passion for the subject.
Brilliant
September 25, 2025
Started and finished date – 21.09.25 to 24.09.25.
My rating – Two Stars.
This book was okay, and I found this book to be both interesting and informative, but I would like the author go into more detail, but I found it little bit boring and dull. I think people who like got fight by Erich Krauss or the fighter's mind by Sam Sheridan may like is book. The writing was okay, and easy to follow and the book was well paced but I think the book could be structured better.
My rating – Two Stars.
This book was okay, and I found this book to be both interesting and informative, but I would like the author go into more detail, but I found it little bit boring and dull. I think people who like got fight by Erich Krauss or the fighter's mind by Sam Sheridan may like is book. The writing was okay, and easy to follow and the book was well paced but I think the book could be structured better.
March 18, 2021
Good book learnt a lot about various boxing fights. Surprised there was no mention of Jamie Moore vs Matthew Macklin which is a British classic. Its a perfect book as reference point , and discovering classic bouts to watch.
February 3, 2024
Wow, what an incredible book!
I learnt so much about British boxing from the 70s and 80s and it was interesting to read about the fights that I had heard of.
The book got me to regularly watch fights on YouTube to see what Steve was talking about.
I really enjoyed this.
I learnt so much about British boxing from the 70s and 80s and it was interesting to read about the fights that I had heard of.
The book got me to regularly watch fights on YouTube to see what Steve was talking about.
I really enjoyed this.
March 21, 2020
Great introduction to British boxing fans covering 1970 to 2017.
June 15, 2020
Great details and clearly lovingly and painstakingly written. Some great bits are left out though, but some serious amount of detail is included.
March 27, 2021
An absolute joy to read.
April 8, 2023
A nice overview of British boxers frok 1975 - 2017. With big names and smaller names covered and big fights detailed. Was a good read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews