A Ringside Affair: Boxing’s Last Golden Age

by James Lawton

A luminous account of the most compelling and climactic phase of boxing's long history.For three decades at the end of the twentieth century – throughout boxing's most engrossing era – James Lawton was ringside, covering every significant bout, spending time with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hitman Hearns, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and many other great fighters.Lawton found himself captivated by the sport as he followed it around the world. From a big fight's initial announcement, through the fighters' punishing training regimes, the overblown press conferences and dramatic weigh-ins, up to the bout itself and its savage fall-out – Lawton observed and absorbed it all, grateful for the remarkable access he was afforded. He witnessed Ali screaming in pain for his dressing-room lights to be turned out after a fight; he was there to meet Tyson at the prison gates on his release in 1992; he listened as former champions wept while struggling to find their new place in the world.As part of a small, tight-knit group of sportswriters with the privilege of covering each fight in such intimate detail, Lawton formed lifelong friendships and found himself forever altered by being caught up in the whirlwind of a sport at its most spellbinding.A Ringside Affair brings that brilliant epoch back to life – and puts it in the perspective it deserves. It salutes the epic quality of boxing's last years of glory, retraces arguably the richest inheritance bequeathed to any sport, and speculates on the possibility that we will never see such fighting again. It is part celebration, part lament, but perhaps most of all it is a personal record of some of the most enthralling and challenging days produced by the world's oldest sport.

Genres: Nonfiction

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 2, 2017

About the author

James Lawton was one of Great Britain's greatest sportswriters.

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and entertaining account of boxing from Ali’s Rumble in the Jungle to the Lenox Lewis-Evander Hollyfield fights. Full review to come

[Brendan Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Ringside Affair is a love letter to boxing from one of the UK's great sportswriters. Each chapter covers one of the great fights or fighters that Lawton had the immense pleasure of witnessing throughout his career. It's clear that the era of the Four Kings (Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran) stands out as a golden era, but it is the career of Iron Mike Tyson which clearly shines through in the book.

While I was too young to witness the fights covered in the first half of the book, I've watched them all. Lawton's accounts really bring the fights to life as well as placing them clearly in their time and place. His passion and love for the sport shines through.

For all fight fans the book is a fantastic summary of 30 years of top level boxing. It's excellently written and will make you nostalgic, pull out the you tube videos and track down the great boxing books. Highly recommend.

(I received a free copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Stuff

I was not familiar with Lawton before reading this book on boxing’s last great era. He writes with a Lieblingesque flair about boxing great matches and champions in the las two decades of the twentieth century. I love reading about boxing and can recommend this book heartily to anyone who loves to read about boxing, boxers, managers, promoters, trainers, and the seamy side of the sport.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

For boxing fans only! Duran, Hagler, Hearns, Chavez, S.R. Leonard, Holyfield, Tyson—the list goes on and on featuring the best bouts in the golden age of boxing. It reminds of what we are missing today. If it wasn’t for the run on sentences, I’d give it 5 Stars!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just incredible reporting and storytelling of the major events in the boxing world for a quarter of a century! If you're familiar with the greats between 1977 and 2000ish, you'll love this.

Just need a sequel for the last 20 years now!

[Lee Sandle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Ringside Affair: Boxing's Last Golden Age by James Lawton is quite possibly the most engrossing sports novel that I have ever read. The book begins with the immortal Muhammad Ali screaming in his locker room in Madison Square Garden because his brain is too damaged to handle the lights in the room and ends with a late-career Mike Tyson once again lost after taking a brutal beating from Lennox Lewis. From our first moments with Ali to our final pages with Tyson, Lawton paints an honest, thrilling, and often brutal picture of the men who fought in some of boxing's greatest wars.

A Ringside Affair is all about the how and the why. How were some of these greats able to dig deep and pull off legendary victories? Why did so many great fighters with immense potential throw it all away just as they were reaching the mountain top? By the end of the book, you will feel like you have been in the mind of Roberto Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tyson and all of the titans that stepped into the ring during boxing's golden age. An absolute must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in boxing.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a given that you need to be a fan of boxing to read this and boxing fans will love this look into some of the greatest fights in the history of boxing.
And if you are a fan of Mike Tyson you won't want to miss this book.
A passionate and insightful look into the world of boxing and some its most memorable fighters.