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Boxing Stories
Although he is best known as the creator of Conan the Barbarian and as a writer of historical fiction and fantasy, Robert E. Howard was both a successful author of popular boxing stories and an avid amateur boxer himself. The sixteen stories and three poems collected in this volume show the full range of his talents for action, humor, and fistic philosophy. Ten of the stories feature the sailor Steve Costigan, a lovable, hard-fisted, and innocent semipro pugilist, who takes on dastardly villains in exotic ports of call. Howard’s brilliant blue-collar humor belies his preoccupation with the real-life issues near and dear to his heart—death, honor, pride, and a man’s love for his dog Other stories are more dramatic and somber, including “Iron Men,” which Howard called “the best fight story I ever wrote—in many ways the best story of any kind I ever wrote.” Severely edited and truncated for its original publication in 1930 in Fight Stories magazine, the tale has never been published in its original form—until now. It appears here, completely restored from Howard’s original typescript, in an authoritative version that Howard fans everywhere will appreciate. In these stories Howard created a realistic, richly populated boxing universe, with intertwining characters and histories that carry on from tale to tale. With them he takes his place in a tradition of American boxing writers but always with a uniquely Howardian twist, a gritty brooding atmosphere, and a reserve of humor that captures the often brutal ambiance of the 1930s.
313 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2005
4 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Howard
3,303 books2,638 followersRobert Ervin Howard was an American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. Howard wrote "over three-hundred stories and seven-hundred poems of raw power and unbridled emotion" and is especially noted for his memorable depictions of "a sombre universe of swashbuckling adventure and darkling horror."
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
He is well known for having created—in the pages of the legendary Depression-era pulp magazine Weird Tales—the character Conan the Cimmerian, a.k.a. Conan the Barbarian, a literary icon whose pop-culture imprint can only be compared to such icons as Tarzan of the Apes, Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, and James Bond.
—Wikipedia
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 27, 2007
Here's what is so great about REH's boxing stories: he really did them. Howard was a lifelong enthusiast of The Squared Circle and he often stepped into the ring down at the local icehouse--and sometimes he fought bare-knuckled! So, these stories bristle with a certain authenticity, a grounding in the familiar, whether REH was borrowing from his own experiences, or re-interpreting ring-lore to create his outlandish plots.
And then there's the fact that his funny boxer, Steve Costigan, is about as far removed as you can get from his deadly serious sword-and-sorcery characters like Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane. If you've only read Howard's heroic fantasy, then you don't have a fully-rounded picture of the man as an author. These boxing stories are a joy to read, laugh out loud funny, and fill in the blanks on an author who was anything but a one-trick-pony.
And then there's the fact that his funny boxer, Steve Costigan, is about as far removed as you can get from his deadly serious sword-and-sorcery characters like Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane. If you've only read Howard's heroic fantasy, then you don't have a fully-rounded picture of the man as an author. These boxing stories are a joy to read, laugh out loud funny, and fill in the blanks on an author who was anything but a one-trick-pony.
September 9, 2020
You would think that a a book with over a dozen stories about boxing would become dull rather quickly. Every story is going to involve a fight, smashing rights below the heart, quick lefts to the temple, and sledgehammer blows followed by lights out. Pulped mouths, eyes swollen shut, faces like raw beef, cracked ribs, they're all here. Yet somehow REH makes each story individual, each fight the only fight that counts.
The first ten stories are about Sailor Steve Costigan and his white bulldog Mike. All good fun, Steve is none too bright but he makes up for it by being basically a good guy and made of whalebone and leather. Funny tales of Steve getting into trouble and getting out of it with his fists.
The last six or so stories are different. There is a ghost story involving an apparition helping out a gunshy boxer. But it's the final group that are the best. The Iron Man stories, about men whose only real skill is the ability to take a punch, and lots of them. It's like reading several different versions of "Rocky". If that doesn't light you up let me remind you that the original "Rocky" was nominated for 8 Academy awards and won 3, including Best Picture for 1977. These stories are that good.
Just thinking: In the 1930's there were magazines featuring nothing but boxing stories. And cowboy stories, and sailors, ghosts, basically anything anybody had any interest in had a magazine dedicated to it. "Old Man", "Fairy Chess Review", "Caravan", and "Gangster Stories" were all available. Probably a magazine dedicated to specific kinds of cheese if you looked hard enough.
The first ten stories are about Sailor Steve Costigan and his white bulldog Mike. All good fun, Steve is none too bright but he makes up for it by being basically a good guy and made of whalebone and leather. Funny tales of Steve getting into trouble and getting out of it with his fists.
The last six or so stories are different. There is a ghost story involving an apparition helping out a gunshy boxer. But it's the final group that are the best. The Iron Man stories, about men whose only real skill is the ability to take a punch, and lots of them. It's like reading several different versions of "Rocky". If that doesn't light you up let me remind you that the original "Rocky" was nominated for 8 Academy awards and won 3, including Best Picture for 1977. These stories are that good.
Just thinking: In the 1930's there were magazines featuring nothing but boxing stories. And cowboy stories, and sailors, ghosts, basically anything anybody had any interest in had a magazine dedicated to it. "Old Man", "Fairy Chess Review", "Caravan", and "Gangster Stories" were all available. Probably a magazine dedicated to specific kinds of cheese if you looked hard enough.
July 10, 2014
An excellent collection of Howard's unedited sport's writings. As a boxer himself Howard's fight descriptions bring the reader right into the fight. The Iron Men is probably my favorite story he has written. Highly recommended
June 27, 2008
robert howard was a texan pulp writer best known for creating conan the barbarian and kull the conqueror. it's not quite as well known that he was a serious amateur boxer (died young... violently?!?), and that he wrote a great many stories about boxing for athletic-themed pulps. they happen to be really excellent. howard's conan and kull stories are also great: lyrical, freaky, imaginative, overwrought in a thouroughly masculine mode. but the boxing stories are kinda on another level; they use a similarly idealized and streamlined world-setting (it's pulp, of course): sailors, thugs, crooked promoters... but free of the need to describe exotic fantasy settings, howard really cuts loose on characterization: there are themes in here that he hit so hard and repetitively that you know they mean something special: the tough but idealistic sailor who fights with his heart, not whis brain! the psychologically crippled monster-boy with bones of steel! serious business. the obsessive force of these characters strongly recall the recurring archetypal males of samuel delaney's books (rat korga, the Kid...). this is to such a degree that i feel pretty sure of a direct influence
January 12, 2011
Robert E. Howard is one of my favorite authors, and one of the most unappreciated American writers ever to put words on paper.
Howard is known for his imaginative world that contains Conan, but he is less known for his fistic stories. However this was not always the case. In Howards day boxing was the biggest sport going, fighters were as popular as movie stars, and Howards boxing stories were eagerly anticipated in a society that devoured anything to do with high adventure.
These collections of stories are great and a joy to read. I do agree with one of the other posts, that some of them tend to follow the same formula and sound the same, but the character of Sailor Steve Costigan is a joy to read. With him Howard created a character that you hoped would win, that you cared for, and a character that could be a brother telling you his own story.
I hope anyone that has ever read any of the Conan stories, would pick up this book and jump into the fistic world of Robert E. Howard. With it you start to see the man behind the type writer. And respect the master of writing that Robert E. Howard was.
Howard is known for his imaginative world that contains Conan, but he is less known for his fistic stories. However this was not always the case. In Howards day boxing was the biggest sport going, fighters were as popular as movie stars, and Howards boxing stories were eagerly anticipated in a society that devoured anything to do with high adventure.
These collections of stories are great and a joy to read. I do agree with one of the other posts, that some of them tend to follow the same formula and sound the same, but the character of Sailor Steve Costigan is a joy to read. With him Howard created a character that you hoped would win, that you cared for, and a character that could be a brother telling you his own story.
I hope anyone that has ever read any of the Conan stories, would pick up this book and jump into the fistic world of Robert E. Howard. With it you start to see the man behind the type writer. And respect the master of writing that Robert E. Howard was.
February 13, 2009
Perhaps Robert E. Howard’s strong output of boxing tales (some sixty eight, based on titles listed on HowardWorks) is best known to die-hard REH fans. However, it need not be. Wildside Press has produced books such as Waterfront Fists and The Complete Action Stories (replete with fistic exploits), the University of Nebraska saw fit to devote an entire volume to REH’s boxing stories as part of its series of Howard anthologies.
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2008...
http://fireandsword.blogspot.com/2008...
June 5, 2008
This is a collection of short stories and poems by Robert E. Howard, the author most noted for creating Conan the Barbarian. While Howard’s legacy as a fantasy author is more than well-secured, eh had an extensive body of non-fantasy work, mostly in the form of “adventure stories”, many of them having to do with boxing. Howard himself was an amateur boxer and avid boxing fan, and he brings that insider’s perspective into these stories. It’s very clear from his writing that this is a man who has been in the ring, not just watched from the outside.
I fell completely in love with this book, and these characters. The vast majority of the stories focus on Steve Costigan, a crewman aboard the Sea Girl, merchantman. Steve, along with his bulldog Mike, travels the world aboard his ship, and frequently ends up all sorts of situations that can only be resolved through the use of fisticuffs. Costigan’s voice allows Howard to play with some more humor than he uses in his Conan stories (though it’s still there), and in general, he’s just an incredibly endearing character. While the various and sundry adventures of Steve Costigan will probably never be classified as “high literature”, I had a blast reading about them, and will likely read them again.
The stories and poems in the rest of the volume deal with other characters, with little if any overlap between them (Steve Costigan’s name is sometimes brought up). By and large, they are all terrific, especially the story/novella Iron Men, which Howard apparently called “the best fight story I ever wrote—in many ways the best story of any kind I ever wrote.” It is a FANTASTIC boxing story, and in many ways, speaks to truths about boxing that are still true today.
It doesn’t surprise me that Howard wrote so well about those “Iron Men”—the sort of boxer who fights with a gritty, brawling style where they take as much punishment as they give out—he’s clearly fascinated and impressed by them, more so than the technical boxer who flits in and out. He would have liked Frazier over Ali. I can’t entirely say I blame him; while I enjoy watching a good, technical boxer, I can’t stand a showboat. It’s one of the things that puts me off watching modern fighters like Roy Jones Jr., who will happily dance around for twelve rounds showing off when they could have knocked the guy out in three. But I digress.
Obviously, these stories will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in boxing, but the truth is, they’re just good stories. Howard’s writing is tight, fast-paced, engaging, and surprisingly humorous at points. The stories of Steve Costigan are great for anyone just looking for a fun adventure yarn, while Iron Men and a few others take a more somber tone. I’m really glad I picked this one up, and will probably get into another Howard collection very soon. He’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.
I fell completely in love with this book, and these characters. The vast majority of the stories focus on Steve Costigan, a crewman aboard the Sea Girl, merchantman. Steve, along with his bulldog Mike, travels the world aboard his ship, and frequently ends up all sorts of situations that can only be resolved through the use of fisticuffs. Costigan’s voice allows Howard to play with some more humor than he uses in his Conan stories (though it’s still there), and in general, he’s just an incredibly endearing character. While the various and sundry adventures of Steve Costigan will probably never be classified as “high literature”, I had a blast reading about them, and will likely read them again.
The stories and poems in the rest of the volume deal with other characters, with little if any overlap between them (Steve Costigan’s name is sometimes brought up). By and large, they are all terrific, especially the story/novella Iron Men, which Howard apparently called “the best fight story I ever wrote—in many ways the best story of any kind I ever wrote.” It is a FANTASTIC boxing story, and in many ways, speaks to truths about boxing that are still true today.
It doesn’t surprise me that Howard wrote so well about those “Iron Men”—the sort of boxer who fights with a gritty, brawling style where they take as much punishment as they give out—he’s clearly fascinated and impressed by them, more so than the technical boxer who flits in and out. He would have liked Frazier over Ali. I can’t entirely say I blame him; while I enjoy watching a good, technical boxer, I can’t stand a showboat. It’s one of the things that puts me off watching modern fighters like Roy Jones Jr., who will happily dance around for twelve rounds showing off when they could have knocked the guy out in three. But I digress.
Obviously, these stories will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in boxing, but the truth is, they’re just good stories. Howard’s writing is tight, fast-paced, engaging, and surprisingly humorous at points. The stories of Steve Costigan are great for anyone just looking for a fun adventure yarn, while Iron Men and a few others take a more somber tone. I’m really glad I picked this one up, and will probably get into another Howard collection very soon. He’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.
February 24, 2013
Not my favorite Robert E. Howard stories. The boxing stories, while good, are a little too formulaic for me. Granted, REH is a formula writer of sorts, he did write for the Pulps and they always wanted a particular formula, even so, boxing is just not my sport. This made it difficult for me to get really involved in the stories.
Regardless, I enjoyed the humor in these stories, the raw dialogue, realistic characters, and descriptive way in which REH presents his fights. Even so, I'm still a bigger fan of REH's fantasy stories.
If you enjoy boxing, sports, etc. then give these a try. They are definitely worth a look.
Regardless, I enjoyed the humor in these stories, the raw dialogue, realistic characters, and descriptive way in which REH presents his fights. Even so, I'm still a bigger fan of REH's fantasy stories.
If you enjoy boxing, sports, etc. then give these a try. They are definitely worth a look.
February 18, 2012
This is a top-notch collection of Robert E. Howard's boxing fiction. It features all of Howard's ability to capture brutal combat, and many of the stories feature his sense of humor. I liked the way many of the stories referenced characters from other stories, as though they all lived in the same universe and were not just one-shots.
August 28, 2025
Much more Men without Women than Hemingway's Men without Women... and absolutly superbly written box (sport action) scenes!!
Currently reading
December 16, 2012A NEW GAME FOR COSTIGAN
4.6 out of 5
"A New Game for Costigan" is one of my new favorite Robert E. Howard stories. It's short, fast, and funny. Costigan trying to be a journalist (and even wearing a panama hat) is a perfect setup, and the series of events flows perfectly. I can't explain enough how much I love the final resolution, how Steve and his friends get a tough boxer to back down from a pressing charges against them, and Costigan's final thoughts on what he needs to do in order to "get along" with his "feller man".
THE SPIRIT OF TOM MOLYNEAUX
3.4 out of 5
This story (also known as The Apparition in the Ring) is a bit disjointed at times, unsure whether it is a straight sports story or a scary ghost story, but it is fun. The character of Ace kind of made it work for me; in just a few pages he was established as a likeable guy.
I’ll also admit that after this I am half-tempted to hang up pictures of my favorite authors in my office where I write...
THE IRON MEN
2.7 out of 5
Howard apparently said at one time that this was his favorite story of his own, but I can’t agree with him. Iron Men is a fun read though, and references some of Howard’s other “boxing heroes”. It’s a serious story, and is in the same league as Rocky and all the other underdog stories about a hero who can endure inhuman punishment and keep on ticking. I think every man wishes he had a bit of Iron Mike Brennon in him.
4.6 out of 5
"A New Game for Costigan" is one of my new favorite Robert E. Howard stories. It's short, fast, and funny. Costigan trying to be a journalist (and even wearing a panama hat) is a perfect setup, and the series of events flows perfectly. I can't explain enough how much I love the final resolution, how Steve and his friends get a tough boxer to back down from a pressing charges against them, and Costigan's final thoughts on what he needs to do in order to "get along" with his "feller man".
THE SPIRIT OF TOM MOLYNEAUX
3.4 out of 5
This story (also known as The Apparition in the Ring) is a bit disjointed at times, unsure whether it is a straight sports story or a scary ghost story, but it is fun. The character of Ace kind of made it work for me; in just a few pages he was established as a likeable guy.
I’ll also admit that after this I am half-tempted to hang up pictures of my favorite authors in my office where I write...
THE IRON MEN
2.7 out of 5
Howard apparently said at one time that this was his favorite story of his own, but I can’t agree with him. Iron Men is a fun read though, and references some of Howard’s other “boxing heroes”. It’s a serious story, and is in the same league as Rocky and all the other underdog stories about a hero who can endure inhuman punishment and keep on ticking. I think every man wishes he had a bit of Iron Mike Brennon in him.
July 31, 2012
Robert E. Howard's Steve Costigan boxing stories are among my favorites in the entire annals of short fiction.
This is the perfect collection to introduce someone to REH's boxing stories, both humorous and dramatic _Waterfront Fists and Other Stories_ is just as good, and well edited, but this one made slightly better choices in the stories to include. This book is probably responsible for setting me down the path to Pulp Scholarship, without it I probably would have focused my academic energies on comics and SF.
This is the perfect collection to introduce someone to REH's boxing stories, both humorous and dramatic _Waterfront Fists and Other Stories_ is just as good, and well edited, but this one made slightly better choices in the stories to include. This book is probably responsible for setting me down the path to Pulp Scholarship, without it I probably would have focused my academic energies on comics and SF.
March 31, 2009
"Iron Men," a tale of a pug with no defense save for a chin of granite is possibly one of the best boxing yarns I have ever read. Add the funny and savagely entertaining Steve Costigan boxing stories to the mix (one of Howard's few comedic characters in contrast the brooding Conan or Solomon Kane) and you've got a great anthology.
August 5, 2012
This is a great collection of Boxing Tales, Howard was a major boxing fan, and his Charicters maintained an air of humor..great reading for pulp fans!
March 18, 2013
Loved it. Good read for the bathroom har har. serious though well written.
Will recommend to others,
Will recommend to others,
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews