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Fighting Chance
Fighting Chance
Sep 22, 2024 7:31 PM

Author:Derick Allsop

Fighting Chance

Few sports polarise public opinion as boxing does. Some contend that it is repugnant and barbaric, for others a legitimate, regulated contest of skill, strength and willpower. What cannot be denied is that the fight game has produced some of sport's greatest icons. Many more are content to make a decent living or at least supplement their income by stepping into the ring.

Fighting Chance gets up close with those involved in everyday British boxing. It goes behind the scenes at shows and into gyms to meet champions such as Ricky Hatton, starry-eyed young men dreaming of world titles, hard-nosed pros surviving another pay day and veteran trainers who have seen it all and sometimes wish they hadn't. Many of them say this brutal trade has saved them from a life of crime and drugs, and given them an opportunity to find self-esteem. All recognise the possible cost - Paul Ingles, for example, almost lost his life in the ring - but maintain it is a risk worth taking.

Martin Jolley attempted suicide in his darkest hour but survived and sought a kind of refuge as a journeyman boxer, taking fights at short notice and then returning to his day job as a printer. Michael Jennings' brother was killed by an addiction to drugs and he is convinced the sport has spared him the same tragic fate. Others, however, are always tormented by their demons. Michael Gomez, once held on a murder charge, was hailed as a future world champion until he went off the rails, plunging his private life into turmoil and leaving his career on the brink. Brian Hughes, one of the best-known and most successful trainers in the country, admits his love of boxing has been eroded by the 'stinking' side of the business.

Often shocking, sometimes humorous, always gripping, Fighting Chance is an odyssey through a world few will have encountered. It gives a candid insight and many of its compelling characters.

Reviews

A super book...I recommend [it].

—— Independent on Sunday

You can dip in and out without feeling as though you're doing his magnum opus an injustice.

—— Observer Sport Monthly

Part of the fun is disagreeing with the selections...but Hendo's arguments are as persuasive as his prose is entertaining.

—— The Independent

A brilliant and frequently barmy selection of the nation's sporting heroes.

—— Daily Telegraph

'It's an enthralling, eye-opening read, even for those with no interest in the sport'

—— Timeout.com

The fine columns of Nicolas Roche gave a rare insight into life as a professional cyclist. It's a sport that promotes sacrifice above acclaim. Roche's diaries had an immediate attraction that is extremely rare from athletes in any sport. Roche imparts both a big picture of a particular lifestyle that's all-consuming and a small one of daily struggle and pain. We get the blood and guts of the peloton and for cycling fans that inside account of the job is one to slavishly lap up

—— Irish Times, Books of the Year

Roche delivers a fascinating warts-and-all insight into what it's like riding in a peloton of 200 riders for three weeks on a diet of "plain pasta from a roadside motel with some olive oil". The way he captures the glory, suffering and heroism of the sport make it a must-read this Christmas

—— Irish Examiner, Books of the Year

Autobiographies released in the middle of sporting careers are often dubious endeavours. How can one evaluate a life when it is still in the throes of being lived? However, Inside the Peloton is an exception. It is a fiercely honest book, which tells the life of a cyclist desperate for success in the present, not a grizzled old pro looking back on a career of success, or a bitter old pro looking back on a career of failure. It tells the story of a man who is skirting the environs of being a great sportsman and for that I commend its release... Fascinating... candid... his honesty is refreshing in an era of public relations sanitization... Inside the Peloton reveals Roche's character immensely clearly. It serves not only as a great book - it also serves as a great marketing tool. Anyone who reads it won't be able to want anything but the best for him. And, they'll be sure to read his Tour de France 2012 diary

—— Tadgh Peavoy , www.rte.ie

A lively, enjoyable read, which also features some fantastic picture sections... candid, fascinating

—— Cycle Sport

Honest, highly readable and extraordinarily detailed

—— cycling-books.com

Wonderful, hilarious and moving. 32 Programmes is not just a football memoir but a delicious slice of the 1960s and 1970s, a razor-sharp and achingly evocative social history. This brilliant memoir will resonate with all of us who have ever supported a football team, listened to music and fallen in love.

—— Charlie Connelly, author of Attention All Shipping

I loved this book. If you know a man in his forties or fifties, please give him this book

—— John Inverdale

A funny, charming and heart-warming tale of obsession

—— Nigel Walrond , Western Sunday Independent

I fail to believe that anyone who reads Dave Roberts' new book 32 Programmes cannot relate to his thinking as a football fan. It traces his life as a football fan through 32 chapters in his life, going into the bitter-sweet details of growing up in the 1970s and '80s via 32 football matches. Building on and around his first book, The Bromley Boys (soon to be released as a film, no less), Dave introduces us to his career, his attempts to find a soul mate and finally in a twist his life changing circumstances that will have you reaching for a tissue. If you read one new book on your holidays this summer, choose this one. And then you try and detail 10, let alone 32, games that mark the milestones in your life

—— The Ball is Round

Entertaining, heart-warming and expertly executed, this book is certain to strike a chord with anyone who's ever loved the game. Engrossing and enjoyable... funny and charming

—— Alistair Hunter , Two Banks of Four

An entertaining read, rich in nostalgia and reminiscent of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch, this offers an insight into the power of obsession and how the beautiful game has changed. Moving and amusing

—— Sport magazine

Paul Hendrickson has another theme more interesting than Hemmingway's boat: the writers deadly effect on his sons

—— Peter Lewis , Daily Mail

This is a measured and thoughtful, sometimes lyrical book that adds considerably to the Papa story

—— Ronan Farren , Irish Independent

Hendrickson has a tremendous feel for Hemingway, as both writer and man; his own writing is vivid and personal... What he says about Hemingway is usually dead on target

—— Sarah Churchwell , Guardian

Hemingway's Boat... turns a seemingly trivial search for an old boat up on cinder blocks in a Havana yard and a potentially mawkish concentration on the latter end of a life into a powerful meditation on what made Hemingway tick and what made him great. Though one needs other books for the first 35 years of the life, it supersedes them all.

—— Brian Morton , Sunday Herald

Hendrickson has a fluent, engaging tone...he brings us closer to understanding Hemingway as a man who loved and lost - as opposed to the archtypal misogynist bully he is widely regarded as

—— Big Issue in the North

His life was spectacular, and, somehow, went spectacularly wrong. Hendrickson tells the story of the man and the boat, and the fish, and the women, and the writing. And then the moment when, at the age of 61, Hemingway woke up early one morning and shot himself. In the head. On purpose. Some story. Very well told

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Rich, magisterial account...Other books on Hemingway have tended to focus on his post-1930s literary decline and his machismo. The portrait that emerges from these pages is altogether more human

—— Ed Caesar , Sunday Times

He has a tremendous feel for Hemingway, as both writer and man

—— Sarah Churchwell , Guardian

This is a portrait of the author which is likely to leave one feeling more warmly disposed towards him

—— Herald

More a portrait than a biography, this book is a dazzling late example of "New Journalism"...the result is touching, revelatory and utterly absorbing

—— Independent

Unmissable

—— The Lady

While much of Hemingway’s life may have been hellish, Hendrickson’s writing is a delight. A fine work

—— Fachtna Kelly , Sunday Business Post

Very well told

—— William Leith , Scotsman

An album of fascinating snapshots of Hemingway

—— Simon Shaw , Mail on Sunday

Paul Hendrickson writes with a great deal of passion…

—— Nudge

A terrific and fresh approach to the man

—— Daniel Woodrell , Financial Times
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