“Of achievements in boxing, one that stands out is a 90lb kid named Gary. A disfigured lip and speech impairment haunted him in school, until he began boxing lessons in my gym. Six months later, his marks improved, as did his speech. The vocal chords weren’t knocked into place; a belief and dependability were put into place. Such victories are what makes the sweet science both a builder and saviour of young men. This is the message of Death of a Boxer.”
——Teddy Atlas, world-renowned boxing trainer

Since 1995, there have been four deaths following fights in Britain and forty around the world. In Death of a Boxer, Pete Carvill sets out to explore the psychology of those who choose to fight and what draws them towards this most dangerous of pursuits. But to write about the death of fighters would only be half the story. Carvill, who has written extensively on boxing and combat sports for fifteen years, will take off his own gloves and pick up a pen to explore the lives of fighters, from the early days in amateur clubs, to established professionals, to those down on their luck and to the retired still hankering for the feeling of being able to do what once came so easily to them. A deep and powerful meditation on the nature of boxing that asks why people do it, what it does for them – and ultimately to them. This may be the most important book on the sport for decades.

Pete Carvill is a reporter, writer and editor for the UK’s trade press. He first put on boxing gloves twenty years ago and has only recently taken them off. When not writing, he can be found in a forest, at a hockey game or watching two people punch lumps out of each other.