What's the best boxing book ever written?

"Blood spilled down and soaked the brave fighter's shorts, leather pounded and viciously scorched his exposed ribcage. Still he refused to drop down and continued to let his arms swing wildly back in the hope of scoring a bingo knockout..."

What is it about boxing that lend itself so well to literature? Perhaps there's the intrigue and curiosity from the writer who wants to put himself in the place of the game fighter and try and understand his every move. Many boxing writers are accused of being wannabe fighters, which is an understandable notion. They soak up everything else the sport has to offer going to boxing gyms, changing rooms, standing under the bright lights and capturing the essence of the fight.

From experience, many boxers find it hard to communicate their feelings about what it's like to be under a barrage of punches. Just what are they thinking? Perhaps the reluctance to elaborate is obvious - to be a good boxer everything should flow naturally, almost without thought. Is a good fighter really able to think and create some flowery poetry about how they avoided being whacked in the head and stepped back to deliver a knockout blow in the space of a second? Possibly not.

One fighter who has successfully contributed a work of wonder to the boxing literary canon was a man by the name of Jack Turpin. The brother of Randolph - who won the World Middleweight crown against Sugar Ray Robinson - told of his experiences in You Gotta Fight Back, which was co-authored with W. Terry Fox. It's an incredible read and well worth checking out if you've not already done so.

Published in 2005, the book is crammed with gripping, funny and sad anecdotes from former featherweight battler Jack - whose other brother Dick was the first black British Champion. The three 'Fighting Turpins' were brought up in Warwickshire and spent time boxing in fairground booths. Needless to say, Jack - the smallest of the three - was regularly picked out for a scrap by some member of the crowd feeling brave after a few too many jars of ale. Of course, Jack may have been smaller but he had all the skills in the world to toy with the stumbling oaf in the other corner!

You Gotta Fight Back - highly recommended.