A thrilling read
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This book is a very good read and takes you through the thrilling history of bareknuckle boxing. However, Bob Mee is to harsh on modern day bare knuckle boxing. He claims it to be brutal and thuggish. Well, as someone who attended a match while abroad, I found it no more brutal than a normal boxing match. There have been no deaths in bare knuckle boxing matches. Neither are there any mismatches as you get in the big fight game. The fighters are usualy fairly matched. They are also less boring. In fact, I found them faster, very exciting, and because there are no rounds (usually) they are a lot quicker in coming to a finish-usually a knockout.I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Despite that, this is an interesting and well written book.
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Great Cover
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I haven't read the book yet, but I know the guy on the cover. He is Mark Schultz a Unites States Ollympic and World Champion in freestyle wrestling who went on to become an Ultimate Fighting Star. Ultimate fighting is the modern continuation of bare knucle brawling. Mark Schultz is a like a real life Maximus from the movie Gladiator. If interested, check out his website at markschultz.com. He is a heroic individual. He was my college coach in wrestling. It was like having Superman as a coach. Schultz was a 3 time NCCA champion when in college.
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This really packs a punch
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This was great. I never realised what a big sport bare knuckle boxing was. The guys who fought all those years ago must be some of the hardest blokes in history. Amazing.
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Brilliant, this book is a great read
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Bare Fists is a brilliant social history of prizefighting from the 1700s through to the end of the 19th century. Back then fist fighting was as popular as football is today; it was the sport of the landed gentry, huge bets were wagered and it wasn't unusual to see royalty at ringside. The author paints a vivid picture of the fighting achievements of these men, who used to have only weeks, sometimes days, between fights. But many of them died early due to the poundings they took and their hard-drinking ways. The sport died out in the 20th century,despite the fact that the likes of Lenny McLean and Roy Shaw, who fought in the 1970s, liked to make out they were continuing a proud tradition. The author rubbishes their claims to being bare-knuckle fighters. In truth they were thugs, a world away from the greats of the 18th century. This is a wonderful read for anyone who wants to know about the social history of sport, the origins of boxing, and the truth about The Guvnor, and other late 20th century imitations.
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