
INTELLECTUAL and fighter are not two words you normally see in the same sentence.
While fighters are of course keenly intelligent in their own way — combining as they do highly developed survival instincts and the spatial awareness necessary to avoid incoming punches and exploit opportunities to throw and land their own within split seconds — they are the last people the vast majority would ever associate with an appreciation of the arts or literature.
Famed US heavyweight Gene Tunney was unique, therefore, in that here was fighter who not only possessed in abundance the ring intelligence outlined above, he was also a man of letters who was known to carry in his gym bag along with his gloves and wraps the works of Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, F Scott Fitzgerald and other literary giants.

In recently published book Baddest Man, Mark Kriegel revisits the Faustian pact at the heart of Mike Tyson’s rise and the emotional fallout that followed, writes JOHN WIGHT

As we mark the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, JOHN WIGHT reflects on the enormity of the US decision to drop the atom bombs

From humble beginnings to becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion of the world, Josh Taylor’s career was marked by fire, ferocity, and national pride, writes JOHN WIGHT

Mary Kom’s fists made history in the boxing world. Malak Mesleh’s never got the chance. One story ends in glory, the other in grief — but both highlight the defiance of women who dare to fight, writes JOHN WIGHT