Dog Rounds: Death and Life in the Boxing Ring

by Elliot Worsell

'There's a kindness in beating a man badly, and that kindness is based on correctness,' Chris Eubank March 2016: boxer Chris Eubank Jr punches his opponent, Nick Blackwell, into a coma. Blackwell dies momentarily, before being brought back to life. He remains in a coma for seven days. The boxing world is thrown into turmoil. In his corner, Junior's dad, Chris Sr., had been imploring his son to aim for the body. Was this a coach making a tactical change? Or was this a former boxer pleading with his son to show mercy? Twenty five years previously it had been Chris Sr. who had left his opponent Michael Watson with severe brain damage following a brutal encounter. Elliot Worsell was ringside, reporting as part of Blackwell's camp with exclusive access to both dressing rooms. A lifelong boxing fan and experienced journalist, what Worsell saw left him questioning himself and his sport. Blackwell survived, but in Dog Rounds Worsell goes in search of the men who have killed in the ring. In spending time with these pariahs, as well as taking some of them back to the venue in which their tragedy occurred, Worsell uncovers a story that is raw, unflinching and extraordinary. Dog Rounds asks, should these men feel culpable when tragedy occurs in the ring? Should they carry the burden? Should they be apologetic? And it asks, what is our responsibility as spectators, cheerleaders and rubberneckers?

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 13, 2017

About the author

Elliot Worsell began his sports writing career age 16, penning ringside reports for “Boxing News”, the oldest weekly sports publication in the world, and SecondsOut. By age 20 his reputation had earned him an invitation to join the British Boxing Writer’s Club, as he covered the 'sweet science' from outposts in Europe, North America and Australia for publications such as “Boxing Monthly”, “Haymaker”, BBC Online, the Manchester Evening News, Sky Sports and the “London Evening Standard”.

Worsell has also forged an well-earned reputation as a mixed martial arts analyst, writing for “UFC Magazine”, “Fighter’s Only” and “Fighting Fit”.

"Making Haye", his biography of David Haye, the world heavyweight boxing champion, was released in October of 2011.

Reviews

[Mark Beech · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated and enjoyed boxing. This is a tough read but very well written about boxers who have killed or inflicted life changing injuries to their opponents. Like the author I would like to stop liking boxing, but it still fascinates me.

[michael keeling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written book,as a boxing fan I found it a really good read.

[Tyrone Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be a fan of combat sports whilst pertaining to having a conscience or a sense of decency requires a level of ignorance. We know the dangers that come with men and women punching and kicking each other in the head yet we insist on watching, we crave for action and we yearn for big knockouts and stoppages, regardless of the cumulative immediate and long term damage to the participants. Elliot Worsell is more than aware of this complexity with Dog Rounds: Death and Life in the Boxing Ring (2017), his fascinating, illuminating and heartbreaking book about the ultimate worst case scenario in boxing; the death of a fighter due to injuries sustained in the ring. Worsell is a brave man, conducting interviews with the men who administered the beatings that led these, scaringly regular, tragedies. We learn that the victors are rarely the same again and their stories, so rarely told, are potent, poignant and important. By the end of these accounts, Worsell asks himself, the boxing fraternity and us an important question; why do we lust for blood sports? There is no easy answer of course but we hide our shame regardless. A moving, haunting and rewarding read.

[Paul McCormack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read on a tough topic

[Michael Votano · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gut wrenching book about the perils of boxing and why, despite those perils and inevitable tragedies, we keep coming back.

[A D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad and sometimes depressing story of deaths in the boxing ring. It’s not enough for people in and around boxing to say “it was just a tragic accident “ or “it was just one of those things”. The whole point of boxing in the paid ranks is to inflict enough pain and physical damage to stop your opponent from doing the same to you. I don’t believe for a second that boxers go in there with the intent to kill the person opposite them, but death and serious injury are a real possibility. Even more so when it is two trained professionals facing each other. If the worst does happen then the person responsible must find a way to process and deal with it. Most of the boxers profiled here n this book are genuinely haunted by it and struggle to come to terms with it, a few try to write it off as “one of those things “ and in one case, one of them seems almost proud of it.