The sport of boxing has a history of producing wonderful written works on it, and this book is no exception.

It is a given that you need to be a fan of boxing to read this and boxing fans will love this look into some of the greatest fights in the history of boxing.
And if you are a fan of Mike Tyson you won't want to miss this book.
A passionate and insightful look into the world of boxing and some its most memorable fighters.

A truly magnificent book brought back some great memories of some of the greatest moments in boxing and some of the greatest fighters .

A Ringside Affair is a love letter to boxing from one of the UK's great sportswriters. Each chapter covers one of the great fights or fighters that Lawton had the immense pleasure of witnessing throughout his career. It's clear that the era of the Four Kings (Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran) stands out as a golden era, but it is the career of Iron Mike Tyson which clearly shines through in the book.

While I was too young to witness the fights covered in the first half of the book, I've watched them all. Lawton's accounts really bring the fights to life as well as placing them clearly in their time and place. His passion and love for the sport shines through.

For all fight fans the book is a fantastic summary of 30 years of top level boxing. It's excellently written and will make you nostalgic, pull out the you tube videos and track down the great boxing books. Highly recommend.

An interesting account of Lawton's career covering the noble art. Lawton's prose is rather dry for taste, lacking the linguistic mastery of Hugh McIlvanney or the "down in the dirt" earthiness of Steve Bunce. All the big names are covered, Lewis, Tyson, Leonard, Ali, etc. and that may be part of the problem. Everything is described from a distance, Lawton doesn't get up close and personal with any of the characters he covers.