Hugman's History of World Championship Boxing

 Hugman's History of World Championship Boxing

Boxing’s greatest historian Barry Hugman

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL took 19 years from 1937 to 1956 to complete his four-volume masterpiece A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.

He had a good reason for taking so long because he was rudely interrupted by World War II.


But compared to Barry Hugman, the eminent boxing historian, our greatest Prime Minister wrote at breakneck speed.

Barry has just published four volumes of the definitive History of World Championship Boxing and it has taken him no less than 30 YEARS.

His monumental project begins in 1870, when boxers first wore gloves and ends in October 2016.
He was determined to produce a work that would be acclaimed worldwide.

Barry reckons that before he reached the final full-stop, he had spent nearly £500,000.

To get all the relevant information he needed, he visited every one of America’s 50 State libraries.



And Barry went so often to the biggest of them all — the Library of Congress in Washington DC — he ended up being on first-name terms with the staff. He spent days poring over newspaper cuttings and microfilm that spanned centuries and thousands of fights. The result is the most comprehensive study of every world championship battle held over 146 years.

So it isn’t surprising that the four volumes — each costing £24.99 — runs to two million words and a total of 1900 pages.

Barry, 74, is a lifelong boxing addict.

A more-than-useful amateur, he boxed for London’s Finchley ABC, the club that discovered Anthony Joshua.

Barry told me: “Though I regarded it as a labour of love, my infatuation has cost me a fortune.
“But I enjoyed every minute and to think boxing people will be using my work as a reference long after I’ve gone gives me enormous satisfaction.”
  
 
Barry Hugman’s four-volume History of World Championship Boxing is available on Amazon.

• The Definitive History of World Championship Boxing, Mini Fly to Bantam, 1870 to October 2016
• The Definitive History of World Championship Boxing, Junior Feather to Light, 1870 to October 2016
• The Definitive History of World Championship Boxing, Junior Welter to Middle, 1870 to October 2016
• The Definitive History of World Championship Boxing, Super Middle to Heavy, 1870 to October 2016