Born to Box
Regular price
€25.99
Nipper Pat Daly was boxing's most amazing prodigy. Extraordinary but tragic, his was a career like no other in sports history. Born in Wales in 1913, he became a professional boxer at age ten after moving to London. With his exceptional talent, by age 14 he was beating grown men in gruelling 15-round fights. At 15 he was thrashing national champions and at 16 was ranked by America's The Ring magazine in the world's top ten. In the late 1920s, audiences across Britain sat spellbound as the Wonderboy delivered boxing masterclasses against Europe's elite fighters. Daly beat three British champions, a European champ and the reigning champions of Italy, Belgium and Germany. A magnetic figure, leading sportswriters saw him as a future world champion and possible all-time great. Tragically, however, he was recklessly overworked and forced to retire aged 17, after well over 100 pro fights. Incorporating Nipper's previously unpublished memoirs, Born to Box is the story of his unique career, life and times.
Alex Daley is a paternal grandson of Nipper Pat Daly (real name Patrick Daley). He writes the popular history-themed `Yesterday's Heroes' column for the trade magazine, Boxing News. He is the author of the critically acclaimed 2014 book Fighting Men of London: Voices from Inside the Ropes.