BOLD AS A LION

The Life of Bendigo - Champion of England

His real name was William Thompson, but everyone called him Bendigo. To the brutal world of the prize ring, where huge crowds gathered to watch men fight until only one was left standing, he brought wit, cunning and boxing skills that had never before been seen.

Born in poverty, he claimed to be the youngest of 21 children and the third of triplets. His father, a skilled mechanic and reputedly the inventor of the modern nut-cracker, was said to be able to tap and screw an egg, while his mother was known for her stomach powders and her powerful right hand. She taught him to box, but Bendigo was also an athlete, an angler, an acrobat, a cricketer, a drunkard, a preacher, a jailbird who was locked up twenty-eight times and the hero of the Nottingham Lambs, a lawless band of unemployed butchers, who attended his every fight to ensure their version of ‘fair play’.
The most famous sportsman of Victorian England, Bendigo has had a racehorse, a pub and a city in Australia named after him.

With 221 pages and illustrations, Bold As A Lion is the first biography of Bendigo

Available from bookshops or post free from

D&D Publications,

PO Box 225  Sheffield S11 7DD

IBSN: 0-9507645-2-3

Price: £9:95

Also available from greenbird60 on Amazon

 

‘This is a must read’

Sunday Times

‘Superbly researched … more than just a boxing book’

Boxing News

‘A fascinating book that delivers the story with a punch’

Ring Sports Magazine, USA

Review from Sheffield Telegraph   <click image to enlarge >

‘A cracking good read that rattles along at a fair old pace’

Morning Star

'A captivating read from start to finish'

Barry McGuigan, former World Featherweight Champion

JP Bean with WBO World Cruiserweight Champion Johnny Nelson and Brendan Ingle, 1998
Photo: Steve Parkin <Click image to enlarge>

 

‘A brilliant book – it takes you into the ring with them’

Brendan Ingle,