Buncey sits down for an open and candid conversation with Chris Eubank Jr. They explore his journey from stepping out of his father's shadow to taking control of his career, covering everything from his early days as a young professional boxer to his desire to avenge the loss to Billy Joe Saunders, the possibility of a fight with Conor Benn, and a …

Buncey heads to Liverpool to chat with Nick Ball as he prepares to defend his world title in October. We also hear from his opponent Ronny Rios and his stablemate Andrew Cain, who fights on the undercard. And promoter Frank Warren talks about the recently released undercard for the October 12th event in Riyadh and says we can expect more big cards …

Andy Clarke joins Buncey to talk about one of sports’ most decisive moments. How does it feel to land that ultimate blow? How does it feel to suffer it? They explore the many facets of the knockout punch and recall some of the ones that stick long in the memory.By BBC Radio 5 Live

: Barry Jones and Buncey take a deep dive into the boxing action from Paris. They chat with Lewis Richardson, Team GB’s sole medalist, about his experience and what the bronze means for his career. They also share their standout moments from the ring, discuss the gender controversy that has dominated the headlines, and ponder whether boxing will be…

Ep 19 features a brief history of the sleaze publisher, Holloway House, along with a discussion of the Black authors Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines (and others) and the development of Black Pulp Fiction with crime writer, Gary Philips. Full show notes with links is available at Paperbackshow.com Music from Freesound.org.…

Buncey is joined on stage by Natasha Jonas and Callum Smith as the tour lands in Liverpool. They discuss the highs and lows of their career, how they both have more to achieve in the ring and take questions from the audience.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Stacey Copeland sits in for Buncey as Lauren Price becomes a world champion. She is joined by Barry Jones to reflect on an historic night of boxing in the Welsh capital. We hear from Lauren, as well as her promoter Ben Shalom and her partner Karriss Artingstall.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Veteran fight aficionado Steve Bunce is alongside Heavyweight Champion of the World Lennox Lewis to examine the early life and crimes of notorious Boxing promoter Don King. Listen to the full box set first on BBC Sounds.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Special Guest, novelist Hal Bodner, discusses the unique writer, Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) and, in particular, her most popular novel, "The Incredible Mr. Ripley" (1955). The podcast opens with a short biography and then a more focused discussion of Ripley. Complete notes with links can be found at paperbackshow.com…

Buncey is joined by Josh Warrington and Ebanie Bridges as the tour heads to Leeds. The pair discuss the highs and lows of their career, how they are hungry to regain their world titles, and they take questions from the audience.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Buncey takes the pod to Cromer for the third stop on its UK tour. He’s joined on stage by the Walsh brothers - Liam, Ryan and Michael. They take us back to the early days of sparring in their living room, fighting their dad for a few quid and what regrets they have from their respective careers.By BBC Radio 5 Live

This episode covers (briefly) the history of Bantam paperbacks with a specific focus on the Western and the author Louis L'amour. Full show notes and transcript can be found a paperbackshow.com. Music is from uppbeat.io and is licensed.By Ricky Lee Grove

Former world champions Barry Jones and Richie Woodhall join Steve Bunce as the 5 Live Boxing awards return. They are tasked with deciding the winners of six categories including “Fight of the year” and “British boxer of the year”.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Buncey takes the pod to Cardiff for the second stop on its UK tour. Former world champions Joe Calzaghe and Barry Jones join him on stage to look back at some of the highlights (and lowlights) of their respective careers. Barry gives a convincing argument as to why he was the better boxer of the pair, and Joe still remembers where he was when news …

Check out the full show notes at paperbackshow.com. Note that the music for this episode is licensed from upbeatio.By Ricky Lee Grove

Buncey travels to Brighton to sit down with former two-weight world champion Chris Eubank. In an emotional chat, they discuss how he is dealing with the recent deaths of both his son Sebastian and brother Simon, why he is so against his son Chris fighting Conor Benn and how he is still dealing with the pain of what happened to Michael Watson follow…

Buncey takes the pod to its first stop on its inaugural UK tour. He is joined by Carl Frampton and Paddy Barnes in Belfast in front of a live audience. They chat about the fallout from the Tyson Fury - Francis Ngannou fight in Saudi at the weekend, and take questions from the audience.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Episode 15 of the Paperback Show looks at another classic paperback: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson published by Popular Library in paperback in 1963. The first part of the show introduces the concept of the classic paperback and shares a short bio of Shirley Jackson while she was writing The Haunting of Hill House. The second part o…

The first of an occasional series on Classic Paperbacks: those paperbacks that have had a huge influence on popular culture around the world. In ep 14 of the Paperback Show we look at the remarkable book Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. Published in 1963 in paperback (originally published in 1946) it is considered to be one of the top 10 …

In this episode, we look at the life and work of celebrated private eye novelist, Ross MacDonald (aka Kenneth Millar) who wrote from the late 1940s into the early 1980s. He was the first mystery novelist to be reviewed on the front page of the New York Times book review and his work paralleled the rise of the paperback. His detective, Lew Archer, w…

Carl Frampton joins Steve at the public workout to look ahead to the mega-fight in Dublin this weekend. They are joined by the two fighters who were both very relaxed despite the size of the task on Saturday night. Carl and Katie reminisce about the days when they used to spar together, and Steve accidentally disrespects Chantelle!…

I read a lot of paperbacks in 2022, but these four titles stood out. In this episode of the Paperback Show, I share why I liked the books, a bit about the authors, and the specific edition I read. The four titles are My Cousin Rachel by Daphne. Du Maurier, Bugles in the Afternoon by Ernest Haycox, The Great White Space by Basil Copper and Black Eas…

Episode 11 contains a short biography of noted mystery writer James Mallahan Cain (1892 - 1977) along with a general summary of his books published in paperback. The second half of the show is a discussion with regular guest, Richard Brewer, on Cain's masterpiece - Double Indemnity. In addition to discussing the book, we also compare it to the bril…

Full show notes including reference materials, music credit and links are available at paperbackshow.comBy Ricky Lee Grove

Full show notes to Episode 9 can be found at paperbackshow.comBy Ricky Lee Grove

Complete episode notes along links is available at paperbackshow.comBy Ricky Lee Grove

The full show notes can be found at paperbackshow.com.By Ricky Lee Grove

Steve is back on the road this week as he spends the day at the Haringey Box Cup - Europe's largest amateur boxing event. Joined at Alexandra Palace by Olympian and former Box Cup champion Cheavon Clarke, they speak to many of the fighters, trainers and organisers to get a feel for what the event is all about.…

ful notes at paperbackshow.comBy Ricky Lee Grove

You can read our full Paperback Show 5 notes along with a gallery of paperback covers at paperbackshow.comBy Ricky Lee Grove

The background of America's response to Nazi book burnings, the formation of various groups to provide soldiers with reading material, and the final creation of the group that would select, edit, produce and send over 100 million ASE paperbacks to soldiers all over the world are covered in this episode of the Paperback Show. There's also a short se…

Steve takes the pod to Nottingham ahead of the big showdown between Leigh Wood and Michael Conlan on Saturday night. He chats to both boxers, as well as promoter Eddie Hearn.By BBC Radio 5 Live

You can read the full show notes for this episode at paperbackshow.com. I've also included many scans of Chandler paperback covers and my full collection of Ballantine's Tom Adams covers for the run of Chandler's novels.By Ricky Lee Grove

Full show notes with links can be found at paperbackshow.comBy Ricky Lee Grove

Amir Khan and Kell Brook, two names that have been put together for years. The former boxing world champions have taken on some of the biggest names in the sport but as yet, have managed to avoid each other. Finally brought together by new boxing promoter, Ben Shalom, they’ve agreed to fight at a catchweight of 149lbs, just above the welterweight l…

Full show notes with links (lots of paperback cover art) are available at the Paperback Show website. Music is by the US Army Blues Band (Live at Blues Alley) which is public domain and available at Freemusicarchive.orgBy Ricky Lee Grove

Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought to a standstill in their final contest back in 1975, in what has become along with 'The Rumble in the Jungle' one of the defining fights in the history of 'The Greatest'. One of the last surviving members of Ali's inner circle, his business manager and confidante Gene Kilroy, joins Mike Costello and Steve Bunce t…

Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo produced a contest for the ages back in 2005, featuring one of the most dramatic comebacks ever seen. Joe Goossen was in Corrales' corner that night, and joins Mike and Steve to remember their game plan for the fight, the subtle tricks trainers and fighters can pull to gain an advantage, and the tragedy of Corr…

The night that "changed British boxing", according to Steve Bunce: Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank's torrid 9 rounds at the NEC in Birmingham in 1990. Former world super middleweight champion Richie Woodhall joins the podcast to remember the night, which heralded a boom period for boxing on terrestrial TV in the UK.…

Legendary photographer Neil Leifer, who captured some of the most iconic images of Muhammad Ali in a career spanning half a century, joins Mike and Steve to tell the story behind some of his most famous work. Also, reaction to the confirmation of the date of boxing's return in the UK.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Tommy ‘The Hitman’ Hearns met in April 1985 for two and a half of the most explosive rounds in boxing history. Former world middleweight champion Andy Lee, who later trained in the famous Kronk gym with Hearns’ trainer Emmanuel Steward, watches along with Mike and Steve and remembers the legacy this fight left in Detroit…

Reliving the ten round classic between Arturo 'Thunder' Gatti and 'Irish' Micky Ward, in the company of former two weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi. Ward later became the subject of 2010 film 'The Fighter', and was played by Mark Wahlberg.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Former heavyweight world champion Evander Holyfield revisits the night he dismantled Mike Tyson in 11 rounds, as well as the infamous 'ear bite' in their second fight.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Former world super middleweight champion Carl Froch joins Mike and Steve to revisit the night in Las Vegas that came to define the career of Prince Naseem Hamed - a comprehensive defeat to the Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera. 19-year-old Froch was in the stands as a paying fan. Was Naz overhyped or did outside factors contribute to defeat in his most…

Reliving the night in 2005 when Ricky Hatton beat Kostya Tszyu to win his first world title, in front of a packed M.E.N. Arena. Hatton reflects on his greatest night in the ring, how his career developed afterwards and why he has struggled with depression in retirement.By BBC Radio 5 Live

After Eddie Hearn revealed he's planning to put on fights in his back garden, are we a step closer to the return of professional boxing? Mike and Steve debate the logistical issues with trainer Adam Booth, as well as looking at the path Booth took becoming a world title-winning trainer.By BBC Radio 5 Live

Former heavyweight world champion David Haye joins Mike Costello and Steve Bunce to rewatch the night in 1988 when a 21-year-old Mike Tyson was at his most fearsome in the ring, destroying Michael Spinks in 91 seconds. They delve into the circumstances surrounding the fight including Donald Trump's involvement in putting it on, and debate Tyson's l…

In the first of a new mini-series, one of the greatest boxers of all time, Sugar Ray Leonard, relives his late stoppage of Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in 1981. Leonard remembers how Angelo Dundee's corner work was the key to inspiring his late onslaught that ended the fight, and explains how the aftermath of this fight led to a dark period in his li…

2016 Olympic bronze medallist Joshua Buatsi explains how he's staying in shape during the lockdown, and reveals his thoughts on news that the Tokyo Olympic are going to be delayed until 2021. Then, Mike and Steve discuss an interview from the archive with Richard Dunn, who fought Muhammad Ali in 1976. Mike's fight recommendation of the week: Marque…

How long will boxing fans have to wait to see Anthony Joshua against the other two big names in the heavyweight division, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder? Mike and Steve break down the politics and the timings issues that could get in the way. Also, more reaction to Andy Ruiz's excuses for losing to Joshua, a preview of Daniel Dubois upcoming fight a…