BOXING is notorious for its unrelenting brutality and drama, with fighters putting their lives on the line every time they enter the ring.
Renowned author Donald McRae has opened up to Boxing News about his new book ‘The Last Bell’, which depicts boxing’s unforgiving darkness and reality, whilst also highlighting why the sport is so special.
In ‘The Last Bell’, McRae follows the sport continuously for six years, from 2018-2024, sharing his unforgettable experiences and interviews with the world’s best fighters such as Canelo Alvarez, Tyson Fury and Katie Taylor.
However, life and death are at the forefront, as McRae’s own personal loss is accompanied by a period of darkness for boxing, where fighters became the victim of the sport they loved.
Nevertheless, McRae intertwines the cruel nature of boxing with stories that emanate positivity, genuinely showing how the sport has two contrasting sides.
The book begins in 2018 ahead of Tyson Fury’s return to the upper echelons of heavyweight boxing when he challenged Deontay Wilder in the first part of their memorable trilogy. McRae had suffered the loss of his sister Heather, and it was Fury’s story which inspired him to return to boxing.
“Tyson made his comeback in June of 2018, after ballooning up to almost 400lbs in weight and being lost in drugs and drink. The next day was the last day I saw my sister, and I told her I was thinking about doing a book about boxing again. She told me I should do it, as she knew how much I loved the sport,” McRae stated.
“When Fury was fighting Wilder, six weeks had passed after my sister died. I was thinking a lot about my conversation with Heather in the hospital the last time I saw her, and I was also captivated by how Tyson was going to do against Deontay Wilder. These stories, one deeply personal about my sister, and the other about boxing, came together.
“Fury got knocked down twice and the second time, he was knocked into oblivion. But with him getting up, I couldn’t believe it and I think that helped me decide to do another book about boxing, and in a way, it helped me come to acceptance with the loss of my sister, even though my mother was dying and my father would also soon get a terminal diagnosis. But boxing kind of bolstered me and I immersed myself in it again.”
However, a year later in 2019, boxing suffered one of its darkest periods as five boxers died in 110 days, including Patrick Day, whose story is prevalent throughout ‘The Last Bell’.
“I became fascinated by Pat Day because he wasn’t like a typical boxer,” McRae said. “Most boxers don’t have a lot of opportunity. Boxing is a way out of poverty or inequality. Pat was a college-educated man, his father was a doctor, his mother works for the United Nations in New York. He was good looking, eloquent, charismatic and he could’ve chosen to do anything in life. But he chose boxing.”
‘Grade A’ Day lost back-to-back fights to Carlos Adames and Charles Conwell and following his 10th-round stoppage defeat to Conwell, he suffered a brain injury and passed away in hospital four days after the fight.
“I kept saying how could I continue following this business which takes the lives of young men and young women in some cases. But I think the humanity of the fighters always resonates most for me. I think six weeks after Pat Day died, I went to meet people close to him at his home near New York.
“And that made me kind of determined to continue writing the book, because they wanted me to tell Pat’s story. They also wanted to document why they felt Pat lost his life in boxing.
“As the years went past, I became particularly close to members of Pat’s family and some of his closest friends” McRae added. “I just wanted to kind of capture how special Pat was and how much he loved boxing. For all the darkness of it, I think there’s some light in the Pat Day story.”
Day’s tragic passing forced McRae to question boxing’s treatment of fighters. Day was forced into a relentless run of tough fights to reinstate himself as an A-side fighter after suffering two early career defeats.
“I wish boxing could be more open, we all lose in life and loss doesn’t define us. It does not mean that’s the end for us and if boxing had been more open to fighters developing after suffering an early defeat there’s a possibility Pat’s life might not have been endangered like it was.”
While McRae admitted that he sometimes focuses too much on the darkness within boxing, the story of Isaac Chamberlain showed him why the sport can be so important and change people’s lives for the better.
“Isaac Chamberlain is such an important figure in the book. As an 11-year-old boy, he was selling drugs, he had no future, his father had disappeared, he had no confidence, and then his mother decided to take him to a boxing gym, she had no idea about boxing but as soon as Isaac walked in the gym it was mayhem. He said to me, Don it’s crazy, these guys were punching each other, and they were loving it.
“He noticed how the trainers were helping the young fighters to get better, and he wanted that because nobody in his life actually nurtured him. His mother had been a young mother when she gave birth to him, so he had no adult figure to kind of guide him, and boxing gave him this opportunity. Isaac swears by boxing, as do I, it changed his life for the better.”
Alongside Chamberlain, McRae said that he wanted Katie Taylor’s role in the book to show boxing’s good side, and just how positive some of the characters in the sport can be.
“Although ‘The Last Bell’ seems to have a lot of darkness and bleakness, I hope there’s so much light and Katie Taylor is one of those people who gave me such hope. To be ringside for that fight between Taylor and Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden.
“It is one of the top 10 fights I have seen live, I covered the fight, and I had to file a piece within five/ten minutes of the fight ending, but those last few minutes I was standing on my feet, looking at the line of ringside journalists standing up because we were lost in the battle.
“I think it’s maybe the best atmosphere I ever experienced at a fight, Puerto Rico and Ireland, two fighting nations coming together to support their queens, there was no bitterness or animosity between the fans, no violence but they both kicked up a huge racket, supporting their chosen fighter.
“Electric is a word that sums it up perfectly, and in the context of this book, maybe I saw better fights like Usyk-Fury one, but, in terms of atmosphere, Taylor-Serrano was something special. I am delighted that I could include Katie in the book because she’s such a special person as well.”
Figures like Taylor and Chamberlain are just two of the many fighters McRae includes in ‘The Last Bell’ that portray the importance and wholesomeness of boxing, to caveat its dark reality.
The South African author previously covered the 90s era of boxing in his book ‘Dark Trade’, “that did show the darkness of boxing, but also, it’s full of fervour and excitement.”
“This book is a much more measured book”, McRae added. “I hope people think I captured some difficult times in boxing, but also some incredible human beings who were fighters.
Someone like Usyk, I hope people see what he meant to Ukraine during this awful war, as well as seeing how women’s boxing became a force in its own right over the course of the book.
“I want people to remember the stories of the fighters, whether the famous fighters or less well-known fighters, and I loved being immersed in boxing for the last six years.”
