Name: Kirkland Laing
Career Record: click
Alias: The Gifted One
Nationality: United Kingdom
Hometown: Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Born: 1954-06-20
Stance: Orthodox

1972 ABA Featherweight champion

  
 
  
I've spent the last seven years putting together a biography of Kirkland Laing, and it is now finally printed and ready to launch.  Details of the book and how to buy it are below. 
 
I'm also having two launch events in the UK, one in Birmingham and one in London, at which everyone is very welcome, so please feel free to forward this email to anyone you like. 
 
Finally, if you are interested in the memorabilia side, I have listed on my website (www.oliverjarratt.com) various items that I have collected as part of the research process which I am now selling.
 
The Book
 
The Gifted One: Kirkland Laing through the eyes of others", hardback, 453 pages, 53 photos (colour and b/w), price £18.  Not available via on-line booksellers or in bookshops.  My website, www.oliverjarratt.com explains more about the book and how to buy it.
 
Kirkland Laing is the finest British boxer never to have fought for a world title.  From his shock ABA triumph aged just seventeen, Kirk moved on to a rollercoaster pro career marked by dazzling successes, unexpected defeats and implausible comebacks. A fighting exile by the mid-eighties, he returned in triumph as the dreadlocked elder statesman of British boxing, calling himself “The Gifted One” as he feasted on cow’s foot and the cream of the nation’s welterweights.  Only at the age of forty did he walk away from the professional ring. Even then, the drama wasn’t over.
 
Through seven years of research, I've interviewed the people who took part in this remarkable journey to provide the first full account of Kirkland Laing’s career and a unique insight into British boxing’s most brilliant eccentric.  Interviewees include Jimmy Batten, Ib Bøtcher, Glen Catley, James Cook MBE, Dean Cooper, Malcolm Cordier, John Coyle, Colin Flinn, Reggie Ford, Mick Gauntlett, Dave Green, Joe Hannaford, Colin Hart, Clive Hogben, Harry Holland, Bob Lonkhurst, Charlie Magri, Marvin McDowell, Clinton McKenzie, Howard Mills, Achille Mitchell, Sylvester Mittee, Des Morrison, Salvo Nuciforo, Frank O’Sullivan, Joe Ryan, Chris Sanigar, Derek Simpson, Joey Singleton, Lee Town, Colin Ward and many more.

The Launches 
  
Birmingham:  Thursday 15 October 2009 (7pm onwards), The Portland Pavilion, 241 Portland Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B17 8LS.
 
London:   Sunday 18 October 2009 (12 noon to 4pm), The Old Red Cow (upstairs bar), 71 Long Lane, Smithfield, London EC1A 9EJ.
 
Anyway, hope you can make it!  If you can't, but if you are still interested in buying a book, see the "How to buy" section on www.oliverjarratt.com or drop me a line back on this email address.
 
All the best,
 
Oliver
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