When In Doubt, Stop the Bout: A Revolutionary Approach to Boxing Safety and Reform

"Since the inception of the Marquess of Queensberry rules boxing has understood the need to be safer. While there have been some rule changes through the years, many have been like applying an 'enswell' to reduce swelling. In his latest book, When in Doubt, Stop the Bout, Mike Silver asks the hard questions and offers serious and innovative solutions that will make the sport safer without diluting its primal appeal. Anyone who cares about boxing and the fighters who put themselves at risk should read this book." - Teddy Atlas, Hall of Fame trainer and boxing analyst

In When in Doubt, Stop the Bout, renowned boxing historian Mike Silver presents a shocking exposé of the sordid underbelly of professional boxing and uncovers the sport's criminally flawed infrastructure and those responsible for it.

From compromised referees to poorly trained ringside physicians to an insidious cartel of "sanctioning organizations" approving dangerous mismatches, Silver lays bare the corruption, the negligence, and the incompetence that has made a dangerous sport even more dangerous.

But aside from unmasking the chaotic mess that afflicts boxing, this book for the first time proposes groundbreaking practical solutions that will mitigate the danger and save lives. Penetrating and persuasive, When in Doubt, Stop the Bout will change forever how you see the sport of boxing.

Mike Silver is the authorof three books. The Arc of Boxing: TheRise and Decline of the Sweet Science (McFarland, 2008) isconsidered a classic and was recently listed as McFarland’s # 1 best-seller forJune 2023. His second book, Stars in the Ring: Jewish Champions in theGolden Age of Boxing (Lyons Press, 2016),was called by Publisher’s Weekly “An achievement unlikely to be equaled.” The Night the Referee Hit Back: MemorableMoments from the World of Boxing (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020) wasdescribed as “A welcome additionto the libraries of boxing fans and sports pundits” by Publisher’s Weekly. 

Silver’s work has appeared in the New York Times, The Ringmagazine, Boxing Monthly, The InternationalBoxing Research Journal, andvarious boxing web sites. He is a former inspector with the New York StateAthletic Commission and a consultant and on-air commentator for nineteen boxingdocumentaries produced by PBS, HBO, ESPN, the History Channel and Madison SquareGarden Network. He was the curator of the “Sting Like a Maccabee: The GoldenAge of the American Jewish Boxer” exhibit at the National Museum of AmericanJewish History in Philadelphia (2004-05), and a co-curator of the San FranciscoJewish Film Festival’s centerpiece program, “Jews, Boxing, and Hollywood”(2007). He is a member of the New York State Boxing Hall of Fame.