Harry Mullan was an Irish

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

writer and journalist. He died on 21 May 1999 at the age of 53 after suffering from cancer for four years. Born Patrick Henry Pearse Mullan in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on 22 April 1946, Mullan was brought up in

Portstewart Portstewart () is a small seaside town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,854 people in the 2021 United Kingdom census. It is a seaside resort, neighbouring both Coleraine in County Londonderry and Portrush in Cou ...

and later educated at St Patrick's College, Armagh and University College Dublin. He edited the British trade paper, ''Boxing News'' for 19 years, from 1977 until 1996. Only

Gilbert Odd Gilbert Odd (1902 – 12 May 1996) was a British boxing historian and sportswriter. Odd boxed briefly as an amateur, then at 18 turned his sights on the sports writing side of the game, becoming a ringside correspondent for the weekly magazine, ' ...

, Mullan's mentor, had a longer tenure. Mullan was an authoritative and principled writer, never afraid to highlight perceived injustice, and conveyed an innate understanding of the sport's political structure. He wrote many books on boxing and was held in high regard in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he covered many bouts and was posthumously inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

in 2005. Mullan also contributed regularly to television and radio coverage of the sport. In the 1990s, Mullan worked as the boxing correspondent for the ''Sunday Times'' and later for the ''Independent on Sunday''. He was buried in Glenullin, a rural area from which his parents came, and in 2023 and reburied in England as per his dying wish to remain close to his family.

Bibliography

In addition to a vast output for daily and weekly newspapers, and editorship (1977–87) of ''Boxing News Annual'' and (1988–92) ''News of the World Boxing Annual'', Mullan's books include: *''The Illustrated History of Boxing'' (Hamlyn, 1987) *''The Book of Boxing Quotations'' (Stanley Paul, 1988) *''Heroes and Hard Men'' (Stanley Paul, 1989) *(with

Barry McGuigan Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight ...

and Gerry Callan) ''Barry McGuigan: The Untold Story'' (Robson, 1991) - a biography suppressed by a libel action *''Boxing: The Last 25 Years'' (W.H. Smith, 1991) *(with Peter Arnold) ''A Boxing Companion'' (W.H. Smith, 1992) *''Fighting Words'' (Canterbury: Colebridge Associates, 1993) *''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Boxing'' (London: Carlton, 1996), subsequently updated in various editions by Bob Mee, 2007 ed. , 2010 ed. *''Ring Wars: Pictorial History of Boxing'' (Paragon, 1997) *''Boxing: Inside the Game'' (Cambridge: Icon Books, 1998) *''Boxing: The Complete Illustrated Guide'' *''The World Encyclopedia of Boxing''

References

1946 births Irish sports journalists 1999 deaths Boxing writers International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Alumni of University College Dublin People from Portstewart People educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh {{Ireland-bio-stub