Fearless Freddie charts the career of pugilist Freddie Mills, who became the biggest name in British boxing, a television star in the 1950s, only to commit apparent suicide in 1965.

Freddie was a boxing superstar at a time when the country was still trying to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the Second World War. A natural entertainer, he embarked on a successful media career long after his days in the ring came to an end, paving the way for other sports stars to do the same in future. However, there was a darker side to Mills. His nightclub brought him into contact with notorious London gangsters.

Constantly plagued by depression and money worries, the death of Freddie remains a mystery. Since his death, conspiracy theories aplenty have been peddled about how and why Freddie was found in the back of a car, having shot himself through his right eye. Could a man who had it all really take his own life or was there something more sinister afoot?

As Britain’s first true sporting superstar, few figures have been subject to more rumours and gossip than Freddie Mills, ever since his mysterious death in 1965. Was Mills killed by the Krays or the Chinese Triads? Was he a serial killer responsible for the deaths of six prostitutes in the Hammersmith area? Fearless Freddie cuts through the myth to reveal:

• The true, inspirational story of Mills’s rise from the backstreets of Bournemouth to the top of the boxing world

• His start in the boxing booths of the South West, and the fear that one day he would return there

• The truth about his mysterious disappearance after one of his biggest fights

• How he won the world title with a broken neck - just one punch away from paralysis, or worse...

• Mills’s bizarre relationship with his wife, Chrissie, and her first husband, who accompanied the couple on their honeymoon

• How the death of his friend, Michael Holliday, set off a chain of events which resulted in Freddie’s own death

• The true nature of his relationship with gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray

• Finally, what really happened in the early hours of 25th July 1965, when Freddie was found shot in the back of his car at Goslett Yard...

About the author

Christopher Evans is the Member of Parliament for Islwyn in South Wales. He has been published in Boxing Monthly and many other newspapers and publications as well as appearing on national television as a political commentator. A part-time boxing historian and fan, Fearless Freddie: The Life and Times of Freddie Mills is his first book. Published by Pitch Publishing Ltd, it is hardcover, 256 pages, with a RRP of £17.99.