World champion boxer Lew Jenkins fought his whole life. As a child, he fought extreme poverty during the Great Depression; in his twenties, he fought as a professional boxer and became a world champion; and at the pinnacle of his boxing career, Jenkins fought in World War II and the Korean War. From Boxing Ring to Battlefield: The Life of War Hero Lew Jenkins details for the first time this extraordinary story. Despite his talent for boxing, Jenkins often fought and trained in drunken stupors. Although he became the world lightweight champion, he soon wasted his ring title and all his money. Jenkins eventually found purpose during World War II and the Korean War, fighting in major battles that included D-Day, Bloody Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge. His efforts earned him one of the highest decorations for bravery, the Silver Star. Unable to find meaning in life at the peak of his boxing success, Jenkins discovered values to which he could cling during war. From Boxing Ring to Battlefield features exclusive interviews with Lew Jenkins’s son and grandson, providing a personal perspective on the life of this complicated war hero. The first biography of Jenkins, this book will fascinate boxing fans and historians alike.

"Author Gene Pantalone delves into the life of Lew Jenkins in his latest book, From Boxing Ring to Battlefield. . . . . [A] must-read for all boxing fans. Throughout the two-hundred pages, Gene Pantalone does a terrific job at engaging the reader and making him become invested in the development of Jenkins as if it was a life story being played out in real time. Pantalone also does a great job telling the stories of the people that played different roles in Jenkins life. . . . If not for Pantalone this is the type of story that may have been lost in the annals of time. Lew Jenkins may have been viewed as just another lightweight champion from years past. Instead readers are now able to connect with an intriguing character who finds purpose in the most unlikely of places during a period of time that is becoming more and more distant." - The Sweet Science

"From Boxing Ring to Battlefield: The Life of War Hero Lew Jenkins is the sort of high-spirited account that only Jenkins could inspire [and] Pantalone is the biographer Jenkins deserves, telling the story simply but thoroughly . . . Jenkins’ sad smile is all over this book." - Ringside Seat

"“Pantalone is a first-rate researcher, enabling him to depict scenes that could not vary more wildly in content – from Jenkins’ early fights in backwater Texas venues to lethal battles in Korea’s Haean-Myon Valley near today’s Demilitarized Zone. He describes the emotion and technique of a 1940s New York City title match with the same skill as the even more challenging nuances of 1950s land-based warfare.”" - Fieldhouse Asheville