Acclaimed sportswriter Lucas “Lukie” Ketelle, known for a strong social media following, YouTube documentaries, a bi-weekly newsletter and podcast, has published his first book, “Inside The Ropes Of Boxing: A Boxer’s Guide To Boxing”, and is excited to help the next generation of fighters. Debuting at #1 in two-hour reads in the Sports and Outdoors category, this book is perfect for boxers and their managers.

“I suppose I am a boxing writer, but I am really a boxing person,” said Ketelle, when reflecting on his first book, who has a very popular YouTube feature on Teofimo Lopez that has over 200,000 views. “I’ve had good people around when I came into the boxing business, and this is just some of the knowledge I feel to be true that I wanted to make more accessible to young fighters. As you get older, birthdays become a burden, so I figured this year, I would release a book on my birthday, and it would give me something to celebrate. As I wrote this book, I was extremely joyful and I’m proud of the responses I’ve got from those in the industry.”

Ketelle, who has interviewed all of boxing’s elite fighters, has prided himself on being in the gym and being present during training camp for some of the biggest fighters in the sport. From Mikey Garcia to Gabe Flores Jr., to Teofimo Lopez to Karlos Balderas, Lukie isn’t a media day boxing member, he is someone who visits the gyms and tries make sense of not just how they fight, but the person they are, which is translated into this book.

“This book holds a lot of insight for professional and amateur boxers as to what to expect or look for, not unlike Ronald Heifetz, a great scholar and writer, in short leadership without easy answers,” said Ketelle. “I wanted the book to be accessible so someone who is in college could read it, but someone who dropped out of high school wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. I view it as a tool not unlike one of my favorite books, Niccolo Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’. I worked with a good editor, Emily Jensen, who condensed the book from 155 pages down to 86 pages so it would be an easy enjoyable read.”

The book also has a world-famous illustrator doing the cover of the book as KronkArt did the cover. 

“People always say don’t judge a book by its cover, so I know people judge books by the cover based on that statement, so I got KronkAAArt to design a fantastic, and world-class cover that is striking and iconic,” said Lukie. “To round it out, Jill Diamond of the WBC Cares, has always supported me in my journey through boxing, so to have her write a foreword felt perfect – and I always want to say thank you to those who are kind to me. It really meant a lot, that she did it – and I think it made the book perfect.”

The book is available on Amazon in paperback for $9.99 or on Kindle for $8.99, with an audio version available on Audibles and iTunes coming by Thanksgiving.