How good was Mick Mills?

[big lennox]

He used to be a middlewight fighting out of St Thomas, Wincobank. I am told he was a massive puncher and was brilliant and had a very laid back way about him. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago at an amateur show in Sheffield and he seemed like a lovely guy -very friendly and chatty.Just wonderign if anyone on here saw him fight?

[csmith]

I seem to remember that he featured in a chapter of a book based around Sheffield Boxers 10 or so years ago.
It think that it was one of the many Naseem Hamed books that were released at that time.
It mainly mentioned that he was a huge puncher and a bit of a wasted talent if I remember correctly-I will dig the book out over the weekend if I remember.

[Scrap]

If He had been as interested in His Fighting as He was His Dogs, He could have done well great guy Mick DD

[Coco]

I read that book, thought it was embarrassingly bad, just felt the fighters were taking the piss out of the author, who didn't even realise as he was from such a different world

[big lennox]

I read that book -if its 'on the Ropes' by Geoffrey Beattie that you are reffering too? I loved it -thought it was a great book and definitely inspired me to go to Wincobank.He wrote a follow up, 'In the shadows of Prince Naseem', but it wasn't so good.

[csmith]

I read that book -if its 'on the Ropes' by Geoffrey Beattie that you are reffering too? I loved it -thought it was a great book and definitely inspired me to go to Wincobank.He wrote a follow up, 'In the shadows of Prince Naseem', but it wasn't so good.

That was definitely the book-I thought that it was a pretty decent insight into the Sheffield Boxing scene at the time.
Everyone seemed to hold Mick Mills in quite high regard.

[bennie]

Mick was a huge puncher who they lured down to London to grace some big Cartel shows but, stuck in a bedsit somewhere, he missed his dogs (who wouldn't) and was obviously unsettled. With that running round his head, they went and matched him with the clever, long-armed, hurtful Joey Mack (screened on the Beeb) and Mack, who could really fight (he later licked the huge-punching Colin Derrick) survived Mick's savage early attacks and came back to stop Mills.
Mack was down a couple of times in the early stages, I seem to recall.
Mills, nicknamed "The Bomb" and a natural puncher, lost something in defeat and became a fighter who either won in the first couple of rounds or got stopped late.
He was clearly walking the dogs more than he was training.

[big lennox]

Hey Bennie

Thanks for that info.Much appreciated and facinating to know.People at Brendan's gym told me that ev en if he hit you on the shoulder it hurt badly.Very approachable guy when I met him.

[m1kee50]

The Shadows of Boxing, good book, but yeah got the feeling the author wasnt as pally as he thought he was... didnt Mills get his jaw broken?

[bennie]

Hey Bennie

Thanks for that info.Much appreciated and facinating to know.People at Brendan's gym told me that ev en if he hit you on the shoulder it hurt badly.Very approachable guy when I met him.

I once spoke to an opponent of his, Willie Wright, who said (with the look of someone who has just survived a plane crash) his whole jaw dislocated when he copped one from Mick in the first round but, amazingly, it clicked back into place and he came back to win in five rounds.
This was the later version of Mills.