I have no doubt that in their respective primes McClean, Shaw etc were very very hard men on the cobbles and could walk through 95% of the so called hardmen in my (and yours) town without breaking into a sweat.Loftgroov wrote:That's interesting to know. A lot of what I have read about McClean (admittedly often written either by himself or his associates) leaves you thinking the guy was awesome and near unbeatable in his prime as "The Guv'nor". Seems like 6 wins vs. 6 losses is more like his genuine record.KOJOE90 wrote:I agree.TerribleTerry wrote:There is a big difference between bein a 'hardman' and being a skilled boxer for my money - I remember reading that Bob Foster's brother was a great street fighter but wasn't all that with gloves on...
I know from personal experience lads who could go all day in terms of a street brawl, but dont manage the same with gloves on...two completely different environments.
The other thing about unlicensed fighting is that due to the nature of the game, there is often no records kept, videos of fights etc.
So therefore word of mouth is often relied upon when it comes to results and the standard of the fighters. So therefore a lot of what you hear is false and half truths.
But it allows the myth of 'hardman legands' to grow out of propportion.
But putting them up against trained Boxers is a different matter all together, as McClean fights against a overweight and untertrained Cliff Fields and amatuer Johnny Waldron show.
I've heard from people I trust that knew of the late McClean (but did not know him personally) and they always told me that was one man you did not want to mess with on the cobbles.
I always annoyes me a little when a big deal is made out of Roy Shaw beating Ron Stander in the late 1970's in a unlicensed bout in London. And how this is stated that Shaw beat a World Title Contender. That is not quite true in the sense that by the time Shaw got to Stander he was a former contender, who was losing by KO again and again in the 'legit' ring to very poor fighters. Stander by this time was rarely training and liked a drink or three. To be fair to Roy Shaw he has stated a number of times that if Stander had been in shape he would have took a beating. Shaw has also stated that he wanted no part of Cliff Fields whom he regards as the real Guv'nor.
With regard to the Shaw V Stander fight, which was covered in the daily papers in the UK (how times have changed!). I think I am right in saying that it was a Joe Pyle promotion who set up their own sanctioning body to oppose the BBBofC (something like the BBBF). So some may say this fight was not unlicensed. Just a minor point.
On a side note just over 12 months ago Cliff Fields who for many years has had a bad drink problem had a major stroke and was sadly in a bad way.
