Paul Sykes - The Movie

[MasterG]

He was offered the Awome fight after the Gardner loss but said (paraphrasing here) 'F*ck fighting 15st 23 year old lads for peanuts' and instead signed up to fight Lenny McLean for allegedly's NBC a fight Sykes considered a formality.

When Sykes was forced to withdraw from this encounter (I'm not repeating the drivel associated with this) McLean fought a fat ex BBBoC middleweight called Kevin Paddock and was totally outboxed and lost on points, so Sykes was probably correct.

A few months on Sykes was attending the Central Area title fight between Neil Malpass and Terry Mintus (he'd been sparring Mintus) and he promptly challenged the winner. The Central Area Council refused to immediately reinstate his license due to his involvement with the NBC and he was required to attend a hearing, he didn't show up and next thing he's being flattened by Ekwelum.

So even though the Ekwelum fight is on his record, I don't think he actually held a BBBoC license at the time.

Here on youtube is Ekwelum talking about the fight but its hard to understand really

[banjo]

Wasn't Frenchy a European Kickboxing Champion though?

Yeah he did. However he is more famous now for Danny Dyers hardest men. Comes out with some belter quotes-

"fight me or feed me"
"Rattling the cage mannnnn"

Yeah that's when Danny admits his "bum is flappin'"

[MasterG]

I think the Lenny McLean fight didnt come off because a week beforehand Sykes went into a club and got into a fight with 4 bouncers and hurt his hand. Thats whats written about it anyway.

[gp.]

He was offered the Awome fight after the Gardner loss but said (paraphrasing here) 'F*ck fighting 15st 23 year old lads for peanuts' and instead signed up to fight Lenny McLean for allegedly's NBC a fight Sykes considered a formality.

When Sykes was forced to withdraw from this encounter (I'm not repeating the drivel associated with this) McLean fought a fat ex BBBoC middleweight called Kevin Paddock and was totally outboxed and lost on points, so Sykes was probably correct.

A few months on Sykes was attending the Central Area title fight between Neil Malpass and Terry Mintus (he'd been sparring Mintus) and he promptly challenged the winner. The Central Area Council refused to immediately reinstate his license due to his involvement with the NBC and he was required to attend a hearing, he didn't show up and next thing he's being flattened by Ekwelum.

So even though the Ekwelum fight is on his record, I don't think he actually held a BBBoC license at the time.

Here on youtube is Ekwelum talking about the fight but its hard to understand really

I tried turning the subtitles on. They make it even worse.

"he invaded a contract for me to fight for Saxon language and for sex was already contracted in London"

[MasterG]

My son lives in Wakefield but hes not a Wakey lad, however his mrs is and she works for West Yorkshire Police so I always aks her for more stories that shes come across.

Another way I find out stories is by asking lorry drivers who come to our work place delivering. They are always from Wakefield, Leeds or Pontefract so i always get snippets of stories that possibly been passed around and exadurated over time.

Almost every story is about bullying or fighting or Sykes getting set on fire or pissed on by kids.

[bynino]

"Almost every story is about bullying or fighting or Sykes getting set on fire or pissed on by kids."

[MasterG]

MasterG

Two versions circulate:

Multiple bouncers and a wooden club at the Cherry Tree neae Lincoln Green.

Terry Mitchell at The Market Tavern (Madhouse) near Kirkgate Market.

Boyle likes the second as he openly worships Mitchell (book pending?) who's another fantasist like Sykes.

Im sure there are lots of versions to every story.

I was chatting to a driver the other week from Wakey and as per I asked him did he know any stories.

this is one he told me.

Sykes walked into a gym one Saturday morning, this gym was a martial arts lesson with kids. Sykes offered the tutor out, I cant remember the tutors name now for the devil of me. Anyway the tutor said to sykes that he was taking a lesson and couldnt fight him, and told him to come back the following week. The following Saturday Sykes returned shouting and swearing and the tutor obliged to fight him. Skyes apparently couldnt lay a hand on this martial arts tutor got up off the floor and walk off in disgust.

These are the kind of stories I often get, If people are from Wakey they know a story to tell.

[chiggsy]

Here on youtube is Ekwelum talking about the fight but its hard to understand really

I tried turning the subtitles on. They make it even worse.

"he invaded a contract for me to fight for Saxon language and for sex was already contracted in London"

i'm sure i heard "i had to fight in my undies"

[Steveh583]

I was watching that Sykes film. He just a wall-puncher. He reminds me a bit of "bad man" Frenchy.

Wasn't Frenchy a European Kickboxing Champion though?

Kickboxing titles are ten a penny though. If you think boxing got problems with multiple belts... every town in the uk will have a "world" champion of some variety.

[Cyclops]

Wasn't Frenchy a European Kickboxing Champion though?

Yeah he did. However he is more famous now for Danny Dyers hardest men. Comes out with some belter quotes-

"fight me or feed me"
"Rattling the cage mannnnn"

I cannot stand that guy. I read his stupid book and he talks about how he went to do psychology in college and didn’t do any work, just terrorised his tutor into passing him; then later he’s on about how he’s got a specialist understanding of the human mind because of his psychology degree

He talks about only robbing white drug dealers and I can only assume that’s because they were probably low rung wasters who didn’t have the muscle to stand up to him, whereas the black lads all knew him and would just kill him. He keeps on mentioning Curtis Warren as some sort of equal when he also makes clear in his writing that Warren repeatedly mugged him off.

As for Sykes and Duffy, I shan’t be reading anything more about either. Both have reps as nonces/rapists and when one ends up homeless and being pissed on and set on fire while the other one has people shouting “Die” at him when he’s literally dying and then having parties to celebrate his death then you know they were both pudenda.

[banjo]

Yeah he did. However he is more famous now for Danny Dyers hardest men. Comes out with some belter quotes-

"fight me or feed me"
"Rattling the cage mannnnn"

I cannot stand that guy. I read his stupid book and he talks about how he went to do psychology in college and didn’t do any work, just terrorised his tutor into passing him; then later he’s on about how he’s got a specialist understanding of the human mind because of his psychology degree

He talks about only robbing white drug dealers and I can only assume that’s because they were probably low rung wasters who didn’t have the muscle to stand up to him, whereas the black lads all knew him and would just kill him. He keeps on mentioning Curtis Warren as some sort of equal when he also makes clear in his writing that Warren repeatedly mugged him off.

As for Sykes and Duffy, I shan’t be reading anything more about either. Both have reps as nonces/rapists and when one ends up homeless and being pissed on and set on fire while the other one has people shouting “Die” at him when he’s literally dying and then having parties to celebrate his death then you know they were both pudenda.

Warren mugged everyone off to be fair, he wasn't your average street thug, he was sat on private yachts wining and dining with the worlds biggest drug barons while most of his supposed rivals were shooting each other in tit for tat turf wars. He beat some Turkish bloke to death with his bare hands in a Dutch prison too, hopefully customs harass him until the day he dies though, drug peddling pudendum.

[Cyclops]

I cannot stand that guy. I read his stupid book and he talks about how he went to do psychology in college and didn’t do any work, just terrorised his tutor into passing him; then later he’s on about how he’s got a specialist understanding of the human mind because of his psychology degree

He talks about only robbing white drug dealers and I can only assume that’s because they were probably low rung wasters who didn’t have the muscle to stand up to him, whereas the black lads all knew him and would just kill him. He keeps on mentioning Curtis Warren as some sort of equal when he also makes clear in his writing that Warren repeatedly mugged him off.

As for Sykes and Duffy, I shan’t be reading anything more about either. Both have reps as nonces/rapists and when one ends up homeless and being pissed on and set on fire while the other one has people shouting “Die” at him when he’s literally dying and then having parties to celebrate his death then you know they were both pudenda.

Warren mugged everyone off to be fair, he wasn't your average street thug, he was sat on private yachts wining and dining with the worlds biggest drug barons while most of his supposed rivals were shooting each other in tit for tat turf wars. He beat some Turkish bloke to death with his bare hands in a Dutch prison too, hopefully customs harass him until the day he dies though, drug peddling pudendum.

I’ve nearly finished ‘Legacy; gangsters, corruption and the London Olympics’ which talks about the Hunts and the Adams and all the multimillion £ corruption in London. I think I come away from it seeing Britain as rotten to the core. Dinosaurs like Sykes and Duffy were complete losers: tinpot nobody’s.

I wish everyone was just honest and helped each other out to be honest. What is this obsession with greedy, soulless bullies?

[chiggsy]

I cannot stand that guy. I read his stupid book and he talks about how he went to do psychology in college and didn’t do any work, just terrorised his tutor into passing him; then later he’s on about how he’s got a specialist understanding of the human mind because of his psychology degree

He talks about only robbing white drug dealers and I can only assume that’s because they were probably low rung wasters who didn’t have the muscle to stand up to him, whereas the black lads all knew him and would just kill him. He keeps on mentioning Curtis Warren as some sort of equal when he also makes clear in his writing that Warren repeatedly mugged him off.

As for Sykes and Duffy, I shan’t be reading anything more about either. Both have reps as nonces/rapists and when one ends up homeless and being pissed on and set on fire while the other one has people shouting “Die” at him when he’s literally dying and then having parties to celebrate his death then you know they were both pudenda.

Warren mugged everyone off to be fair, he wasn't your average street thug, he was sat on private yachts wining and dining with the worlds biggest drug barons while most of his supposed rivals were shooting each other in tit for tat turf wars. He beat some Turkish bloke to death with his bare hands in a Dutch prison too, hopefully customs harass him until the day he dies though, drug peddling pudendum.

He's hero worshiped by brain dead wannabes yet has spent well over half is life in various prison cells with terrorists,bag snatchers,smackheads and murderers for neighbours.

No doubt he was very good at his chosen profession but they nearly always end up losing in the end dont they,be that by jail or violent death.

[banjo]

He's hero worshiped by brain dead wannabes yet has spent well over half is life in various prison cells with terrorists,bag snatchers,smackheads and murderers for neighbours.

No doubt he was very good at his chosen profession but they nearly always end up losing in the end dont they,be that by jail or violent death.

Pretty much, I've never got the appeal of it, yeah you can get rich but you're constantly looking over your shoulder. I knew a doorman with some invincible attitude, went round twatting people because he could, when warned about how it will catch up with him he went "bring them on" not long later one of his previous victims ran him over and left him in a wheelchair. I don't believe in karma as such but I do believe that if you f*ck enough people over then there is a chance, maybe only a small chance that it could end up biting you in the arse one day.

[MasterG]

I dont understand why several people on here are making out Sykes was a gangster, or a big villian wannabee when its not the case.

We all each and every one of us has a character in our town or village that has gone through the folklore of stories. Sykes was not a gangster. He was a debt collector, boxer and bully. If he hadnt been a boxer I doubt his name would have been mentioned on the many occasions as it has. A tv documentry in the 80's also has a little bit of responsibility in the making of Paul Sykes and his life inside and outside the ring.

Sykes in the 70s and very early 80's prior to his Title fights with John L was an unknown bloke who was in and out of prison and made a few headlines in Boxing News. The only people who knew him were the boxing fraternity and locals of Wakefield. He made a few enemies around the North East and possibly anywhere else he ventured.

Folklore over the years has made him more of an enigma by snowballing stories that were true but im sure bits added on to make it more interesting and a few made up ones too.

Lee Duffy was the same sort of character in Middlesbrough. The downfall was getting stabbed in the leg and not receiving medical help thinking the stab wound wasnt that bad when infact it had cut an artery. If he mad seeked medical help or stemmed the blood flow his life would have been saved. There are many more people harder that Lee Duffy was, but he was a part of middlesbrough and made a name for himself for obvious reasons.

Rual Moat was the same.

Dale Creagan is another

People from various parts of the UK that talk has made them a name.

In our town we have a few blokes who when dead will become talk of the town when no harm can come to the rumour maker.

[iestynvenables]

Sykes was a talented domestic heavyweight with a beautiful physique but he couldn't handle the pressure of John L. Gardner in a crack at the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles at Wembley in 1979, turning and quitting in the sixth round (although the superfit Gardner made a host of opponents quit). More revealingly, he also bailed out in a 10-rounder with Neil Malpass when he deliberately butted Malpass after the latter had soaked up his early pressure. He actually floored Malpass with the butt.

my mates dad was telling me a story about that fight. So this guys phones my mates dad, saying do u have £250 on a good tip in a boxing fight. My mates dad didn't know boxing but loved betting said yes and got the money. He then forgot about it , then got a phone call from his mate, saying you never guess what he was losing the fight but got headbutted and won by dq. won his bet.

[margaret thatcher]

Your wrote in the book? You a big shot

I never wrote in the book at all

Oh my bad. I thought you wrote you had a bit in his book

[MasterG]

I never wrote in the book at all

Oh my bad. I thought you wrote you had a bit in his book

I had a little story that I passed on to the author which then went in the book, without my interaction with the author the story wouldnt have been told, however, it was a positive but funny story that did show that Lee Duffy did have a decent bone in his body.

[prewarboxing]

Paul Sykes was nothing special at all. The only reason he attracts so much interest on threads like this one is because of his so-called "gangster" lifestyle. There are far more genuinely good heavyweights from that era out there who were far better than Sykes, who never get a mention. Eddie Neilson, Denton Ruddock and Ishaq Hussein to name but three. These guys would have beaten the crap out of Sykes. Admittedly, Sykes got a British title shot. Gardner took him to the cleaners. One way traffic. Why aren't we talking about Gardner instead?

Same with the Krays. They weren't up to much as boxers, but the gangster link seems to be enough for them to have gone down in boxing history as some sort of 'contenders'. They weren't.

Miles Templeton

[Coco]

Oh my bad. I thought you wrote you had a bit in his book

I had a little story that I passed on to the author which then went in the book, without my interaction with the author the story wouldnt have been told, however, it was a positive but funny story that did show that Lee Duffy did have a decent bone in his body.

So tell us what it was?
Was he really a rapist?

[forcefraser]

I'm from Wakefield and used to live a few streets from Sykesy. A nightmare of a bloke after he had a drink.

I saw him take several kickings whilst pished, although to be fair it was usually a group of lads.

His prison antics were well known and I imagine many a chocolate starfish was punched by Sykes. A dishpicable terrible disgrace of a man.

I moved abroad at 20 but my old mates tell me he was badly abused in the last years of his life. A ravaged alky who'd take severe hidings every day from pissed up teenagers. Karma. What goes around eh?

I have it on good authority however that he knocked Joshua out in sparring and somehow managed to blame it in George Groves.

[bennie]

Paul Sykes was nothing special at all. The only reason he attracts so much interest on threads like this one is because of his so-called "gangster" lifestyle. There are far more genuinely good heavyweights from that era out there who were far better than Sykes, who never get a mention. Eddie Neilson, Denton Ruddock and Ishaq Hussein to name but three. These guys would have beaten the crap out of Sykes. Admittedly, Sykes got a British title shot. Gardner took him to the cleaners. One way traffic. Why aren't we talking about Gardner instead?

Same with the Krays. They weren't up to much as boxers, but the gangster link seems to be enough for them to have gone down in boxing history as some sort of 'contenders'. They weren't.

Miles Templeton

Gardner was a strong, relentless fighter with incredible workrate but a non-existent punch and he tends to be overlooked in the annals of domestic heavyweight boxing. However, it must be said that he got all the breaks within the monopolising Cartel in the 1970s and still blew it when he lost to the blubbery Jimmy Young at the end of 1980 at Wembley and was then destroyed by Mike Dokes a year later in the States, a match Mickey Duff got disastrously wrong, although in Duff's defence, Dokes had only just discovered he could punch. Nevertheless, Gardner won British, Commonwealth and European titles in fine style and delivered one of the funniest knockouts of all time when he starched Lorenzo Zanon in Italy in defence of his European title. Lorenzo loved a good flop.

[Coco]

I have it on good authority however that he knocked Joshua out in sparring and somehow managed to blame it in George Groves.

What goes on in sparring should stay in sparring

[Cyclops]

I dont understand why several people on here are making out Sykes was a gangster, or a big villian wannabee when its not the case.

We all each and every one of us has a character in our town or village that has gone through the folklore of stories. Sykes was not a gangster. He was a debt collector, boxer and bully. If he hadnt been a boxer I doubt his name would have been mentioned on the many occasions as it has. A tv documentry in the 80's also has a little bit of responsibility in the making of Paul Sykes and his life inside and outside the ring.

Sykes in the 70s and very early 80's prior to his Title fights with John L was an unknown bloke who was in and out of prison and made a few headlines in Boxing News. The only people who knew him were the boxing fraternity and locals of Wakefield. He made a few enemies around the North East and possibly anywhere else he ventured.

Folklore over the years has made him more of an enigma by snowballing stories that were true but im sure bits added on to make it more interesting and a few made up ones too.

Lee Duffy was the same sort of character in Middlesbrough. The downfall was getting stabbed in the leg and not receiving medical help thinking the stab wound wasnt that bad when infact it had cut an artery. If he mad seeked medical help or stemmed the blood flow his life would have been saved. There are many more people harder that Lee Duffy was, but he was a part of middlesbrough and made a name for himself for obvious reasons.

Rual Moat was the same.

Dale Creagan is another

People from various parts of the UK that talk has made them a name.

In our town we have a few blokes who when dead will become talk of the town when no harm can come to the rumour maker.

Moat and Creagan “made their names” if you can call it that, by shooting police officers. It’s not really the same thing is it?

[bennie]

He was offered the Awome fight after the Gardner loss but said (paraphrasing here) 'F*ck fighting 15st 23 year old lads for peanuts' and instead signed up to fight Lenny McLean for allegedly's NBC a fight Sykes considered a formality.

When Sykes was forced to withdraw from this encounter (I'm not repeating the drivel associated with this) McLean fought a fat ex BBBoC middleweight called Kevin Paddock and was totally outboxed and lost on points, so Sykes was probably correct.

A few months on Sykes was attending the Central Area title fight between Neil Malpass and Terry Mintus (he'd been sparring Mintus) and he promptly challenged the winner. The Central Area Council refused to immediately reinstate his license due to his involvement with the NBC and he was required to attend a hearing, he didn't show up and next thing he's being flattened by Ekwelum.

So even though the Ekwelum fight is on his record, I don't think he actually held a BBBoC license at the time.

Nice information. Personally, I believe that Paul would have come through against Joe because Joe's chin was seriously suspect and when they eventually paired him with Neil Malpass, in a nothing affair on a dinner show, he ran out of steam and was stopped in the eighth round. Joe proved a bigger disappointment than Sykes because of his impeccable amateur pedigree, winning two ABA titles and gold in the Commonwealth Games in Canada in 1978. He really did look the part in Canada and was all over the national newspapers. However, he was stopped by the incredibly muscled Ron McLean in a shocking early fight and while he outclassed McLean two fights later, his chin let him down again when he was stopped by Stan McDermott at the Albert Hall in 1980. It looked all over for the likeable Woking man but they tightened up his defence and tried to bring him back against Malpass. Awome boxed like a dream in the early rounds.. At last he looked a complete fighter but then he began to blow and by the last round he could barely lift his arms. It proved to be his last fight.