Paul Sykes... where is he now?...

[Noxy]

The documentary is great, I’ve watched it loads of times now. Dennis Flint’s beautiful Rolls Royce desk was by far the highlight, especially as he called out Sykes on his drinking whilst sat behind it. And that wedding scene is just incredible, never seen anything like it. Imagine being a guest at that

Agreed, that part was gold. You see his mansion too. Flint wasn’t short of a few quid.

[Coco]

Just to keep the comments fair and unbiased, there are quite a lot of people in the book who say he was a nice guy, never did anything to me, was always polite in my company etc etc

There’s a great interview with Nick Manners the Leeds Light heavyweight about when he sparked Paul Sykes out at Elland Road whilst warming up for his bout on the undercard of Wharton v Castro Smith

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

[jonp]

I have a copy of Jamie Boyle’s second book on Paul Sykes called “Unfinished Agony” and it quotes quite a few ex boxers thoughts on Paul Sykes

Glen McCrory
“ I’m not condoning what Paul got up to or what he did in his life, in all honesty I thought he came across as a bully and that he tried to be a tough guy constantly. My mood at that time though was that I wasn’t going to take any crap from anyone, but he backed down and started being friendly so we didn’t have a problem.
I have nothing bad to say about Paul but I’ve got nothing positive to say about him either and if I could sum Paul up in one word then that word would have to be Bully. Paul was a bully just like Mike Tyson and when you stand up to people like them they don’t like it one bit. My overall thought was that Paul Sykes was a bully and I had to put him back in his place.“


John L Gardner
“ I only ever met Paul at the weigh in and when I bashed him up in the ring, they were the only 2 times I was ever in his company but he was forever sending me messages through people to tell me this and to call me that etc. Paul sent me a lot of messages in the early 90’s but like I said I told him my answer was simply that I’d beat him once and I didn’t need to beat him again. In my opinion, I would sum Paul Sykes up by saying he was a total idiot! I have no sympathy for the man’s eventual demise as I think he brought it on himself my philosophy is if you live by the sword then you’ll die by the sword.”

Alex Morrison
“ Tommy asked me around 1990 could Paul come up to Glasgow to promote his book Sweet Agony. I planned a book promotion event for him in the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow. When Paul arrived he was pure drunk and made an arsehole of himself. Glasgow is not the place to turn up misbehaving you could get yourself into trouble especially not knowing the area. I told him to get out and chased him; he never even made it through the front doors. Luckily for Paul, Tommy Miller asked a friend of his from Newcastle to give Paul a lift back home. Just another example of Paul shooting himself in the foot.”

Peter Fury
“ One of the stories was that Paul used to mess with vulnerable people in prison. From what I saw of Paul in prison all the rumours were true, Paul was a sexual deviant. I don’t tell lies, my Christian faith won’t allow it and I only speak the truth. The whole prison system was absolutely terrified of him and he was wild and he could have a fight so he was the worst kind. It didn’t matter if you were the hardest man on the planet…Paul Sykes would do you damage! I saw it with my own eyes people were civil to him but you could tell by their body language they couldn’t wait to get away from him. Paul Sykes was an absolute menace and a one off. The people who attacked him in later years when he was old and frail, these people wouldn’t have even looked at him sideways back in the day. Paul Sykes didn’t value anybody and he used to fight every single day in prison. The screws just couldn’t keep control over him and there were many times that you’d hear that Paul had been taken down to the block for flattening someone. Paul should have really been sectioned it would have been kinder on everyone.
Paul and I used to see each other a lot in prison and he knew me from our boxing past but truth be told, the things I saw and heard, he wasn’t my cup of tea, for example, the things he was doing in there I don’t abide with. When you’re in the system although you’re in different jails its one big system. Everybody else knows what you’re doing and what’s going on it doesn’t matter what penal system you went to the same story was everywhere and the stories I’m telling you are true because I was in that system. Paul was bi sexual for sure. What I will say for the record is this, don’t let anybody put that fella down because he could fight in his day and he didn’t give a poo about anybody and I’m telling you now from my time in prison with him nobody would ever look up and say something to Paul Sykes’ face. This man was seriously not to be messed with and he was to be avoided at all costs if possible. I’m sorry to hear that he ended up in the way he did because it wasn’t good. Tommy Miller (god rest him) said to me one day in the gym “Peter that man had more talent than you’ve ever seen” Tommy used to get really frustrated even talking about him years later, he would just not train like a fighter should.“

What Peter Fury says rings true I know someone whos a bit older and done a fair bit of jail who can really have a scrap and he said Sykes was a machine in a scrap,total horrible bastard but when it came down to a fist fight he said none of the really hard men in jail including some of those who have wrote books etc would last with him.
Imagine that nightmare usualy horrible bullies have the weakness that they cant really have a good scrap and thats they are how they are,This fornicator not only was a bully and a deviant he could really have a fight and loved having a fight.

[jonp]

Just to keep the comments fair and unbiased, there are quite a lot of people in the book who say he was a nice guy, never did anything to me, was always polite in my company etc etc

There’s a great interview with Nick Manners the Leeds Light heavyweight about when he sparked Paul Sykes out at Elland Road whilst warming up for his bout on the undercard of Wharton v Castro Smith

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

I spoke to nick about that and its true ,But even nick said its nothing to talk about as he was drunk and older.Fair play to Nick he never tried to gain any brownie points from chinning him.He even said to me when he was a youngster in the big house nobody would say a thing to sykes he was that feared.

[THEBUTCH]

It doesn't excuse what Sykes has done in his life, but the fact remains he challenged for the British title against a 29-1 champion and put in a solid challenge.

He took a complete thumping but gave it a good go and although he turned his back and the ref halted the contest, he'd stood up to plenty of stick up to that point.

[Coco]

Just to keep the comments fair and unbiased, there are quite a lot of people in the book who say he was a nice guy, never did anything to me, was always polite in my company etc etc

There’s a great interview with Nick Manners the Leeds Light heavyweight about when he sparked Paul Sykes out at Elland Road whilst warming up for his bout on the undercard of Wharton v Castro Smith

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

I spoke to nick about that and its true ,But even nick said its nothing to talk about as he was drunk and older.Fair play to Nick he never tried to gain any brownie points from chinning him.He even said to me when he was a youngster in the big house nobody would say a thing to sykes he was that feared.

For someone like Peter Fury to say that he was uncontrollable and nobody would even look at him the wrong way inside means something.

However I couldn't give a monkeys how dangerous he was, being nice goes a long way in life, being or attempting to be like him leads to deep unhappiness

[johnty1888]

Just to keep the comments fair and unbiased, there are quite a lot of people in the book who say he was a nice guy, never did anything to me, was always polite in my company etc etc

There’s a great interview with Nick Manners the Leeds Light heavyweight about when he sparked Paul Sykes out at Elland Road whilst warming up for his bout on the undercard of Wharton v Castro Smith

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

From Nick Manners interview in the book


“ So, I’ve started to warm up and focus on my fight with Lee Crocker and I’m shadowboxing and going through a boxer’s usual rigmarole. I also used to watch the fights before me and I was in the tunnel watching the fighting when suddenly I felt the atmosphere change immediately and I looked around and saw all the security guards scattering and getting out of the way, then I saw this rather large figure coming towards me. I’m with Jason Barker from Sheffield who was a former fighter, he was also known as Jason “Pretty Boy” Barker. Paul walks down and we’re thinking he was coming to give us some words of encouragement, I remember the BBC, Frank Bruno and all kinds of stars were there that night, well Paul walks up to us and says “ are you both fighters?” which we tell him we are, he then goes right up to Jason Barkers face, looks him right in the eyes and says “I’d rather fornicate you then fight you” we looked at each other me and Jason and we just moved away from him. They weren’t the type of words you wanted to hear 30 minutes before a fight. I went back to my changing room thinking I don’t want to be anywhere near that man, fornicate that! I was alone in the room gathering my thoughts and getting into the zone mentally then suddenly “BOOM” the door flies open and in walks Paul Sykes, he shouts “here son I’ve seen you box before” to be honest I think he had me mixed up with Denzil Browne. So he starts saying he’d seen me box but that I needed to do this better and that better and I needed to remember to do this etc. etc. etc. then he starts shadow boxing in my face and letting shots go, I’ve got a massage table in my changing room and I’m going backwards around it and he’s still following me giving out all this advice but at the same time he is still throwing heavy shots. He wasn’t being nasty then but I had to say “look Terry O’Neill is my coach and he’ll be here any minute Paul ready to pad me and get me ready” I don’t think he liked me saying that and I could tell he had had a drink so he starts again but more of this shadow boxing. Well, I tell you the advice was still coming and I was starting to get a bit pissed off! To be honest he must have chased me around the table at least 3 times. Then something just crept into my head, I started asking myself “are you bottling it Nick” I’m thinking I’m about to go out there and be a warrior and this guy is chasing me around the table, it really wasn’t ideal preparation to go and face a guy who had already beat my older brother. I just refused to have this guy ruining my time to shine on the big stage. So, I’ve taken a step back and I’ve said to him “Listen, I’m going to stand still now so you need to stop throwing punches Paul or you’re going to connect and I’m not having it” with me saying that he kept throwing punches and shouting angry instructions and then I just totally snapped and banged him with a left hook and down he went, straight to sleep, he was totally out cold. Now panic sets in with me thinking I’ve killed him, then I start worrying I haven’t killed him and he’s going to wake up any second and kill me! This is Paul Sykes we’re talking about here put yourself in my shoes. It’s easy throwing a punch and banging someone out but it’s the consequences afterwards that were starting to worry me. The first thing I did when I stopped panicking was I grabbed him by his Mac and put him under the shower on full blast, he started to slowly come around but he was very groggy, he made a loud groan and said “good shot that kid” then he got himself together and went back into the crowd. I never saw him again but I tell you what he shouted the loudest for me that night and I could hear his voice above all the others whilst I was fighting. A few people told me he was shouting some racist abuse but I never heard any of that. I won that night in 21 seconds of the first round by KO so that was my second KO of the night. What I will say about Paul Sykes was fair play to the guy because there were never any comebacks after our altercation in the dressing room, he just let it go. I still have a scar on my left hand from that eventful evening. I went to get a tetanus after it too just in case.”

[Coco]

Just to keep the comments fair and unbiased, there are quite a lot of people in the book who say he was a nice guy, never did anything to me, was always polite in my company etc etc

There’s a great interview with Nick Manners the Leeds Light heavyweight about when he sparked Paul Sykes out at Elland Road whilst warming up for his bout on the undercard of Wharton v Castro Smith

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

From Nick Manners interview in the book


“ So, I’ve started to warm up and focus on my fight with Lee Crocker and I’m shadowboxing and going through a boxer’s usual rigmarole. I also used to watch the fights before me and I was in the tunnel watching the fighting when suddenly I felt the atmosphere change immediately and I looked around and saw all the security guards scattering and getting out of the way, then I saw this rather large figure coming towards me. I’m with Jason Barker from Sheffield who was a former fighter, he was also known as Jason “Pretty Boy” Barker. Paul walks down and we’re thinking he was coming to give us some words of encouragement, I remember the BBC, Frank Bruno and all kinds of stars were there that night, well Paul walks up to us and says “ are you both fighters?” which we tell him we are, he then goes right up to Jason Barkers face, looks him right in the eyes and says “I’d rather fornicate you then fight you” we looked at each other me and Jason and we just moved away from him. They weren’t the type of words you wanted to hear 30 minutes before a fight. I went back to my changing room thinking I don’t want to be anywhere near that man, fornicate that! I was alone in the room gathering my thoughts and getting into the zone mentally then suddenly “BOOM” the door flies open and in walks Paul Sykes, he shouts “here son I’ve seen you box before” to be honest I think he had me mixed up with Denzil Browne. So he starts saying he’d seen me box but that I needed to do this better and that better and I needed to remember to do this etc. etc. etc. then he starts shadow boxing in my face and letting shots go, I’ve got a massage table in my changing room and I’m going backwards around it and he’s still following me giving out all this advice but at the same time he is still throwing heavy shots. He wasn’t being nasty then but I had to say “look Terry O’Neill is my coach and he’ll be here any minute Paul ready to pad me and get me ready” I don’t think he liked me saying that and I could tell he had had a drink so he starts again but more of this shadow boxing. Well, I tell you the advice was still coming and I was starting to get a bit pissed off! To be honest he must have chased me around the table at least 3 times. Then something just crept into my head, I started asking myself “are you bottling it Nick” I’m thinking I’m about to go out there and be a warrior and this guy is chasing me around the table, it really wasn’t ideal preparation to go and face a guy who had already beat my older brother. I just refused to have this guy ruining my time to shine on the big stage. So, I’ve taken a step back and I’ve said to him “Listen, I’m going to stand still now so you need to stop throwing punches Paul or you’re going to connect and I’m not having it” with me saying that he kept throwing punches and shouting angry instructions and then I just totally snapped and banged him with a left hook and down he went, straight to sleep, he was totally out cold. Now panic sets in with me thinking I’ve killed him, then I start worrying I haven’t killed him and he’s going to wake up any second and kill me! This is Paul Sykes we’re talking about here put yourself in my shoes. It’s easy throwing a punch and banging someone out but it’s the consequences afterwards that were starting to worry me. The first thing I did when I stopped panicking was I grabbed him by his Mac and put him under the shower on full blast, he started to slowly come around but he was very groggy, he made a loud groan and said “good shot that kid” then he got himself together and went back into the crowd. I never saw him again but I tell you what he shouted the loudest for me that night and I could hear his voice above all the others whilst I was fighting. A few people told me he was shouting some racist abuse but I never heard any of that. I won that night in 21 seconds of the first round by KO so that was my second KO of the night. What I will say about Paul Sykes was fair play to the guy because there were never any comebacks after our altercation in the dressing room, he just let it go. I still have a scar on my left hand from that eventful evening. I went to get a tetanus after it too just in case.”

Haha funny story

[high tower 1]

Brilliant story. He sounds like he’d fit in well at a allegedly show

[jonp]

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

I spoke to nick about that and its true ,But even nick said its nothing to talk about as he was drunk and older.Fair play to Nick he never tried to gain any brownie points from chinning him.He even said to me when he was a youngster in the big house nobody would say a thing to sykes he was that feared.

For someone like Peter Fury to say that he was uncontrollable and nobody would even look at him the wrong way inside means something.

However I couldn't give a monkeys how dangerous he was, being nice goes a long way in life, being or attempting to be like him leads to deep unhappiness

The unhappiness was that deep it went through another generation and ruined his kids. Its nuts because when someone is a wrong un in the way they carry on people always assume theyll get a taste of there own medicine when they are inside.Sykes thrived in there and actualy give it out even more.It took till he was old and broken before any karma was given back to him. I think he was in the right era to carry on like this iv got no doubt nowadays as guna and knife has become so common someone would have killed him somewhere along the line.

[THEBUTCH]

Fair play to Nick Manners

[high tower 1]

Didn’t he start managing a youth club in the documentary ? Back in the days before child protection.

[Noxy]

Fair play to Nick Manners

Paul tried to Syke him out. Nick decided to teach him some Manners.

[Controversial]

There was meant to be a film in production about Sykes, not heard anymore about it though

[The Young One]

I'm from Wakefield. Sykes was a bit of a local bogeyman when I was growing up. People were wary of him, but the general opinion was that he was just a small time thug and loser, which is how he should rightfully be remembered.

I'm also from Wakefield and this is 100% correct.

[MasterG]

My lad lives in Wakey and his partner said kids used to set him on fire and piss on him towards the end.

[Counter-puncher]

Tell us the the Manners story, he was a tough nut.

From Nick Manners interview in the book


“ So, I’ve started to warm up and focus on my fight with Lee Crocker and I’m shadowboxing and going through a boxer’s usual rigmarole. I also used to watch the fights before me and I was in the tunnel watching the fighting when suddenly I felt the atmosphere change immediately and I looked around and saw all the security guards scattering and getting out of the way, then I saw this rather large figure coming towards me. I’m with Jason Barker from Sheffield who was a former fighter, he was also known as Jason “Pretty Boy” Barker. Paul walks down and we’re thinking he was coming to give us some words of encouragement, I remember the BBC, Frank Bruno and all kinds of stars were there that night, well Paul walks up to us and says “ are you both fighters?” which we tell him we are, he then goes right up to Jason Barkers face, looks him right in the eyes and says “I’d rather fornicate you then fight you” we looked at each other me and Jason and we just moved away from him. They weren’t the type of words you wanted to hear 30 minutes before a fight. I went back to my changing room thinking I don’t want to be anywhere near that man, fornicate that! I was alone in the room gathering my thoughts and getting into the zone mentally then suddenly “BOOM” the door flies open and in walks Paul Sykes, he shouts “here son I’ve seen you box before” to be honest I think he had me mixed up with Denzil Browne. So he starts saying he’d seen me box but that I needed to do this better and that better and I needed to remember to do this etc. etc. etc. then he starts shadow boxing in my face and letting shots go, I’ve got a massage table in my changing room and I’m going backwards around it and he’s still following me giving out all this advice but at the same time he is still throwing heavy shots. He wasn’t being nasty then but I had to say “look Terry O’Neill is my coach and he’ll be here any minute Paul ready to pad me and get me ready” I don’t think he liked me saying that and I could tell he had had a drink so he starts again but more of this shadow boxing. Well, I tell you the advice was still coming and I was starting to get a bit pissed off! To be honest he must have chased me around the table at least 3 times. Then something just crept into my head, I started asking myself “are you bottling it Nick” I’m thinking I’m about to go out there and be a warrior and this guy is chasing me around the table, it really wasn’t ideal preparation to go and face a guy who had already beat my older brother. I just refused to have this guy ruining my time to shine on the big stage. So, I’ve taken a step back and I’ve said to him “Listen, I’m going to stand still now so you need to stop throwing punches Paul or you’re going to connect and I’m not having it” with me saying that he kept throwing punches and shouting angry instructions and then I just totally snapped and banged him with a left hook and down he went, straight to sleep, he was totally out cold. Now panic sets in with me thinking I’ve killed him, then I start worrying I haven’t killed him and he’s going to wake up any second and kill me! This is Paul Sykes we’re talking about here put yourself in my shoes. It’s easy throwing a punch and banging someone out but it’s the consequences afterwards that were starting to worry me. The first thing I did when I stopped panicking was I grabbed him by his Mac and put him under the shower on full blast, he started to slowly come around but he was very groggy, he made a loud groan and said “good shot that kid” then he got himself together and went back into the crowd. I never saw him again but I tell you what he shouted the loudest for me that night and I could hear his voice above all the others whilst I was fighting. A few people told me he was shouting some racist abuse but I never heard any of that. I won that night in 21 seconds of the first round by KO so that was my second KO of the night. What I will say about Paul Sykes was fair play to the guy because there were never any comebacks after our altercation in the dressing room, he just let it go. I still have a scar on my left hand from that eventful evening. I went to get a tetanus after it too just in case.”

Haha funny story

fantastic story on several levels

[bennie]

There is annoyingly brief footage of Sykes sparring Joe Frazier in 1973 for Frazier's clash with Joe Bugner at Earls Court. What immediately struck me is that Joe is completely pulling his punches, just placing the left hooks.

[chiggsy]

Interesting reading. Sykes sounded like a complete scumbag and it says a lot that no one seems to had a nice word to say about him. I wonder if him and Bronson ever crossed paths, can you imagine if that kicked off!!

.

What Bronson thinks in the book

“ I liked Paul a lot he was a proper Mans Man and tough as old boots. He just had a lot of bad luck in life, wrong place, wrong time. A great fighter, super fit and strong, a natural Heavyweight and not forgetting a total prison legend. He’s in my book “Legends” I always give him a mention in my books, always will.”

Thank you. Says it all really, two peas in a pod.

Yea bronsons as nutty as squirrel shit and i dont mean that in a hard man/gangster way i mean he should be sectioned.

[Cyclops]

What Bronson thinks in the book

“ I liked Paul a lot he was a proper Mans Man and tough as old boots. He just had a lot of bad luck in life, wrong place, wrong time. A great fighter, super fit and strong, a natural Heavyweight and not forgetting a total prison legend. He’s in my book “Legends” I always give him a mention in my books, always will.”

Thank you. Says it all really, two peas in a pod.

Yea bronsons as nutty as squirrel poo and i dont mean that in a hard man/gangster way i mean he should be sectioned.

Pointless though really, isn't it? Sectioned so that they have to go in every day and pin him and inject him with medication because he refuses to take it and is always kicking off? It's not like he's treatable, he'd just end up falling asleep in his soup and even then he'd still be trying to hurt people. At least in his current position he can still do his press ups and his drawings and write his shit books. People think 'sectioning' people will somehow make the problem disappear, but really it's moving the problem on to somebody else and instead of screws getting bashed up it's nurses. Leave him where he is.

[mickey1975]

I’ve been reliably told Bronson isn’t a threat to anyone except himself. He darent go on a main wing. Kicks off in the block so he’s kept there.

[veriton]

good to see the legend of sykes kept alive. me and my mates used to watch that documentary all the time with a smoke and a beer. its absolutely comedy gold, he's the yorkshire borat going around punching sharks.

[MasterG]

good to see the legend of sykes kept alive. me and my mates used to watch that documentary all the time with a smoke and a beer. its absolutely comedy gold, he's the yorkshire borat going around punching sharks.

Sykes is a Yorkshire Urban Legend. just like the Essex Boys of Essex, The yorkshire Ripper, Susan Boyle of Scotland

[high tower 1]

Anyone here know what Dennis Flint’s business was ? I’m going to go out in a limb and say it was used motors

[Noxy]

Anyone here know what Dennis Flint’s business was ? I’m going to go out in a limb and say it was used motors

Designer furniture?