BoxRec

Just reading a snippet about this fight that was cancelled. I think a young f warren was the promotor of the bill. Not sure if tbe bill went ahead or was the Sykes fight going to be the main event.

Any one know more about tbe story?

Please let this thread snowball like we know it can...

Stevieb8006 wrote:Please let this thread snowball like we know it can...

History is interesting. Especially when characters are involved. Dont know anything about Mclean at all except what ive read in threads on here. And we all know about Paul Sykes. Sykes was a very interesting person. Whether he could have made a decent heavyweight i dont know but he was a character indeed.

Always interesting when bits come out about his life and id love to have sat with him over a pint and listen to all his talk and stories. Very memerable person in boxing and outside of the ring.

mimmy123 wrote:

Stevieb8006 wrote:Please let this thread snowball like we know it can...

id love to have sat with him over a pint

From what I've read about him, that's about the worst thing you could do.

remember seeing the outtakes from a short interview sykes did for the Calendar news show, they had to do loads of retakes cos sykes couldn't string together a sentence without saying fcuk 10 times !!

crusader wrote:

mimmy123 wrote:

Stevieb8006 wrote:Please let this thread snowball like we know it can...

id love to have sat with him over a pint

From what I've read about him, that's about the worst thing you could do.

Maybe later in life when the firewater had taken effect you might be right.

I think its also true he was Larry Holmes sparring partner at some stage.

Both were pretty much just Big Tough guys. Talked a big game and could beat on drunks and other untrained punks. Sykes did have an undistinguised stint as a pro, more hype than anything. I think his conditioning would give him the edge over the Gov'ner.

mimmy123 wrote:

Stevieb8006 wrote:Please let this thread snowball like we know it can...

id love to have sat with him over a pint and listen to all his talk and stories

awful man. Look at his kids. Both lifers i believe

Stevieb8006 wrote:

mimmy123 wrote:

Stevieb8006 wrote:Please let this thread snowball like we know it can...

id love to have sat with him over a pint and listen to all his talk and stories

awful man. Look at his kids. Both lifers i believe

One of his son's has just been released from prison.

mimmy123 wrote:

Stevieb8006 wrote:

mimmy123 wrote:
id love to have sat with him over a pint and listen to all his talk and stories

awful man. Look at his kids. Both lifers i believe

One of his son's has just been released from prison.

Winning

i reckon paul would of beat lenny.

two tough men, but paul was the more complete out of the two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rii5yJ44_Bo

Dennis Flint's desk, priceless.

paul sykes was comical

didn't say he wasn't violent nasty or unpredictable just saying i find him comical

and men that knew him say that he also use to stop alot of people from being tormented and would punch people for giving others stick if the other lad clearly wasn't up to much when it came to standing up for himself.

he was a mix of good and evil

mercman wrote:He was also a violent, unpredictable and very nasty piece of work who damaged virtually everyone around him.

It turned my stomach the way he spoke to his kids. Both then and his wife were clearly terrified of him. His wedding was bizarre.

mercman wrote:

Oiky wrote:didn't say he wasn't violent nasty or unpredictable just saying i find him comical

and men that knew him say that he also use to stop alot of people from being tormented and would punch people for giving others stick if the other lad clearly wasn't up to much when it came to standing up for himself.

he was a mix of good and evil

And I never said he wasn't comical.

His wit is, however, far more enjoyable via the internet than it was in reality - because there's no doubt that his violence and bullying often extended to the weak and the vulnerable. Contract beatings, protection rackets, sexual exploitation, random assaults. He was no knight in shining armor.

yeah no doubt he was spiteful

however - sykes was a trained fighter and lenny was an untrained thug - by my reckoning and by queensbury rules sykes wins early

misterpunch wrote:however - sykes was a trained fighter and lenny was an untrained thug - by my reckoning and by queensbury rules sykes wins early

yeah, whatever sykes was or wasn't, the man could box and he would of bust lenny

mercman wrote:

Oiky wrote:

misterpunch wrote:however - sykes was a trained fighter and lenny was an untrained thug - by my reckoning and by queensbury rules sykes wins early

yeah, whatever sykes was or wasn't, the man could box and he would of bust lenny

True. But, then again, any decent heavyweight boxer should have beaten McLean, assuming we're talking about a fight under Queeensbury rules. Look what Cliff Fields did to him.

It would, however, have been interesting to see how Sykes would have done had he been able to turn professional earlier than he did. He was meant to be turning pro in '73 (when Sykes was having one of his rare periods of freedom and when he sparred Frazier) but was refused a license to box. Sykes would have been about 26 or 27 then. He would have been an exciting prospect and there would have been less reason to rush him, as happened when he eventually turned professional some five years later.

There was also talk of Yancey Durham taking Sykes over to fight in the States when he was refused a license over here but Durham had a stroke and died, so obviously that never happened. Then Sykes was sent down for another stretch and by the time he came back his moment had passed really.

Yes i think Sykes was better than his record suggests but I doubt he could've stayed out of trouble, he was a wrong 'un alright, mentally unstable, violent and an alcoholic, not a good mix. I think he would've ended up in prison in America had he gone out there.

still what goes around comes around eh? cos he looks a right fkin state now.

mercman wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:still what goes around comes around eh? cos he looks a right fkin state now.

Mate - Paul Sykes has been dead for about 5 or 6 years now.

haha really. who was the dude you uploaded a pic of recently, former hardman from yorkshire who's hit the skids, i could swear it was Sykes...?

9 years dead actually

mercman wrote:

Counter-puncher wrote:

mercman wrote:
Mate - Paul Sykes has been dead for about 5 or 6 years now.

haha really. who was the dude you uploaded a pic of recently, former hardman from yorkshire who's hit the skids, i could swear it was Sykes...?

Might have been an old picture because Sykes is definitely dead. He died as a destitute alcoholic a few years ago, basically he was living rough in Wakefield city centre - being pissed on, set alight and abused by gangs of local kids who baited and tormented him to death.

it was him though? do you remember the picture? was it you or palooka? i coulda sworn it was a recent or new-ish picture, the one i am thinking about... anyways...

Sykes was due to box McLean but few days before he was involved in scrap outside the Cherry Tree pub in Leeds. Really rough pub in a rough area (Harehills, Leeds 9) and the doorman was self styled 'Hardest Man in Leeds' Terry Mitchell.

Two versions of the event exist:

Version one (Sykes and supporters) was attacked by FOUR doorman (one being the aforementioned Mitchell) Sykes was of course beating all four with ease but Mitchell employed the use of a club to subdue Sykes.

Version two (Mitchell and supporters) Mitchell thrashed Sykes single handed WITHOUT the use of a club.

Neither man are known for having much grasp of reality so the truth is probably somewhere in between.

Sykes ended up with a cut over his eyed cancelling the fight with McClean, Kevin Paddock a tubby little Middleweight substituted for Sykes and easily outpointed McClean over eight rounds (McClean later claimed he wasn't 'motivated' after Sykes withdrawal)

I suspect Sykes would have humiliated McClean with some ease?



McClean, Sykes, Isaac Tshaka (formerly Ishaq Hussein, formerly Leroy Timothy) Eddie Neilsen, a young and somewhat smug looking allegedly. Sykes, Hussein, Neilsen formerly BBBoC 'stars' were regarded as 'big name signings' for Warren who was hoping to launch his organisation (the NBC) as a serious competitor to the BBBoC.

Kevin Paddock's record (BBBoC) http://boxrec.com/boxer/96657

Sykes never sparred with Larry Holmes, shortly after Holmes had beaten Ken Norton for the WBC title Don King took Holmes on a 'whistle stop' tour in an attempt to raise his profile (being virtually unknown before the Norton win) When Holmes and King visited London Sykes turned up at the press conference and issued a challenge to Holmes.