Larry Paul - RIP
Posted: 11 Oct 2017, 04:30
Britain's first ever British light-middleweight champion, Larry Paul, has passed away at the age of 65. Larry won the inaugural British title with an emphatic 10-round stoppage of Bobby Arthur in his native Wolverhampton in 1973 and defended with a 15-round decision over Kevin White. At this stage of Larry's career - unbeaten, classy and heavy handed - he looked set for greater things but then ran into Maurice Hope, who turned him back twice in British title fights, after which Larry found himself as an opponent on the European circuit, taking on men of the calibre of Rocky Mattioli, Alan Minter, Ayub Kalule, Jean Mateo and Frank Wissenbach. Larry Paul could really fight and might have made it but for that man Hope, who lifted the WBC light-middleweight title later in the 1970s.