| Paul Sykes | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Paul Sykes |
| Rated at | Heavyweight |
| Height | 6′ 3″ |
| Nationality | English |
| Born | 23 May 1946 Wakefield, England |
| Died | 7 March 2007 (aged 60) Wakefield, England |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 10 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Wins by KO | 4 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 1 |
Paul Sykes (23 May 1946 - 7 March 2007) was an English heavyweight boxer.
Contents |
Sykes was born 23 May 1946 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire to Walter Sykes and Betty Barlow. He grew up in the Lupset council estate and boxed at the Robin Hood and Thorpe Amateur Boxing Club.[1] He is also known to have boxed at White Rose Boxing Club, Thornes Wharfe, Wakefield where, amongst others, he flattened John Taylor.
Sykes's adult life was peppered with alcohol abuse, petty robberies, violent crime and prison. Nonetheless, he fought ten bouts as a professional boxer between 1978 and 1980, peaking in June 1979 when he lost a British and Commonwealth title fight to John L. Gardner, actually turning his back and walking away in the 6th round to end the beating Gardner was issuing him with. It was a grudge match with Sykes being hyped up. The so called Sykes big right hand never materialized. [[2] His career ended in March 1980 when African journeyman Ngozika Ekwelum knocked him out in the first round.
He was classed as one of the most difficult prisoners in the UK throughout the 1980s and spent over 20 years in prison for many violent acts against prison officers and police officers. He committed violent offences all over the North of England and was very well known to locals and the police in Leeds, Liverpool, Blackpool, Hull, and Rotherham, and also known and respected by the hard cases in London. Some apparently classed Paul Sykes as one of the hardest men in Great Britain during the 1980s, although his boxing career obviously had proved otherwise. One of his habits was to spit in a pint and steal it from its owner. One time in the late 1980s in a Wakefield pub near the prison he did this and was savagely beaten outside the pub when he left.
While in prison, he earned a BA in Physical Sciences from Open University and wrote a memoir, Sweet Agony. Following his release from HM Prison Hull in 1990, producer Roger Greenwood followed him in the course of filming the documentary Paul Sykes: At Large.[2]
In 2000, Wakefield Council secured an ASBO banning him from the city centre. He was arrested in August 2003 for violating the ban by making an appointment with an optician in Wakefield, but was released on his own recognizance.[3]
Sykes died on 7 March 2007 at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield. His cause of death was noted as pneumonia and liver cirrhosis.[1]