Paul Sykes (boxer)

Infobox Boxer
name = Paul Sykes


imagesize =
realname = Paul Sykes
nickname =
weight = Heavyweight
height = 6′ 3″
reach =
nationality = flagicon|England English
birth_date = Birth date|1946|05|23
birth_place = Wakefield, England
death_date = Death date and age|2007|03|07|1946|05|23
death_place = Wakefield, England
style = Orthodox
total = 10
wins = 6
losses = 3
draws = 1
no contests =
KO = 4

Paul Sykes (May 23, 1946-March 7, 2007) was an English heavyweight boxer.

Biography

Early life

Sykes was born May 23, 1946 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire the only son of Walter Sykes and Betty Barlow. He grew up in the Lupset council estate and boxed at the Robin Hood and Thorpe Amateur Boxing Club.cite news|first=Mark |last=Lavery |title=Famous Yorkshire boxer dies at 60 |url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Famous-Yorkshire-boxer-dies-at.2115950.jp |work=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=2007-03-17 ]

Career

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.cite news |title=Goodbye to a notorious character |url=http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/Goodbye-to-a-notorious-character.2126543.jp |work=Wakefield Express |date=2007-03-16 ] 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 Rotheram, and also known and respected by the hard cases in London. Many classed Paul Sykes as the hardest man in Great Britain during the 1980s. One of his habits was to spit in a pint and steal it from its owner. One time in the late 80's 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".

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. [cite news |first=Patrick |last=Mulchrone |title=Man without specs could not read ban |url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/archive/2003/08/09/man-without-specs-could-not-read-ban-89520-13271391/ |work=The Mirror |date=2003-08-09 ]

Marriage and children

Paul Sykes, Junior. Sykes Junior has been serving a life sentence for murder since November 2004 after stabbing 50-year-old Michael Gallagher to death at his home in Lupset, Wakefield.

Michael Sharp,(also known as Michael Doggett), another delinquant son of Wakefield's deceased former boxer Paul Sykes, has been charged with the murder of David Ward, a car dealer found dead in his home on Denby Dale Road in the early hours of 23rd Jan 2008. Mr Ward's body was found in a first floor bathroom by police officers responding to a report of a burglary in progress at his home. Mr Ward had been bound at the feet and hands, he died of head injuries. Michael Sharp had been armed with a knuckleduster, a claw hammer and a screwdriver he was arrested by police shortly after the discovery of Mr Ward's body trying to escape the area.

Death and afterward

Sykes passed away on March 7, 2007 at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield. His cause of death was noted as pneumonia and liver cirrhosis.

Published works

*"Sweet Agony" (1988) ISBN 185517006X

Awards

*1988: Koestler Award, "Sweet Agony"

References

External links

* [http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=022468&cat=boxer Boxer: Paul Sykes] , BoxRec.