Sykes added: “I like being drunk. I've never had any complaints about being drunk if I have been drunk. I still manage to keep my wits about me although I don't remember what I have done. But it runs in the family anyway.” Excellent read very informative of the boxing world, would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre One of the most bizarre stories Sykes enjoyed to tell was his apparent encounters with sharks during his travelling days.

Book tells story of boxer jailed in Blackpool

While jailed for violence, Sykes spent his time passing an Open University degree in Physical Sciences and earning the Arthur Koestler prize for prison literature. He left behind children - including Paul Leighton Sykes and Michael Sharp who are serving life sentences for murder. And former Governor of Hull Prison, Philip Wheatley, described Sykes as a “short tempered” lag who assaulted staff “on a number of occasions”.Despite believing his drinking was harmless, he went on to be banned from Wakefield city centre for his anti-social behaviour. Other careers And in the Paul Sykes: At Large documentary, the tension between Sykes and his father was often explored. Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 293pp., yellow pictorial laminated wrappers. Crease in upper cover, but a very good copy. Notorious memoir of a violent criminal and, briefly, professional boxer. Sykes was a drunken thug who spent much of his life in prison, but his book is nevertheless the work of a sensitive and intelligent man. Uncommon: COPAC lists just the Bodleian copy; OCLC finds five more in provincial UK libraries. Despite disparate datings (1990, 1991, 1993) this seems to be the sole edition. An enjoyable read until he says he has no problem having sex with a child and then describes doing it! He was handed his first pair of boxing gloves aged four by his dad who had spent 10 years in the army before ironically becoming a prison officer.

hero boxer - prison to punching Wild life of boozy cult hero boxer - prison to punching

But Wilson ended up badly hurt in hospital where it took him one month to recover from the bashing. In March this year, The Gazette told how a Teesside author had taken an uncompromising look at the life of Paul Sykes - a professional boxer, violent criminal and notorious jailbird. It’s all the same machine and I didn’t realise I had such a good brain until I took the wraps off and started using it. I've got a brilliant brain.” The life of an infamous underworld debt collector who operated in Teesside is being adapted into a film.He said: “I've altered the physical side to the intellectual and academic side. Using my brain instead of my body. Sykes was known for many things during his turbulent life - including being a professional heavyweight boxer, a prison hard nut, an author and an intimidating debt collector. That’s because Bronson wrote in his book, Legends: “A notorious hard man from Yorkshire, a fighting man in every sense.