# Paul Sykes (boxer)
**Paul Sykes** (23 May 1946 – 7 March 2007) was a British heavyweight boxer from [Wakefield](https://www.edgepedia.org/wakefield), Yorkshire, who in a professional career of only ten bouts fought John L Gardner for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles in 1979, and who was equally known as a record-setting weightlifter, an award-winning prison writer, and one of the most difficult prisoners in the British system.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) • [2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1946; 7 March 2007, aged 60, from pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) |
| Physical profile | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in), orthodox stance, heavyweight; about 16 stone at his peak[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) • [3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html) |
| Professional record | 10 bouts: 6 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw; debut 20 February 1978[2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416) |
| Title challenge | Lost to John L Gardner by technical knockout in round six at the Empire Pool, Wembley, on 26 June 1979, for the BBBofC British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles[2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416) • [4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/) |
| Weightlifting | British amateur record holder, deep knee bend of 500 lbs[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) |
| Writing | Memoir *Sweet Agony*, written in prison, won the Arthur Koestler Literary Award in 1988; first published in 1990[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) • [5](https://www.warcrypress.co.uk/blogs/news/the-return-of-sweet-agony-2017-re-issue-1) |
| Imprisonment | By 1990, aged 44, he had spent 21 of 26 years in prison and been transferred 25 times[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) |
## Early life and amateur boxing
Sykes was born in 1946, the only son of Walter Sykes and Betty Barlow, and grew up in Wakefield, Yorkshire.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) He began boxing at the age of seven and showed considerable promise as an amateur, but his early career was repeatedly interrupted by prison sentences.[4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/) He boxed at the [Robin Hood](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-hood), White Rose, and Thorpe amateur clubs out of Wakefield.[7](https://realcombatmedia.com/2017/04/rcm-historical-boxing-strange-case-heavyweight-paul-sykes-britains-hardest-prisoner/)
Even in prison he kept boxing. During the early 1970s, while serving a sentence at Walton Prison in Liverpool, he joined the Maple Leaf Amateur Boxing Club in Bootle on temporary release, which allowed him to represent the North-Western Counties amateur team.[4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/) • [8](https://britishboxingnews.co.uk/news/rear-view-mirror-paul-sykes-boxer/) In 1973 he reached the semi-finals of the Amateur Boxing Association heavyweight championships, losing to the eventual champion Garfield McEwan.[4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/) BoxRec records that he represented England and his county at every amateur level.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes)
## Professional career
Sykes turned professional in February 1978 at the age of 31, after his release from prison the previous year, with the British heavyweight title, then held by [Joe Bugner](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-bugner), as his stated target.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) His debut came on 20 February 1978, a corner-retirement win over Keith Steve Johnson at the Norfolk Gardens Hotel in Bradford.[2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416) • [4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/)
His early contests included two meetings with Neil Malpass for the Central Area heavyweight championship: on 20 March 1978 in Bradford, Malpass won after Sykes was disqualified in round seven, and on 18 July 1978 at Wakefield Theatre Club the two fought a ten-round draw.[9](https://boxinghistory.org.uk/areatitlebouts/british-boxing-area-title-bouts-1950-1979.pdf) Between these, Sykes scored knockout and technical knockout wins over Tommy Kiely, Neville Meade, and the American heavyweight [Dave Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-wilson), victories that demonstrated his punching power even as his disciplinary problems drew attention.[2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416) • [4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/) In his sixth fight, against David Wilson in October 1978, he continued hitting the dazed and unconscious Wilson as he draped over the ropes until the referee dragged him off.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) On 24 October 1978 he knocked out the Congolese heavyweight Lisimo Obutobe in six rounds at Blackpool Tower Circus, improving his record to five wins, one defeat, and one draw.[4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/)
**The Gardner fight.** Less than eight months after the [Blackpool](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackpool) contest, Sykes challenged John L Gardner for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight championships at the Empire Pool, Wembley, on 26 June 1979.[4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/) The match had built from a 1976 television documentary about Yorkshire's prisons, in which cameras filmed Sykes lifting weights and promising to win the British heavyweight title; the broadcast interview gave the improbable fight public momentum.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) Sykes entered with six wins from eight fights, while Gardner, guided by Terry Lawless and Mickey Duff, had lost once in 30.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) In the ring it was, in Steve Bunce's description, a savage mismatch: Gardner stopped Sykes in the sixth round, with Sykes turning away before the halt.[2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416) • [6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) Sykes fought once more, losing by knockout to Ngozika Ekwelum in Lagos on 29 March 1980, and never boxed professionally again.[2](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416) At one point he worked as a sparring partner for the world heavyweight champion [Leon Spinks](https://www.edgepedia.org/leon-spinks).[3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html)
## Prison, weightlifting, and education
Most of Sykes's prison sentences were for assaults, often on figures of authority, and his temper was fueled by a dangerous relationship with alcohol.[3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html) By 1990, when he was 44, he had spent 21 of 26 years in British jails and been transferred 25 times; BoxRec records 25 transfers in 20 years and 21 of 26 years served.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) • [1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) He was described as the most physically fit prisoner in British history and held the British amateur weightlifting record with a deep knee bend of 500 lbs.[7](https://realcombatmedia.com/2017/04/rcm-historical-boxing-strange-case-heavyweight-paul-sykes-britains-hardest-prisoner/) • [1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) Outside the ring he worked, in the manner of a fictional enforcer, as an effective debt collector.[7](https://realcombatmedia.com/2017/04/rcm-historical-boxing-strange-case-heavyweight-paul-sykes-britains-hardest-prisoner/)
He also studied in prison, earning a B.A. degree in Physical Sciences from the [Open University](https://www.edgepedia.org/open-university) in 1982.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes)
## Sweet Agony and later life
Sykes wrote his memoir *Sweet Agony* while in prison. It won the Arthur Koestler Literary Award in 1988 and was first published in 1990, after which it became a cult classic and collector's item; it was reissued in 2016 and again in 2017.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) • [5](https://www.warcrypress.co.uk/blogs/news/the-return-of-sweet-agony-2017-re-issue-1) • [3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html) The book centers on his brief professional career and its climax against Gardner, and is also, in the view of its reviewers, a study of a man bent on self-destruction.[3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html) He never wrote another book after his release.[3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html)
Television followed him throughout his life. After the 1976 prison documentary, a 1990 film, *Paul Sykes At Large*, portrayed him newly released from prison and returning to drinking.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) • [3](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html) A 2017 documentary, *Britain's Hardest Prisoner*, revisited his story.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) In June 1978 he had also appeared alongside the promoter [Don King](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-king) and the American heavyweight champion [Larry Holmes](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-holmes) at a London photo opportunity.[4](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/)
His final years were marked by alcoholism and declining circumstances; he was at times living rough, and in 2000 he was excluded from Wakefield city center.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) • [6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html) He died on 7 March 2007, aged 60, from pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) Both of his sons have served prison sentences for murder, a continuation of what one account calls the family cycle of incarceration.[1](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes) Steve Bunce, the boxing journalist and broadcaster who has written for The Independent since the 1980s, judged that Sykes remains a tiny footnote in British boxing history, but a reminder of what can go wrong when fighters issue bold challenges.[6](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html)
## References
1. [Paul Sykes, BoxRec](https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Paul_Sykes)
2. [Paul Sykes boxer, BoxerList](https://boxerlist.com/boxer/paul-sykes/18416)
3. [TBG Book Review: Sweet Agony, The Boxing Glove (2016)](https://theboxingglove.blogspot.com/2016/03/tbg-book-review-sweet-agony.html)
4. [Paul Sykes and His Troubled Connections to Blackpool, Blackpool Timeline](https://www.blackpooltimeline.co.uk/paul-sykes-and-his-troubled-connections-to-blackpool/)
5. [The Return of Sweet Agony (2017 Re-issue), WarCry Publishing](https://www.warcrypress.co.uk/blogs/news/the-return-of-sweet-agony-2017-re-issue-1)
6. [Bunce on Boxing: Sykes' bragging offers Brook a cautionary tale, The Independent (2012)](https://www.the-independent.com/sport/general/others/bunce-on-boxing-sykes-bragging-offers-brook-a-cautionary-tale-7578091.html)
7. [The Strange Case of Heavyweight Paul Sykes, Britain's Hardest Prisoner, Real Combat Media (2017)](https://realcombatmedia.com/2017/04/rcm-historical-boxing-strange-case-heavyweight-paul-sykes-britains-hardest-prisoner/)
8. [Rear View Mirror – Paul Sykes, British Boxing News](https://britishboxingnews.co.uk/news/rear-view-mirror-paul-sykes-boxer/)
9. [British Boxing Area Title Bouts 1950–1979, boxinghistory.org.uk](https://boxinghistory.org.uk/areatitlebouts/british-boxing-area-title-bouts-1950-1979.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Combat sports and professional wrestling › Boxing › British and Irish boxers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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