If they were, we fixed the wrong ones! Bartley Gorman was the most famous bareknuckle fighter of modern times. Staffordshire-based bareknuckle fighter Bartley Gorman did his way - in his own words, "it is a title earned in blood, snot, sweat and gore".Bartley Gorman was the most famous bareknuckle fighter of modern times. He was less known than Adams and Hollingsworth so why fix that one? Remember at this point, nobody had heard of Lenny Mclean so why would I insist on dodgy gloves? He was a lovely man with a wicked sense of humour but a streak of melancholy that never left him. He says in his book he challenged me to fight him for the first time after I had beaten Lou Yates. He is a scumbag and scum should keep their filthy mouths shut! If he was the King of the gypsies why didn’t he cop the hump with Donny Adams using his title without asking?
The Number one organised crime site Well, I fought Paddock next in my last ever fight and couldn’t knock him out then so I don’t see how I done it that time (laughs) Mclean couldn’t knock Paddock out either & lost a very one sided fight with Kevin. Oh dear, two bad nights for Terry Hollingsworth. It really was a very one-sided fight and everyone who was there will tell you that. When I fought Yates I had already fought Mclean 3 times. If I knew then what I know now about what he is I would have killed him stone dead! Fact is, I didn’t need an excuse with the size and age difference it was like Lennox v Nigel Benn !! There are valid reasons why I lost to Mclean in the second and third fight and I swear they are true. ), Bartley settled to build his own house on the outskirts of Uttoxeter and for the remaining 10 years, was able to watch the rise of the next breed of gypsy fighters.In January 2002, hundreds of gypsies from across the country came to the town for his funeral after he died from liver cancer, aged 57.Gorman's biography 'King of the Gypsies', written with the help of Peter Walsh, was completed just before Gorman's death.Gorman tells an uncompromising but touching story of a man compelled by the weight of his own violent family history to fight and suffer pain.The book reveals that the red-haired gypsy boy Bartley Gorman was only nine years old when he first witnessed the misery that violence brings.Bartley saw his passive uncle killed before his very eyes by one punch thrown by a rogue showman.In fact, much of the book is taken up with tales of brutal fights at fairs, racecourses, bars - anywhere travelling men met, argued and brawled.The book 'King of the Gypsies' is published by Milo Books.For gypsies, bareknuckle fighting was seen as a legitimate and acceptable sport: a form of expression.As young boys today seek to emulate the skills of David Beckham, young gypsy boys would dream of being the champion boxer of their patch.The biography even reveals the secret lineage of the gypsy champions and unveils unique photographs of the top fighting men of today.Peter Walsh, who got to know Bartley during the last 18 months of his life, sums him up:"He was a unique man, a one-off. Surely, even people who don’t like me can work that one out. I moved upstairs and smashed him in the face… WALLOP, that shut him up! The night came and after a delay for the gloves change over, we were at each other. That’s not disrespect just truth….. Who did he fight then? He was injured and I have said before it was only that injury that allowed me to win. But look what happened. He would have mullered me otherwise. I can’t speak for the Bartley Gorman fella as I don’t know who he was. I tell you this much. Financially fixing fights doesn’t make sense.