Lenny McLean did a lot of door and security work in London (he was associated the Richardson family, organised crime). If this was any other fight, McLean would have been DQ'd and possibly banned for life. He achieved greater renown after this on the unlicensed circuit. Aged 12 he was 4ft 2 and weighed 8 stone. Lenny would then have to endure years of abuse from his step-father Jim. Professor Gresham, a pathologist who had worked on many high-profile murder cases, gave evidence that the stranglehold applied by the police probably caused the neck injuries which led to Humphries' death. McLean's pugilist reputation began in the East End of London in the late 1960s and was sustained through to the late 1980s. He died when Lenny was four years old. Later on that same year, Shaw met Paddy "Mad Dog" Mullins in another unlicensed bout. This was not just a fight for the fans, this was a personal feud. How a life without regret can be lived and exploited to ones own benefit. As you can imagine, this was a man surrounded by violence and boxing. Get in on the latest boxing conversations in our Forum and comment on articles. There was even a film, aptly named The Guv'nor, made about Lennys life seen through the eyes of his son Jamie. Leonard John McLean (9 April 1949 - 28 July 1998) was an English unlicensed boxer, bouncer, bodyguard, businessman and actor. His lead single "Blue Suede Shoes" failed to break into the top 200 and the album was subsequently scrapped. The actress is walking away after 14 years at the heart of River City following a dramatic showdown with gangster Lenny Murdoch. He was certainly a massive Ali fan and. At the time, McLean claimed that his gloves had been tampered with (as he also fought with boxing gloves too) and demanded a rematch. Nothing and dont start saying he could bite and do illegal stuff because tyson is no stranger to that as wel all know what he did in a boxing fight now imagine a street he wouldnt just bite the little piece of ear and get stopped by the referee he would bite your whole face and not stop in a street fight and lenny mclean wouldnt be able to catch tyson who was literally a killing war machine and his movement is unmatched to this day let alone that fatty, slow unfit mclean. Case in point, his savage beating of Donnie "the Bull" Adams in 1975. But headbutting, biting, gouging and kicking a man when he's down? In unlicensed matches, he was twice stopped by Cliff Field, who himself had been beaten by Pearce's brother 'Bimbo Pearce' and twice beaten by Johnny "Big Bad" Waldron. McLean's autobiography, titled The Guv'nor, written with Peter Gerrard, was published in August 1998, shortly after McLean's death. In some ways, comparing pro boxing to bare knuckle boxing is useless because theyre both quite different. Both men traded shots in Round 1 with Shaw aggressively probing the defense of McLean with body shots and left hooks to the jaw. [2], In his later life, McLean became an actor, and received praise for playing Barry the Baptist in Guy Ritchie's 1998 gangster comedy film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Lenny 'The Guv'nor' McLean was known as 'The hardest man in Britain' during his days as a bare-knuckle fighter, and he demonstrated exactly why during one of his most notorious fights, vs. Brian 'The Mad Gypsy' Bradshaw in 1986. It was then in July 1998 that Lenny sadly passed away. Lenny McLean Leonard John "Lenny" McLean (9 April 1949 - 28 July 1998), also known as "The Guv'nor," was an East End of London bareknuckle fighter, bouncer, criminal and prisoner, author, businessman, bodyguard, enforcer, weightlifter, television presenter and actor, and has been referred to as "the hardest man in Britain". So much so that he has two bullet wounds in his back, and has been stabbed repeatedlyalways from behind. The plan fell into hiatus on McLean's death. Reportedly, the police had forcefully restrained him with a stranglehold. However, the truth maybe stranger than fiction. Hi. Is Lenny McLean's record real? McLean's first unlicensed boxing match came about as a result of a chance meeting while in his late teens: when his car broke down in the Blackwall Tunnel he abandoned it and went to buy a replacement from an associate known as Kenny Mac, a gypsy used-car salesman in Kingsland Road, Hackney, only to find the replacement quickly failed too. It also reveals other issues in the mans character that cause the viewer to empathize, sympathize, and come to some level of understanding about the struggles ofa man coping with his hiddenvulnerabilities while portraying a larger-than-life warrior. A big, three-thousand seat arena more used to staging rock concerts than unaffiliated boxing matches between two aging hoods. According to his autobiography, McLean had fought in bare knuckle boxing bouts for over 30 years (he was 49 when he died so this is entirely plausible). His largest and most famous role was in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), playing the part of criminal enforcer 'Barry the Baptist'. On Buzzlearn.com, Lenny is listed as a successful Boxer who was born in the year of 1949. Lenny became a nightclub enforcer and was feared around the city. liverpool v nottingham forest 1989 team line ups; best crews to join in gta 5. jay chaudhry house; bimbo bakeries buying back routes; pauline taylor seeley cause of death During his lifetime Lenny became a cult-like figure and received invitations to get involved in acting. Joined: Dec 4, 2013 . This saw him earn his tough reputation as a bouncer in Londons east end at a time when the area was known for lots of criminal activity. Something went wrong, please try again later. [18], McLean's widow, Valerie, co-authored Married To The Guv'nor with Gerrard in 2003, and produced a foreword to the 2007 book about McLean by Anthony Thomas titled The Guv'nor Through The Eyes Of Others. Put another way, Lenny McLean could easily handle 99% of men, but he may have struggled against the worlds best at the time especially in a certain ruleset. It had an initial print run of 3,000 copies, but took off and soon occupied the number one position on the bestsellers' lists. One such encounter was his 1986 bout with Mad Gypsy Bradshaw. He died shortly afterwards on July 28, 1998, a month before the films release. While shot in the leg, he chased down the motorcycle-ridingassailants nearly catching them. One thing worth noting though is that he probably wasnt the best boxer in the world. So did McLean and Shaw. He was known as "The Guv'nor", "the King of the Cobbles" and "the hardest man in Britain". By this point, Lenny McLean had established himself as one of the most known fighters after winning bouts against big names like Roy Shaw, but had been retired for about six years, while Bradshaw was undefeated in six fights. With Roy winning the first fight, Lenny picking up the second, this fight was the decider. His autobiography The Guvnor had first week book sales of 25,000 shooting straight into the number one position. Unlicensed boxing matches became a favorite pastime in 1970s London, and by the time he finished his tour, McClean had somewhere north of 2,000 fights (some say 4,000)under his belt, bothin and out of the ring. He expressed the rage resulting from his abusive childhood with such abandon that often it would take several men to separate him from his defeated opponent, gaining the nickname "Ten Men Len" because of how many men would be needed to restrain him. Even some of the greatest fighters ever lose every now and then. And by thatI mean tough in a classic sense. After doing a few BT commercials, he landed the role as Eddie Davies in ITVs Customs drama The Knock. "n 1992, McLean was working as the head doorman at the The Hippodrome in London's Leicester Square, one of the largest nightclubs in the capital, when he ejected a man named Gary Humphries who was reportedly on drugs, streaking through the nightclub and harassing young women. Upon his release, he became an underworld enforcer and unlicensed boxing powerhouse. Although similar, there are differences. Lenny Mclean, the greatest bare-knuckle street fighter of them all. Translating his reputation into a money making venture as a bouncer, McClean effectively ran security at many of the East End pubs. Mike tyson was a top level professional fighter who had a very developed skillset and on the other hand lenny mclean looks like a shitty boxer who was fat compared to mike tyson. This was how Lenny eventually got into bare-knuckle fighting which became his career and how he became known around the country. Leonard John "Lenny" McLean (9 April 1949 - 28 July 1998), also known as "The Guv'nor," was an English bare-knuckle fighter, bouncer, criminal and Lenny McLean Net Worth WebLenny McLean Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family Lenny McLean was born in London in 1949. Never again. McLeans particular talents led him to moonlight as a debt collector for organized crime families like the Kray Twins. Briggs would survive after surgery, and McClean narrowlyavoided prison. According to his autobiography, McLean had fought in bare knuckle boxing bouts for over 30 years (he was 49 when he died so this is entirely plausible). [17] In 2001, Gerrard authored another book about McLean, titled The Guv'nor: A Celebration. One supposed film promoter, later found to have been a conman, took more than a million pounds from McLean and disappeared. And pity the poor Ref in these old time fights. If something's wrong, please, report it. The kind that leave you scarred internally and externally. Required fields are marked *. Charged with, and found guilty of, grievous bodily harm, McLean subsequently served an 18-month prison sentence. While most of us immediately think of the Guy Ritchie film "Snatch," where Brad Pitt as the Pikey flourishes as a calculating, bare-knuckle boxing champion, McClean lived it. After serving 18 months in prison, Lenny was sacked from his job after beating up his boss on a construction site. Its no secret that Chuck Norris is an accomplished martial artist with a dedicated workout schedule. He took on local bullies, beating them senseless at the age of 9. It could have been so different for Roy Shaw. Cancer finally defeated Leonard John Frederick McLean in 1998 at the age of 49; this was only weeks before the release of Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.. One man he did lose to was Roy Shaw. Born in Hoxton, right in the middle of the east-end, Lenny had a good upbringing until his father died when he was young. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Let that sink in for a minute. It was at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park that Lenny would become the new Guvnor with a first round stoppage of Roy Shaw. It was then, whilst visiting Reggie Kray, that Lenny would bump into Mike Read who suggested an acting career. In a Saturday Night Live sketch in 1992, Jerry Seinfeld played a high school history teacher who struggles to get his students to recall basic facts about European history. The footage that Jamie McLean assembled from these training days gives an amazing insight into the focus that his father had to train seriously and become a legend. The trilogy between Lenny Mclean and Roy Shaw will never be forgotten. [DOUBLEPOST=1384552783][/DOUBLEPOST], I am a handsome kind of dude but believe me compared to some of the village idiots on here, this fellow is pretty, Gangland Britain by tony Thompson was excellent - haven't read gangs but assume its similar. The noisy nightclub doorman from Hell was still the "unofficial heavyweight champion of Great Britain," still "the Guv'nor." However, McLean didnt just fight out of bloodlust, he also fought for money. Even his own cousin, and sometime promoter, Frank Warren wrote him off as a big-mouthed monkey brawler. Dalton had also made many other enemies, and was found dead with a bullet in his head in 1992,[13] a murder for which McLean asserted his innocence. When I was seven, he broke all my ribs. I was just thinking he was another Kimbo type myth. It was upon filming this that Lenny was struck ill. What he thought was a dose of the flu, would turn out to be Cancer of the brain. Thompson is an excellent writer of the subject, Only wrote about 3 or 4 books mate, primarily a journalist but knows a hell of a lot about British crime and worth a read. However, back in the day bare knuckle boxing was more of an underground sport that was dominated by gypsies and local hardmen. the guv nor by lenny mclean used very good. During the 1980s McLeans career as an unlicensed professional boxer flourished. After breaking both of his hands on Briggs face, McClean used his teeth to bite through Briggs windpipe, effectively killing him on the street. Has that generation passed us by? Check out our podcast Skillset Live and get in on the conversation of Instagram and Facebook! In brief, he was a gigantic man with a passion for violence. Married at 19, McClean had his world rocked when hismother died suddenly two years later. McLean wanted Craig Fairbrass to portray him as he had known the actor for some time and also considered that Fairbrass resembled himself as a younger man. Despite clocking Adams with the very first punch of the match, Shaw pulled him up to knock him out (again) and stomp on his head. In this straightener, there was no love lost. The boy from Stepney was the loser, once again, 2-1 to Lenny McLean of Hoxton. He gravitated towards acting after being introduced to an acting agent by his show-business friends Mike Reid and Freddie Starr, for whom he had "minded". In fact, McLean is so liberal with the nut that he makes Evander Holyfield look like a choirboy. McLean described his family as his "rock," whose existence helped him to reject a life solely devoted to crime, and for whom he maintained some self-control during his fights. LennyMcLean was raised in the East End of London in the years following World War II. I had a couple of scrapes with him myself. But who was the hard man from Hoxton who became a notorious brawler? In his autobiography, McLean recounts that various film studios had expressed an interest in making a film based on his life and career in unlicensed boxing. This would mean that hed have had a fight roughly once every 5 days to get this record. Maybe alot of us have been in a brawl or two. Throughout his life, Lenny has been shot twice, once in the arse, stabbed in the leg, broken nose four times and broken hands fifteen times. Lennie Mclean (iirc) had 13 unlicenced bouts losing 6 and suffering 4 first round knockouts. A lot of us think that were tough. Hailing from the blood darkened streets of Hoxton in East London, Lenny McLean had been a street fighting man for most of his life. Lenny would pick up little jobs like potato picking, scrap, etc. Lenny McLean was one of the deadliest bareknuckle Hitting guys when they're down and stepping on their head bouncer style. Mclean may have been the best street fighter in England, the so-called "King of the Cobbles," but could he box proper in the ring? In August 1991 Duffy's life came to a violent end when he was stabbed during a brutal street brawl in Marton Road, Middlesbrough aged just 26. That wasn't the end of it. 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