I had this footage on videotape ( very rare then) and now as a DVD. Having read all of the books availible about Lenny Mclean, the one that strikes me as possibly being the most truthful, is by his daughter Kelly Mclean. Its warts and all and there is no holding back. What is clear is Lenny's mental health issues affected his home life and life at home with Lenny could be unpredictable. Especially after his prison release which had an massive impact on him and his family. Was he a bully? At times he could be, especially when he used to drink. Then there are stories of how he could show great kindness and generosity to both strangers and freinds alike. Was he the hardest man in the country? Its well known he had been beaten in the ring a number of times and turned down offers from fighters like Dave ' Bomber' Pearce. As a bareknuckle fighter and streetfighter he was formidable - there is no doubt that. However, there are no official records kept of his bareknuckle fights, so we just have the word of mouth of those who witnessed his bareknuckle fights and his own recollections of these scraps. Its interesting to read in his daughters book how he actually set up the fight with "mad gypsy" Bradshaw and he even came up with Bradshaws nickname. According to Kelly Mclean, the fight was originally rigged and Lenny promised Bradshaw that he would not hurt him Bradshaw wasnt even a great fighter. Lenny talked him into having the fight with him. On the night something went wrong and Bradshaw either thought nutting Lenny would look good or did it out of sheer fear. Mclean went mad and lost all control and nearly killed Bradshaw. However, he was very remorseful about the incident and did try to make amends with Bradshaw. This is an example of the split personality that Lenny Mclean had. He was a very complex man with a very complex life story. Perhaps we will never know who the real Lenny Mclean truly was.
@@CockneyClint i think the point hes making is he would of lasted 30 seconds in the ring with any top pro, an on 'the cobbles' as you clueless people like to refer
@@MrDanybe In the ring yeah but no way in an all in anything goes . He didn’t belong in a ring his game was all in anything goes and Naa even if you were pro boxer it wouldn’t always be a win for ya against someone like Lenny with nutting , biting and kicking on the ground involved
I remember him as a kid in the mid seventies , he was in a suit , and he fisted up to me scaring the shit out me just playing around . Ron Redrup was also there in a suit it was somthing i would never forget ! Enough said .
@@Sean-ce1hu sense of humour a bit of a challenge for you? We’re not talking phd thesis here, it’s people making jokes in a RU-vid comment section, ffs. Lighten up or I’ll send Ronnie round. He can park anywhere.
There's former colleagues of his like Tony dixon and john houchin who say he was Not a bully. They d know more about it than keyboard warriors who never met him
@@paulbanks2832 what about the time he terrified some young boy in a pub in the east end of London, loads of stories out there about his bullying. Don't bother replying I'm out of here
Both Lenny McLean and Roy Shaw were legendary! Watch the documentary made by Lenny's son. Haven't read the book by Kelly McLean though. Also Roy's son contributed to Mean Machine. Interesting to see more intimate sides of them- and not always flattering. Sad how their last days were spent though.
Always a character.!! He wouldn't have beaten the likes of Joshua in a proper fight in the ring but would the likes of Joshua beaten him in the back yard of a pub where anything goes.???!!??
Lenny McLean was definitely a very tough man one of the top men in the country. To say he was the best is stretching things a bit. He was beaten in the ring on a number of occasions. He claims he wasn't ever beaten on the cobbles but there's no record of that to.prove other wise. From what you.can find out 99% of his fights were against drunken idiots stumbling around or out of clubs. His book was a good read though.
The fact that nobody comes out and says he was beaten on the street shows enough proof. He's been dead 24 years and nobody says he was ever beaten outside the ring.
Lenny worked the biggest clubs in London and was paid accordingly - 99% of people in clubs are not drunk and it often includes intimidation outside of the club - Most trained fighters can not deal with the threats from gangs and gangsters - Lenny was paid the most because he had no fear - You have to remember a lot of the people you fight with on the door you will meet again if they come back sober - Clubs wouldnt pay the amount they paid Lenny if they could have used normal doormen to do the job
Time has moved on & things have changed. I'm only 5'3" but I've been learning karate for the past 2 months and I'm already at yellow belt level. My teacher is Miss Carling. During the day she's a school gym teacher but in the evening she teaches karate. I wouldn't have any problem fighting and beating that man. He looks old and slow. I'd be too quick for him. I'd dodge any punch he threw and deliver a devastating chop to the side of his neck sending him crashing to the ground. Karate has given me immense confidence. I highly recommend it.
Lenny was a natural big strong guy you can just tell I bet he was a nightmare on nights out He one of those guys who could clear a bar everyone just leaves ha.
Read Lenny's book,gr8 read,yeah he left out he got beet x2off cliffy fields once off Roy, n Waldron,n wtf wud fite Bartley,he was king of the gypsy for a reason,hard as nails god bless em all🙏also read Kelly's book,gr8 read n an emotional roller coaster of a book👍💪 I can relate to many things she mentioned that even I didn't know I ad🤔🙏god bless
@@tomsavage2753 lenny was no boxer didnt have a boxing brain. If he was any good in the ring he would of made it. He lost to many fights.. certainly no match for any english top level pro let alone a world level pro.
@@stevejohnson1797 🤣don’t think I said he would make it being professional, i know as well as you that he was only good on the cobbles, like I say he was a scrapper not a fighter…
I agree , Paul Sykes wouldn't have cared where the fight was , the ring , the cobbles or a prison cell . If Lenny was so good , why wasn't he fighting Gardiner for the British title ? Sykes gave a good account of himself in what was a good clean fight . If he'd stayed off the grog and applied himself who knows what he might have become .
@@johnniethepom2905 disagree, Sykes just another Bully. When the going got tough he turned away, Waldron, Fields all bashed Lenny, Gardener bashed Sykes.. says it all, proper boxers beat Bullies. My last word.
The great roberto Duran aka hands of stones turned his back to sugar ray Lenard does that make roberto a coward .. I don’t think so he went on to win two more word championships in different weight divisions .. Paul Sykes fought for the British heavyweight title having only eight pro fights .. not to this day as that been equalled or betterd .. not even Joshua had so few be fore he went for the British .. Paul Sykes on bread and milk prison food came out eight fights later he’s in with a shot with John l gardener who had thirty odd professional fights .. Paul Sykes prison free trained properly would of been British champion no problem .. and as for him against Lenny he would of destroyed him .. Lenny give Roy shaw twenty odd unanswered punches before Roy went down. .. Sykes bashed Roy shaw twice in as many seconds it took Lenny McLean punches to put Roy down .. trouble is that most southerners can’t except that there are a lot of hard men up north .. they’ve got this disillusion that cause they come from the East End there the governors ..
@@markpagden9999 I’m not a southerner and you talk garbage How can you mention Sykes in the same breath as Duran? He beat nobody, any half decent heavyweight would have slaughtered him Go away
@@manofkentcatapultsgunsando5069 it’s a great read it really is, I’m probably older than you (62) but you will know lots of names, venues etc.. really recommend it. He knocked out Lenny twice.
Cliff fields knocked him out twice in the boxing ring. Lenny was no boxer , the steroids help with his size. Paul skies would of beat him in the ring. But on the street is a different game.
I don’t think he was any good after watching his fights and training , just was very big after steroids ,watched his fight against some guy in a ring in a park and it was shocking opponent could have won but took a dive .classic bully I think
The best advice ever is basically mentioned in the first two minutes of this video ,dont think that after a few pints that you can fight because YOU CANT believe me we have all been gob shites after a few and got in to fights for stupid reasons that the next day we didnt have a clue why we did it , the best thing you can do is walk away , clear your head and knock on the blokes door at 6 o clock the next morning and confront 99 times out of 100 hundred he has no idea why your there and will apologise , the other 1 time is he will shit himself, nothing better than watching their arse hit the floor
@@tonymanning1381 your guvnor was a 6'3 280 lbs bloke so of course he would do average joes like me in a second but against a skilled fighter that's another story 😂😂😂
@@seyab6567 😂😂 what's his size got to do with anything he thought the hard men of his time and won so how can you sit there and slag him off when your a nobody
@@themadhatter3624 not that I know but the two fights happened sure enough, read the book Big Bad Johnny Waldron, he’s still around. It’s well known he knocked out Lenny twice
Yes, well known fact but Walron was a fairly good light Heavyweight fighter at the time. Lenny was probably 30kg heavier than him but Waldron was skillful. Cliff Field beat him too.
