King Of The Gypsies: Memoirs of the Undefeated Bareknuckle Champion of Great Britain and Ireland

Product Information

If you've seen the movie "Snatch," you have some idea of the toughness and savagery of Gypsy boxers but the movie only scratches the surface, and is in any case a piece of fiction: Gorman lived it. Gorman, now 56 and retired, lifts the lid on a dark but fascinating underworld, revealing for the first time the top fighting men of today with many never-before-seen photographs. For me the moral of the book is that even if you are the best fighter and are undefeated, still you will lose as ultimately fighting benefits no-one! However, Bartley's anti-abortion stance and intense Christian faith are definitely sticking points for me but he didn't preach until the very end where his politics are muted by his humanity. A great read I could not put down, a man of principle and values little seen in today society, holding a title hard fought and hard to keep were the whole world comes looking for you.

Overall, it was a strong book, and details were not concealed to avoid admitting to crimes as in the previously mentioned memoirs. When he won the title of Bareknuckle Champion of Great Britain and Ireland sometime around 1972/73, having beaten rival Jack Fletcher in a fight at a quarry, he was 28, 6 ft 1 in (1.It was necessary to illustrate the strong connection of Bartley Gorman to that fighting history of which his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were part. BKB among the Travelers, Romany, Tinkers and Gypsies is a grim, savage and serious business whose origins go back to the Middle Ages, and is documented in all of its gory detail in this compulsively readable story about one man's quest to be the most feared fighter in his world, and the world at large. Bartley Gorman's story is rich in images from a world hidden all around us, images which challenged the way I see things. Bartley Gorman and David Pearce signed to fight for the World unlicensed title after Pearce KO'd former WBA World Heavyweight Champion John Tate in California. Request Rejected This page is unavailable due to either geographic restrictions or other restrictions in place at this time.

He spent decades taking on all comers in dozens if not hundreds of unsanctioned, illegal, and often no-rules-whatever matches all over England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and was never defeated -- he won every match but one (a draw) and a few that were broken up by police before a winner could be determined. Bartley Gorman V was the son and grandson of famous knuckle men and from his teenage years had his heart on taking the title King of All Gypsies. I was lucky enough to meet Bartley a few times in the early 90's when I interviewed him for my dissertation on the travelling community. As you'd expect from a book about a bare knuckle fighter, there is a lot of blood and violence but nevertheless you get a sense of the kind of man that Bartley was. Many wanted to fight him, and many others to jump him or even kill him -- including many of his closest friends.

The feelings I got as the book progressed was a sense that the idyllic imagery of fairplay and the past in general was overtaken by violence, disrespect and the need for weapons, where as Bartley was true to his heritage, morals and faith which he kept with him to the end.