Wild Thing: The True Story of Britain's Rightful Guv'nor

by Lew Yates, Bernard O'Mahoney

Lew Yates began boxing at the age of six and as an adult he was ruthless in pursuit of his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion. But when his license was revoked following an assault on a referee, he turned to the murky world of unlicensed boxing. Documenting how Yates rose to the top of his bloody profession amid extremely turbulent circumstances in his personal life—which resulted in him raising his three children alone while struggling to make ends meet—this biography traces days of training in order to become king of the unlicensed ring and nights dealing with the gangsters and drug dealers in the nightclubs where he worked. His remarkable story includes surviving being shot at and stabbed, while two of his associates were executed, shot through the head at close range. Their murders remain unsolved but Yates now imparts controversial information about the assassins and reveals why both men were killed.

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2007

Reviews

[Mart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm

It was a alright read. I have read all the other books that cover this era when every fighter was claiming to be the rightful king of the unlicensed ring. I would say that it was refreshing that the wild thing wasn't a criminal that had bullied and robbed everyone in London before claiming to be the hardest man in the country! Fairplay

[Jason Rowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read and some interesting slants on the claims of some of his contemporaries at the time.

Anyone that’s read the books of other guys of Lew’s era should read this, makes you question an awful lot of the facts as previously presented if nothing else. Flows well and pretty well written.

[Kevin Quigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

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