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

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Gives insight into the gypsy “travelers” who roam the UK today, and shows you why Tyson Fury IS Gypsy King.

Bartley Gorman was a legend in the brutal world of illegal prize-fighting, and this long-awaited auto-biography, with many unique photographs, lifts the lid on a secret sub-culture. 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. Fiercely proud of the tradition he came from whilst ultimately acknowledging that it wouldn't necessarily be the life that one would choose. Gorman was born on 1 March 1944, in Giltbrook, Nottinghamshire, England, to a Welsh father and Irish mother, who were both Travellers.They put an oxygen mask on me and tried to force the dislocated shoulder back in its socket, but couldn't.

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.He challenged infamous London brawlers Lenny McLean and Roy Shaw - neither accepted - and fought down a mineshaft, in a quarry, at horse fairs, on camp sites, in bars and clubs, and on the street. I always found him a pleasure to talk to, intelligent and generous - a proud and honest man who lived a brutal life but had the strength of character not to force his son to carry on with the family tradition. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Gorman explains a great deal about the culture of his folk, the "travelling men," and the differences between types of Gypsies (for example: some people consdier Gypsy an epithet and Romany the proper word, but the Romany are only one type of traveller, and he uses the words "traveller" and "Gypsy" interchangeably). 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.

Now was as good a time as ever, then, for me to dive into the story of the prior "King of the Gypsies," an honorable and sad old soul named Bartley Gorman. Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, European Union, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic of Croatia, Republic of the Congo, Reunion, Romania, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City State, Venezuela, Virgin Islands (U. What a fantastic book I regret learning of Bartley so late in life 15yrs after his death but what a man, what a life and the Lord put that life on the shoulders of the only man who could of handled it.He reigned as King of the Gypsies for 20 years, beating all comers in illegal contests at fairs and racetracks, down mineshafts and in quarries, on campsites and car parks.