Larry was Britain’s first champ at 11st

Larry Paul…a fighter who blew hot and cold. Picture: The Florrie Archive

LARRY Paul, the first man in history to hold the British light-middleweight title, was something of a rarity – a major champ from the upmarket Shropshire town of Shrewsbury.

Billed on poster as out of Wolverhampton, Larry’s death, aged 65, on October 9, 2017, failed to garner the headlines he deserved.

 the champ holds a place in record books.

When the British Boxing Board of Control introduced the light-middleweight (11st) class, Paul and Coventry’s Bobby Arthur competed for the inaugural title on September 25, 1973, at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Paul , a fighter who possessed a triphammer left hook, had too much of everything for brave Bobby and prevailed by 10th round stoppage.

Born in Liverpool, Paul excelled at judo before lacing on gloves.

As an amateur, he was truly outstanding and untouchable, winning an ABA title and earning England vests.

As a pro, he was brilliant but flawed.  His 40 fight career features bouts where Larry simply folded.

He seemed to give up the ghost against Radames Cabrera at the NEC in 1976. In a 1977 bid to regain the British title, the desire drained from Paul. The Royal Albert Hall contest was stopped in the fourth, with Cockney champ Jimmy Batten throwing a steady stream of punches and Larry offering nothing back.

That display was baffling. I felt Larry had the tools to beat Batten.

His 1977 Digbeth Civic Hall contest with British welter and light-middle champ Pat Thomas was, frankly, horrible - a mess of clinching and wrestling that led to the Welshman’s disqualification. In truth, either man could’ve been slung out.

One Shropshire fight sage told me at the time: “Larry was so good as an amateur, he didn’t get hit. As a pro, it’s a different story - he’s getting hit.”

Yet Larry, pumped-up and in his prime, was a ring marvel. Sporting a shocking Afro haircut and dramatic sideburns, he took the British title after just eight contest, defended the belt once, then had the misfortune of facing menacing future world champ Maurice Hope.

Hope was too much of a beast in that November, 1974, Wolverhampton Civic Hall contest and took the title in eight. Hope was even more dominant in the return a year later.

In the ring, Paul was a Jekyll and Hyde character: he could dazzle and disappoint in equal measure.

Against Alan Minter, who went on to lift the world middleweight title, he dazzled. Minter, fighting in front of his adoring fans at the Royal Albert Hall, won the 1975  contest by the narrowest, half-point margin. I thought Larry deserved the decision. In the same year, Larry stopped European title contender Frank Reiche in Germany.

After losing his crown, Paul took the show on the road. He travelled to Copenhagen to face outstanding future world champ Ayub Kalule and was predictably stopped. 

In Milan, he fought defensively to last the full course with rugged Rocky Mattioli, who would also be crowned world titleholder. Just eight days later, German powerhouse Frank Wissenbach destroyed him.

Paul bowed out from the sport with a win on home turf, beating Joe Jackson at Wolverhampton’s Park Hall Hotel on April 18, 1978.

That contest drew the curtain on a career that saw Larry face four world champs. That is some going.

He dominated on the domestic front, but was capable of achieving so much more.

“It was the lifestyle,” one former sparring partner told me. “Birds and booze beat Larry.”