Roy Shaw

Royston Henry Shaw (11 March 1936 – 14 July 2012), also known as Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw, Roy "Mean Machine" Shaw and Roy West, was a property investor, author and businessman from the East End of London who was formerly a criminal and Category A prisoner. During the 1970s & 80s Shaw was active in the criminal underworld of south London and was close friends with Joey Pyle. Shaw is best remembered today for his career as a fighter on the unlicensed boxing scene, becoming an arch-rival of Lenny McLean.

Early life Shaw was born in Stepney, London, to a working-class family and from an early age was involved in illegal activities. He was acquainted with the Kray twins since at least the very early 1960s; Shaw attended the funeral of Reggie Kray in 2000, and was quoted as having said: "We grew up in the same era. They were into protection rackets and I was into blags. I never got in their way and they never got in mine. Ronnie was more of a friend than Reggie, but I've come along today because he was one of the 'chaps'. Today is like the end of an era. The Krays were legends." As an adult Shaw mainly lived in Bethnal Green.

Prison sentences Shaw was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for an armed robbery in 1963, one of England's largest armoured truck robberies. Shaw reportedly fought his way out of two different holding cells at HM Prison Maidstone, assaulting several prison guards.

Shaw, who claimed he "simply hates the system", and that the "system could never beat him", was moved between different prisons and spent time at Broadmoor Hospital. According to Shaw's autobiography, Pretty Boy (1999), "uncontrollable prisoners were deliberately drugged up with the aim of turning them into permanent 'cabbages'". At Broadmoor, Shaw underwent experimental electroconvulsive therapy in an attempt to control his temper. His doctor claimed that Shaw had at first come across as a large and intimidating yet soft-spoken gentleman, but when faced with treatment he didn't want, Shaw became "the most powerful and dangerous man I have ever tried to treat". The doctor reported the treatments as having been a complete failure, and only served to make Shaw even more aggressive and unpredictable.

Shaw routinely stabbed police informers and even slashed the throat of a former best friend while incarcerated owing to his strong belief in a "code of honour" among criminals that must not be broken.

During his time in Broadmoor, Shaw again encountered Ronnie Kray. He also spent time with such people as Ronnie Biggs and Charles Bronson at other prisons. By 1974, Shaw had already spent around 18 years in more than 22 different prisons.

Unlicensed boxing career In his autobiography "Pretty Boy", Shaw claimed to have had ten pro fights using the alias "Roy West". In fact he had only one professional bout - a six round points win against Dennis Wingrove at Wembley Town Hall on 29 November 1956. Roy soon gave up the idea of boxing for a living when he found out that he could earn more money by robbing cash vans.

On his release from prison Shaw started fighting on unlicensed boxing shows which were promoted by his mate and fellow villain Joey Pyle and gained many infamous victories, the most notable being a one round knockout of Donnie "The Bull" Adams. In 1977 Shaw also beat former heavyweight contender Ron Stander who had fought Joe Frazier for the world heavyweight title five years before. Stander, however, broke a rib before the fight which severely hampered his performance. Shaw would later say in his book that he kept hitting Stander with punches which had no effect on Stander until he found his broken rib. In Shaw's words: "If Stander had not broken his rib he would have mullered me."

Shaw was best known for his infamous trilogy with arch-rival Lenny "The Guv'nor" McLean. Shaw beat McLean in their first fight, but lost in two other matches to McLean. Shaw claimed in his autobiography that they only fought twice, but later he admitted on his website that there were indeed three fights with McLean of which he lost two and won one. However, McLean was by far the bigger man and also much younger than Shaw. Shaw was well into his forties when he and McLean fought and was giving away stones in weight. Shaw stated on his website that the two unlicensed boxers he most admired were Cliff Field and Johnny Waldron, both of whom also defeated McLean.

Unlicensed boxing record

Res. Record Opponent Type Round Date Location