Customer Reviews
From someone who reads Bronte... - By: Rachel, 13 Oct 2008 
For someone who reads Bronte, this was a book bought on pure curiosity. I met someone who was closely related to The Guv'nor, I hadn't previously heard of him & thought I should find out more. I was initially quite scared to read this book, thinking that it would be a testosterone fuelled rant about fighting & mafiosa. I was however, pleasantly surprised. I found that Lenny was a family man with normal fears & anxieties growing up. It was his fierce loyalty & kindness that lead him down some dark paths, & sadly caused a lot of fights & pain. It was interesting to read such a deep insight to the soul of someone involvedin such vicious fighting & frightening situations. After all of the brutal fights & injuries caused, I felt myself understanding him & his reasoning. He comes across as a strong, tough-guy family man with morals & a hint of modesty (although sometimes this is lost through his descriptions of his fights!). Thoroughly enjoyable.
What a Guy,What a book - By: Carl M. Tucker, 12 Sep 2008 
This is the best book i ever read, i could not put it down, & gutted when i finshed it, Brill everybody should read it.
Review - By: 4737CarlinSir, 05 Aug 2007 I was genuinely shocked by how moved I was after reading this book. Yes, the fights make hugely entertaining reading, but for me the tragedy of Lenny's early life experience shone through; growing upin a very tough neighbourhood, losing loving parents prematurely & suffering & witnessing unimaginable physical violence & abuse as a child. I am left feeling that Lenny was at heart a very emotional man, clearly affected by a past that forged every aspect of his character, emotionally, psychologically & physically.
When I finished the book I searched the internet for video clips. Again, I found two extremes. Fights showing Lenny truly punishing other fighters along with TV show interviews showing a much more self-effacing, mild, humorous & altogether more gentle man. The book reminded me of "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote, possibly because of the contrast between extreme violence & family life & the reasons why "violent" people are conditioned into violence by their upbringing.
Deeply entertaining, deeply tragic & a premature end to a very interesting man. I would have loved to have met him.
Myth or Legend - By: Michael Clayden, 19 Jun 2007 I have long been interestedin Lenny Mcleans life & without turning this review into a Lenny mclean forum I would like to clear a few things up. Lenny Did fight Roy Shaw 3 times &in the first fight he was beaten by shaw. The two other fights he had with Shaw are on film & now widely availible on the internet.These recordings are proof for everyone to see that clearly Lenny Mclean was the better man.In that 2nd fight Lenny Knocks Roy Shaw clean through the ropes &in the 3rd, Lenny almost punches roys head off until roy crashes to the canvas.
Lenny's boast that he had 3000 fights has always raised eyebrows but taking into acount all the fighting over twenty five years he probably was not far wrong.On the doors it was sometimes four a night at different clubs all over London.And then the bareknuckle challenges & unlicensed bouts plus the street fights as a youngster.
Sure we all know he lost some boxing matches but these were against very good boxers who understood ring craft.With gloves off Lenny was a nightmare. To all those who say Len was a bully. Read "the Guv'nor through the eyes of others" by Anthony Thomas & its plain to see through eyewitness accounts that len was a very big hearted man. Okayin his early youth he was arrogant & may have come across to be a bully but as he got older he changed his attitude & only unleashed his awesome temper on those who crossed or challenged him.
A very famous fight promoter who promoted Lennyin the seventies who I wont name, described him as a bully. But could this be sour grapes because Lenny threw a fight over the money & changed his promoter.
If it hadnt been for the fact that Lenny was this mans star fighter on the unlicensed circuit he may never have been as great a promoter as he is now.
"The Guv'nor" will go downin history as being the definitive hard man book wether you believe some of Lennys accounts or not, its still a great read about a man who is truly a legend.This word Legend is banded about too much these days but I think Lenny truly deserves it.
Who's the Guv'nor? - By: R. Mullaney, 03 Jun 2007 After reading Roy Shaws biography 'Pretty Boy' I was very keen to read more about the violent underworld these characters lived in. Lenny McLean was Shaws arch rival & the two men hated each other. The Guv'nor tells a very similar tale of a boy raisedin London who would become a villain & feared hardman.
McLean obviously had a tough upbringing, mostly at the hands of his mothers violent boyfriend Jim Irwin. Lennys grew into a tough teenage crook & after a spellin borstal took up boxing. McLean was a ferocious fighter & a mountain of a man. He travelled the country fightingin gyspy fairs & made a small fortune whilst at the same time building a terrifying reputation.
Whereas Shaws book appears to be brutally honest, McLeans appears exaggerated & self indulgent. McLean tells of how he 'looked after' pubs & clubs for their owners as if he was doing them a great favour whenin actual fact he was running a protection racket. If anything McLean attracted trouble as he was often a target for people looking to make a name for themselves & was shot & stabbed working as a doorman. McLean boasts of his successesin the ring but glosses over the first fight with Roy Shawin which Shaw beat him hands down. He also claims to have beaten Shaw twice whereas Shaw claims McLean refused a second return fight after defeating himin the first return. McLean sees himself as a gentleman but actually sounds to be nothing more than a thug (especially when he describes smashing a mates jaw into pieces). That said, this is still a fascinating book & McLean has led quite a remarkable life. His ego aside, there are more than enough thrilling tales to fill a book here such as the time he was flown by the mafia to New York to fight their champion (McLean decked him) & the time he acted as security on a deal with the IRA.
Like this? Try: Pretty Boy by Roy Shaw
