Charity fight night November 30th Oxfordshire
This is going to be an awesome event and raise money for a worthy cause. So please get your tickets to support the event and charity.Cageamateurs |
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Former Boxer and MMA fighter Tony Moran meets Charlie Bronson
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| Tony Moran |
Friend of C.A.U.K Tony Moran tells us of the day he met Category A prisoner Charlie Bronson. We all know who Charlie is and although only sentenced to seven years, he has been incarcerated for over thirty. He was a great friend of Ronnie and Reggie Kray. He has written a book on his friendship with them and he also has a book of his life story. Tom Hardy played Charlie in the film of his life. Charlie has suffered with mental illness and as someone who has mental illness in the family, i understand it is a very lonely place when you are feeling down. Charlie has now been a model prisoner for five years and since finding his talent as an artist, he has donated any money to charity. Charlie has no release date as of yet and at the age of 59, we wonder how long it will be before he becomes a free man.
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| Charlie Bronson |
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| Artwork by Charlie to Tony |
Early in 2012, John messaged me to say he had been to visit his long time friend Charlie Bronson and my name had come up in conversation. Charlie admires any fighter who shows heart and a die hard spirit, he had seen some of my fights on TV in prison, he asked John to give me his regards, telling me I fight with the heart of a Lion.
I had read about CB, seen the film that Tom Hardy plays him in, but in all honesty knew little of the facts, other than that it was obvious, he was a man made of very stern stuff indeed. Understanding that in a man's world he commanded a very high level of respect, for not only his proven physical capabilities, but even more for his strength of mind & spirit, so as a fighting man myself, these compliments meant much to me.
Even so, and given his label by many, as the most dangerous & most violent prisoner in Britain, giving manly respect, is different thing to me, than giving personal respect. So not really knowing CB as a person and not being sure of his background or reason for being in prison, I did a lot of reading about him and his case.
What quickly became apparent was that CB was not a killer of innocents, a rapist or paedophile. In fact he had no time for any of these types and any chance he got, he made life in prison difficult for these sub-humans. He was also a man of honesty, intelligence, humour and benevolence, who despite his past as No.1 enemy to the prison system, had spent many years without causing a problem.
Charlie, quite quickly went up in my estimations as both a man & person I could have respect for in equal measure, so I sent CB a copy of MerseyFighters2 and some of my boxing press cuttings, in return CB sent me a unique piece of his famous artwork and we then started to correspond regularly by letter.
We have built up a healthy mutual respect over the months, and as obviously surreal as it seemed at first, to be building a friendship with Charlie Bronson. I don't seek, or base relationships with others on reflection of their fame or other shallow elements, valuing any human interaction for what it is.
So the personal reflection that follows, of my visit to see Charlie a few days ago, is not a glory story, it is written with Charlies permission, in the knowledge that the more support he can attract to his case, the better his chance of freedom, which after 39 years is long overdue.
Arrived with John Griffiths at Wakefield Prison. John being the friend of CB's that had put us in touch after CB told John he admired my fighting style & die hard spirit in some of my boxing fights he had seen.
As CB is in the highest security category for prisoners, he is kept in a block called 'The Cages', which is reached by going through a number of security checks/doors and across an open yard, before entering the block.
As we walked across the yard and entered this block, we were met by Charlie, singing at the top of his voice 'There's only 1 Tony Moran'. A surreal, but proper welcome to Monster Mansion (CB's name for the block) that houses a selection of the most dangerous prisoners in Britain.
John and I were led into a room that had chairs in front of a set of bars, with Charlie sat the opposite side, sporting his trademark tache and round tinted spectacles.
I was welcomed warmly with a firm handshake through the bars, and so began a 2 hour visit, with a man who has sat in those type of surroundings and much worse for 39 years, 35 of those in solitary.
I don't see the man on a day to day basis, so I have no idea if he has mood changes, I'm sure he does. But his mood on this day was the one of a happy, exuberant, larger than life man, full of charisma & character, the like you would find hard to top.
The best way I can explain this, is by saying that for those 2 hours, the walls, bars or surroundings did not register in my awareness, such was the force of his nature.
Charlie is in great physical condition for a man of his years and having endured what he has for so long, in such confined spaces. He looks powerful, strong and has the aura of a man who knows himself and what he is made of.
When he took off his glasses, his eyes backed up his physical presence, hard & steely, but full of life and animation, eyes you can only earn through experiences of a certain kind.
We laughed, shared stories and had quality, honest conversation about life and the nature of people, which Charlie had unique views on, that only 39 years of prison experience could give you.
CB does not see himself as a victim, says he accepts his punishment like the man he is and has no regrets. Just wants to spend his twilight years a free man is all.
Telling me about his attempts to straighten the minds of new, younger prisoners worth his time, I asked him what he would tell the young version of himself, given the chance. He told me that he would advise his younger self to count to ten and think about the consequences of his actions before carrying them out.
He ain't a killer, he ain't a rapist and he ain't a nonce and he's never harmed an innocent member of the public in a violent way. He has no doubt scared a few with menacing presence, when taking hostages in prison, but no matter what your views on that, it does not warrant the prolonged punishment, no matter how you want to spin it.
Charlies actions and his unwillingness to toe the line whilst in prison was initially down to his refusal to be dehumanised, or become just another number, or victim of a system, that when he first entered, was much tougher on its inmates, than it is today.
So agree with his actions or not, you cannot fail to be impressed with the man's inner strength and toughness, facing years of extreme tests, of both his sanity and character and still be the larger than life man that he is.
I'm no sycophant, but to keep a man of his energy and spirit caged up any longer, when the only reason for keeping him there, is because of the people in high positions he has pissed off, is a crime of its own.
Charlie has many friends, supporters and a solid family, behind him all the way. The more public attention he can attract to his case though, can only enhance his chances. Please see the links to his websites below if you wish to learn more and get more involved:
This article was written by Tony Moran. I would like to thank Tony for giving us this article and wish him luck in his up and coming fight. And we will shortly be releasing an interview with Tony on his fight career
To write to Charlie please send SAE to
Charlie Bronson(A8076AG)
HMP Wakefield
5 Love Lane
Wakefield
West Yorkshire
WF2 9AG
Please visit the Charlie Bronson website
http://thecharliebronsonappealfund.co.uk/
Contact Tony on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/tony.moran.5492?fref=ts
To sign the petition to release Charlie
http://thecharliebronsonappealfund.co.uk/#/free-charlie-petition/4555738347
Cageamateursuk
B-Bad introduce BKB belt
Andy Topliff is taking BKB to the next level once again. He has introduced the new belt on the dawn of BKB going mainstream. We spoke to Andy and he gave us this info on the belt.
24 kt on nickle alloy its on leather. The last time the belt was around, it was a fighter called George Cardew Joynes who was uncle to the king of the Gypsy's, Big Just who was predecessor to Bartley Gorman, he fort a Jewish fighter called Mani Boswell in East London in 1890, the original belt had a solid gold rams head on a thick leather lifting belt with ruby eyes . it was stolen some time later and then after that all bkb fighters fort for the famous golden fists which became nick named the golden gloves and for nearly 40 years it changed hands many times and Bartley Gorman had them. in turn they was lost in a field in Wisbeach Cambridgshire and was never found . Then since the seventy's there has never been any belts, BKB became very underground and mostly in the traveller community or Liverpool or the East End with it in the end just being grudge fights to solve disputes on traveller sites , in the ninety's tho one of the Sultans of Brunei's sons, set up an underground Bkb club for the rich and famous to make bets on fighters from around the world, which to only them in the know , was known as the canary wharf click, although it really is more like val tudo, bareknuckle or no holds barred and anything goes , it has fighters from round the Globe who fight for large amounts of cash , then a small group called B-BAD was sick of listening to people promising that they would do events and get it sanctioned, so b-bad started doing b-bad events and created a league and a belt to fight for.
By Andy Topliff
Thanks Andy what a great piece of history that you are creating for BKB.
Join Andy on
cageamateursuk
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
B-Bad with Andy Topliff
Andy Topliff is a BKB fighter and promoter of B-Bad BKB. Although most are in the opinion that BKB is a Gypsy culture, it is very wrong. Andy is in early days of getting his events mainstream. His up and coming event on October 27th 2012 is set to mark the beginning of an old sport, sprung into modern times. BKB has been around hundreds of years and we had hands- long before we had gloves. MMA was in a similar situation going back fifteen years, but that is now reported as the fastest growing sport in the World. Andy has had to over come many obstacles. it is still an issue of fights having rounds or no time limits. I believe the Gypsy community have always tried to keep a fair fight, having two refs from different families and no hitting when your opponent is on the ground, but they fight till someone can no longer fight, some have gone on for many hours. So as they are moving to main stream there are many things to consider and with Andy being old school he wants to keep an equal balance.
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| Andy Topliff B-Bad Promoter and BKB fighter |
So what is Andys aim?
1/ To set up a governing body of which will consist of highly experienced fighters and experts in BKB.
This will in turn bring more fighters to the sport. Make a safer environment for fighters, stop mismatched fights and most importantly stop serious injury.
2/ Hire a Doctor who would be a B-Bad employee. He would do all the pre-fight medicals, blood tests and when affordable drug tests. And be on hand at every fight to assist with any medical problems. The Doctor would also be on hand for the public if needed.
3/ Also run an official fight league with all fighters registering with B-Bad. Until eventually, we will have a regular roster of fighters. Who can all earn title shots and gain a career in BKB with B-Bad.
4/ Website, we will have an official website with all fighter profiles. Contact to all Board members, Up and coming events, Bkb news, shop, tickets and a forum for all BKB fans.
Andy is very dedicated to making B-Bad a great promotion for all involved. We are going to follow Andy over the next year and see how B-Bad changes in that time. I have a positive feeling and Andy is a really nice guy, so i truly hope to see the company grow. I have added a link to Andys facebook group and profile. Please feel free to get in touch with him if you have any questions he is happy to chat
Facebook page Click here
Facebook group Click here
My Facebook
page Click here
Visit our website to read the full BKB section
Monday, 24 September 2012
BKB event in Leicester on October 27th
B-Bad is a BKB event being run and organised by BKB fighter Andy Topliff. He has had over forty fights in his career, His wealth of knowledge and experience assures that the show is going to be a spectacular event and a land mark on the BKB calender. There will be a belt to be won for the first time in many years and Andy is proud to be the promoter of the event. Tickets are now available and are priced at £25.00 per person. All money raised will go to funding the event and paying the warriors who fight on the show.
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| Andy Topliff To get all the info on the event and chat with fighters and fans please join the facebook group B-BAD GROUP For interviews and info on fighters and our interview with Andy, Paddy Monoghan and BKB section click below Cageamateursuk Like us on Follow us on |
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