Career
Lawless was based at the Royal Oak gym in the Canning Town district of London. Giller was his publicist throughout his career. His early stable of local boxers included former London amateurs such as Stan Kennedy, Johnny Caiger, Jimmy Tibbs, Silvester Mittee and Jimmy Anderson.
He hired George Wiggs and Frank Black as his training assistants, both of whom stayed with him for more than ten years.
Tibbs later rejoined Lawless as a trainer, as did George Francis, who formed a winning team with Frank Bruno. He was associated with promoters Mickey Duff, Jarvis Astaire, Harry Levene, and Mike Barrett, who effectively controlled British boxing.
The team dealt primarily with the British Broadcasting Corporation, which gave rise to the famous relationship between Frank Bruno and the commentator Harry Carpenter, but they were ousted during the late 1980s by Frank Warren, who initially had the support of Independent Television. Famous for looking after his fighters like a father rather than a manager, Lawless often fell out with matchmaker Mickey Duff because he did not want to expose his boxers to unnecessary dangers. Personal life
Death
On 24 December 2009, Lawless died in Marbella, Spain, in hospital after undergoing gallbladder surgery.
Among the boxers Lawless managed/trained were:
Jimmy Tibbs
Peter Boddington
Philosophy Watford
Tommy Rix
Brian Brazier
Johnny Caiger
John L. Gardner
John Graham (Light heavyweight)
Peter Bradley (Lightweight).
