Born in
West Ham, Lawless started his coaching and management career in 1957 after his
National Service, and formed a close friendship with
Norman Giller, who was then sports editor of the local Stratford Express newspaper. 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
BBC, 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
ITV. 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. Duff stated in his autobiography that Lawless was always asking for opponents who would defend but not attack. This was the reason Frank Bruno never faced
David Pearce for the heavyweight championship of Great Britain. While living in retirement in
Marbella with his wife of more than 50 years Sylvia, Lawless often said he was happy to be remembered as the manager who did not want his boxers hurt.
Jim Watt, one of six Lawless-trained and managed boxers who went on to win world titles (including Frank Bruno, and
Joe Calzaghe under different management), wrote in his autobiography, ''Watt's My Name:''
Personal life He was married to his wife Sylvia for 53 years and they had two children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Death On 24 December 2009, Lawless died in
Marbella,
Spain, in hospital after undergoing gallbladder surgery. ==Boxers managed/trained==