I saw a few of his fights from ringside. Gumbs Moncrief Graham Christie. Plus a few US imports . Kaylor was a tall ,rangy, aggressive boxer/ puncher who came forward behind his jab always looking to be the aggressor. Entertaining fighter who had heart, and was in a lot of exciting scraps.
I was there the night Lawless was on the verge of topping himself after both his money making fighters (The Bomber and Kaylor) lost to 'Journeyman' Americans (Bonecrusher Smith for Bruno and Buster Drayton for Mark). But Kaylor had good nights too. Winning the British and Commonwealth Middleweight crown must of been a personal highlight, but he is probably best remembered for the excellent domestic dust up with Errol Christie, where he won fight two.
Was one of my favourite fighters growing up. Good aggressive box fighter. Long arms and brave as they come. Last of the traditional London fighters before the AMerican influenced styles took over. His fights with Sibson, CHristie and Graham were a big deal. The British title was as big as a WBO belt back then. I was gutted for him when he lost to bomber Graham, I just thought Mark would be too tough for him but I think Mark got injured in that fight to be fair. He had some great fights. Especially his win over Roy Gumbs and errol christie. Magic fights and exciting atmosphere.
he would have been a very good dangerous fighter if he had been gifted with an excellent\great chin, as he had strong tidy offensive skills, power, size and a warrior mentality, but as it was he was still a decent second tier contender in a solid division. Definitely one of the more exciting 80s Middleweights.
Perhaps wanting to please his fans a little too much a little too early cost him on occasion certainly the Drayton fight, he showed his mettle in exciting get off the floor wins with Gumbs and Christie, i often thought that whilst Philly boasted the Briscoe Hart Monroe and Watts quintet, we were just as blessed with Minter Finnegan Sibson and Kaylor, in fact Mark accounted for Philly's Boogaloo watts in a foul filled affair as i recall, Mark was not going to give Boogaloo and time or space to strut his stuff, kept right on top of him and Boogaloo's resolve cracked, Big Ben wasnt the only thing Chiming that night.
