Big Fat Gypsy Beating: Paddy Doherty barred from bare-knuckle fight

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings star Paddy Doherty has been warned he will face arrest if he goes ahead with a proposed bare-knuckle fight.

The hardman had been planning a £50,000 prize fight with his cousin Johnny Joyce, 20, in front of a 4000-strong crowd at Appleby horse fair in June.

Johnny had invited Paddy to settle their beef in a ‘fair’ fight after the TV star landed him in court on a GBH charge.

But police and horse fair organisers have put their feet down and banned the proposed match.

‘King of the Gypsies’ Billy Welsh, Appleby’s main organiser, told The Mirror: “It’s just bravado. Neither we nor police will put up with such nonsense.”

Paddy became the scourge of the traveller community when he broke their code of silence and told police he had been attacked by Johnny, who was later cleared of the charges in court.

According to The Mirror, Johnny then teamed up with boxing promoter Wayne Barker to offer Paddy the chance to redeem his reputation with a bare-knuckle fight – the way traveller men traditionally settle disputes.

Wayne put up £50,000 of prize money and invited Paddy to do the same, with the winner taking the whole pot.

He told the paper: “We don’t want war-mongering in the community. Let’s do it the proper way – the way these people have done it for years – and settle it in the ring.

“This is Paddy’s chance to redeem himself in his own culture. If he had taken his beating like a man that would have been an end to the story.”

However, it seems Paddy will have to wait a bit longer to polish up his rep now police have stepped in.

PC John Chambers of Cumbria Police, who are responsible for overseeing Appleby fair, said: “It’s a breach of public order.

“Anyone engaging in it can expect to be arrested.”