Paul Sykes (23 May 1946 – 7 March 2007) was a British heavyweight boxer, weightlifter, writer, prisoner, and debt collector. He spent much of his adult life in prison, where he became one of the UK's most notorious inmates. As a boxer he had success as an amateur in 1973, and in a brief professional career in 1979 fought John L. Gardner for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.