Shaw is best remembered today for his career as a fighter on the unlicensed boxing scene, becoming an arch-rival of Lenny McLean.
[citation needed] Shaw was born in Stepney, London, to a working-class family and from an early age was involved in illegal activities.
According to Shaw's autobiography, Pretty Boy (1999), "uncontrollable prisoners, were deliberately drugged up with the aim of turning them into permanent 'cabbages'".
The doctor reported the treatments as having been a complete failure, and only served to make Shaw even more aggressive and unpredictable.
Shaw routinely stabbed police informers and even slashed the throat of a former best friend while incarcerated owing to his strong belief in a "code of honour" among criminals that must not be broken.
Shaw claimed in his autobiography that they only fought twice, but later he admitted on his website that there were indeed three fights with McLean of which he lost two and won one.
Shaw stated on his website that the two unlicensed boxers he most admired were Cliff Field and Johnny Waldron, both of whom also defeated McLean.
[4] Shaw has been mentioned or discussed in numerous books, most notably in arch-rival Lenny McLean's 1998 autobiography The Guv'Nor.
The book is a collection of stories and anecdotes about the criminal underworld of London in the 1970s/1980s, as well as Shaw's boxing career.
A book written by Jamie Boyle & Gary Shaw, Roy’s son, called ‘Mean Machine.
[citation needed] In 2000, Shaw was one of the best known mourners to attend the funeral of Reggie Kray, a lifelong friend.
"[1] Having served all his prison sentences, Shaw stated that he was going straight and had retired from any criminal activity and bareknuckle boxing.
He appeared in two documentary DVDs by Director Liam Galvin, 'Roy Shaw: Brute Force' and 'Roy Shaw-Fight School' and later made a cameo in the film Killer Bitch, he also became involved in numerous internet ventures, and property investment.
Mark Morris of Aardvark Forensics Ltd provided expert evidence to the Court and demonstrated how a number of forged documents had been created on a personal computer.
Judge Lindsay said that when it was put to Shaw in court that he intended to transfer £643,000 to her, he replied: "Don't talk so silly – she took me for a right mug.