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The craggy faced Darlington heavyweight Ray Parkes was a slim 6 feet 2 inch blond haired, muscular heavyweight active who gained admiring fans after turning professional around 1967 and joining Joint Promotion ranks in 1969.
The Wrestler magazine documented a date of birth of 30th June, 1940. Like many his first sporting interest was not wrestling. At school he was a keen swimmer and later in his teens took up tennis. When Ray joined a Youth Centre he had the opportunity to take up boxing. He enjoyed the competitive element but like so many he found wrestling of greater interest and in his late teens began his journey to the professional ring.
His route to the professional ring followed a path familiar to many. Having learned the rudiments in the gymnasium he followed in the footsteps of Roy Bull Davis, Johnny Kincaid and many others; dedicating 4½ years to learning the trade in fairground wrestling and boxing booths. It was a hard life but there was no better place to learn the skills necessary for the professional rings. All of this took place alongside a day job of an apprentice carpenter.
Having been given an opportunity by the independent promoters it wasn’t long before he was taken on to the books of Joint Promotions, working initially for Relwyskow & Green and Morrell Beresford in northern rings. By the ealy 1970s he was travelling further afield and it was Dale Martin Promotions that provided his only televised outing when he wrestled Peter Stewart at Wembley. Another career highlight, again courtesy of Dale Martin Promotions, came in October, 1971, when he wrestled Pete Roberts in London’s Royal Albert Hall, losing by the only fall.
Other opponents included top heavyweights such as Gwyn Davies, Tibor Szakacs, Wayne Bridges and Rocky Wall. With the demise of The Wrestler magazine in the autumn of 1972 we lost track of Ray Parkes and would welcome additional information.
Page added 20/03/2024
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