Bathing a newly adopted stray?

Hello lovely cat people,

Wondering if you all have any advice for bathing/cleaning a recently adopted stray....

Let me try to give you the lowdown without being to lengthy or rehashing previous posts: my boyfriend and I recently took in a stray that had been coming to his shop for a few years. Got him neutered about a month ago, and are in the process of turning him from a stray into an indoor/outdoor pet.

He was considerably STINKY after getting neutered. Mostly because he'd peed himself in the trap after surgery. We cleaned him up as best as we could with some pet wipes after he came home. A couple weeks later, I tried to clean him again. Had bought some "grooming foam" (Earthbath) because it seemed less invasive than a proper bath, but he still hated it and scratched me up good to show me how he felt about it. 

Anyhoo. Curious about you all's' advice on the subject....

This may be something you need to ask the vet to do.  We had a stray who had an absoutely lethal smell and I knew I'd never get him into water.  I ended up taking him to the vet, who was able to put him in twilight sleep and tend to him.  As it turned out, he had several smalls wounds that were ready to get infected, so he got antibiotics timely.

Having someone else scruff him (grabbing the back of his neck, like his mother did when he was a kitten) may help control him.  That's tricky, though, as your grip has to be just right to work.  It hits a nerve that more or less immobilizes him.  But one slip and he's back in business.

Thank you for the suggestions. Pretty sure the vet office I've taken him to offers grooming service, but will double check. Would most definitely make things easier on us all, though I reckon he'd have a hankering to just go out and get himself dirty again.