Richard Smith (10 February 1886 – 8 January 1950) was a British

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

and heavyweight boxer who was British light heavyweight champion between 1914 and 1916 and again in 1918. He fought under the name Dick Smith.

Career

Born in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, London, Dick Smith served in the armed forces in India where he won several services boxing championships, and he also won police boxing titles while a member of the police force. As an amateur he won successive A.B.A heavyweight titles in 1912 and 1913. He had his first professional fight in January 1914, a challenge to Dennis Haugh for his British light heavyweight title, which he lost in a controversial points decision. He met Haugh again two months later, this time winning on points over 20 rounds to take the title. He was due to fight French champion

Georges Carpentier Georges Carpentier (; 12 January 1894 – 28 October 1975) was a French boxer, actor and World War I pilot. A precocious pugilist, Carpentier fought in numerous categories. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasti ...

in May 1914 but the fight was postponed after Carpentier was kicked by a horse. They were due to fight in November 1914 but the fight was cancelled. Smith, then a

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

gymnastic staff, then moved up to the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division, challenging

Bombardier Billy Wells William Thomas Wells, better known as Bombardier Billy Wells (31 August 1889 – 12 June 1967), was an English heavyweight boxer. Fighting under the name "Bombardier Billy Wells", he was British and British Empire Champion from 1911 ...

for the British heavyweight title in May 1915; He lost after being knocked out in the ninth round. He met Wells for the title again in February 1916, losing by a third-round knockout. He returned to light-heavyweight for a successful defence of his British title against Harry Curzon in June 1916. He challenged Wells for the heavyweight title for a third time in August 1916 in front of 11,800 people at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

, Newcastle, this time being stopped in the ninth round. He made the second defence of his light-heavyweight title against Harry Reeve in October 1916, with Reeve taking the title on a points decision after 20 rounds. Reeve relinquished the title and Smith fought

Joe Beckett Joseph Beckett (4 April 1892 – 12 March 1965), also known by the nickname of "Joe", born in Wickham, Hampshire was an English professional light heavy/cruiser/heavyweight boxer of the 1910s and early 1920s, who won the National Sporting C ...

in February 1918 for the vacant title; Smith won a 20-round points decision to reclaim the title. By December 1918 Smith had risen to the rank of

company sergeant major The company sergeant major (CSM) is the senior non-commissioned soldier of a company in the armies of many Commonwealth countries, responsible for administration, standards and discipline. In combat, their prime responsibility is the supply of ...

. In July 1919 Smith met Carpentier in Paris with the

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

heavyweight and the IBU light heavyweight titles at stake; Carpentier won by a knockout in the 8th round. In March 1920 he fought Beckett for the British heavyweight title, Beckett winning by a 5th-round knockout. In November 1922 he beat Australian heavyweight champion George Cook. In May 1923 he fought Beckett again for the heavyweight title but lost again after being knocked out in the 17th round while ahead on points. Smith retired from boxing in 1924, his last fight a defeat to Jack Bloomfield attended by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, after which he ran a pub in

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

where he displayed his trophies and his

Lonsdale Belt The Lord Lonsdale Challenge Belt, commonly known as the Lonsdale Belt, is the oldest championship belt in British professional boxing. Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, The 5th Earl of Lonsdale introduced the prize on behalf of the National S ...

. Smith was described as "one of the most scientific boxers of the day". He was a keen golfer and also worked as a boxing referee. Dick Smith died on 8 January 1950 at his home in

, aged 63.

References

External links

Career record
at boxrec.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Dick 1886 births 1950 deaths Light-heavyweight boxers Heavyweight boxers English male boxers

Career

See also

References

External links