Lionel "Dick" Turpin (26 November 1920 – 7 July 1990) was an English

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. He was British and

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middleweight champion, reputedly being the first black fighter to win a British boxing title. He was elder brother and trainer of the more famous

Randolph Turpin Randolph Adolphus Turpin (7 June 1928 – 17 May 1966), better known as Randy Turpin, was a British boxer active in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1951 he became world middleweight champion when he defeated Sugar Ray Robinson. He was inducted into the ...

, who became world middleweight champion after beating

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...

in 1951. Dick was the son of Lionel Turpin who had been born in British Guyana and his wife, Beatrice Elizabeth Whitehouse. He had two brothers Jack, who was a featherweight and Randolph, a middleweight.

Professional career

Turpin fought his first professional bout in March 1939 against Jimmy Griffiths, in

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. He lost on points over ten rounds. He went on to build up a domestic record of 86 fights with 68 wins, 12 losses, 5 draws and one no-contest, before his first title fight. This was for the Commonwealth middleweight title, in May 1948, and was against Richard Bos Murphy of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Turpin won the fight, at

, by a knockout in the first round to become Commonwealth champion. In his next bout, on 28 June 1948, Turpin fought

Vince Hawkins ''For the Doctor Who character, see Horror of Fang Rock'' Vincent Gregory "Vince" Hawkins (15 April 1923 – 27 November 2008) was a British middleweight Boxing, boxer who became British champion in 1946. Career A reserve firefighter on the rail ...

for his British middleweight title. The fight was held at

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and Turpin won on points over fifteen rounds. He now held both the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles. During late 1948 and early 1949, Turpin fought European boxers, drawing and then losing on points against Tiberio Mitri, of

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, then being knocked out in seven rounds in a non-title fight against the then world middleweight champion,

Marcel Cerdan Marcellin "Marcel" Cerdan (; 22 July 1916 – 28 October 1949) was a French professional boxer and world middleweight champion who was considered by many boxing experts and fans to be France's greatest boxer, and beyond to be one of the best to ...

, of

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. He then won by a disqualification against another Frenchman, Robert Charron. In June 1949, he defended his British and Commonwealth titles against

Albert Finch Albert Finch (16 May 1926 – 23 January 2003) was a British boxer from Croydon in South London, who was active from 1945 to 1958. He fought as both a middleweight and light-heavyweight, becoming British middleweight champion in 1950. He was ...

, winning on points after fifteen rounds. In September 1949, he defended his Commonwealth title against Australian,

Dave Sands Dave Sands (born David Ritchie; 4 February 1926 – 11 August 1952) was an Australian professional boxer. The man the Americans called the "boxer with the educated left hand" received his due when he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall ...

. The fight was at

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, and Turpin was knocked out in the first round, and so only retained his British title. Turpin then won his next four fights, losing the fifth, on points to the American, Baby Day, before defending his British title against

, whom he had beaten in his previous defence. The fight was held in April 1950, in Nottingham and Finch won on points after fifteen rounds. Having lost both his titles, Turpin had only two more fights, against the Belgian,

Cyrille Delannoit Cyrille Delannoit (alternatively Cyriel Delannoit; Geraardsbergen, 13 March 1926 – 9 February 1998) was a Belgian boxer. He was also known by his nickname Tarzan. In 1948, he became European boxing champion in the middleweight class.

, in Brussels, losing on a technical knockout in the sixth, and finally against his old rival Albert Finch, losing on a technical knockout in the eighth. This last fight was in July 1950.

Trainer

Turpin was the trainer of his more successful and famous brother Randolph, who beat

to take the world middleweight title in 1951.

Professional boxing record

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Dick English male boxers Middleweight boxers Sportspeople from Leamington Spa English people of Guyanese descent Sportspeople of Guyanese descent 1920 births 1990 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen

Professional career

Trainer

Professional boxing record

See also

References

Sources