Robert Dickie (boxer)
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Robert Dickie (23 June 1964 – 28 October 2010) was a
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...
professional
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 ...
, fighting at both featherweight and super-featherweight. He was Welsh champion at featherweight, British champion at both weights and became WBC International super-featherweight champion in 1988. He is one of only four Welshmen to hold a British boxing title at different weights, the others being
Johnny Basham John Michael Basham (1890 – 7 June 1947) was a Welsh boxer who became British and European champion at both welter and middleweight. His professional career spanned over 20 years, from 1909 to 1929, and after being stationed in Wrexham thro ...
, Pat Thomas and Jack Petersen.


Boxing career


Bantamweight

Dickie turned professional in 1983, and fought his first pro bout, at bantamweight, against Billy Hough in Swindon in March of that year. The six round fight went the distance, and Dickie took the result on a points decision. He won his next three bouts, held in Scotland, England and then Wales, stopping all three opponents via
technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
. His fifth match, against Danny Flynn at St. Andrew's Sporting Club in Glasgow, ended in a points draw. Just four months later, Dickie was again facing Flynn, this time for the vacant Scottish Area bantamweight title. The ten-round match was stopped in the fifth, with Dickie defeated, his only loss in his first five years as a professional.


Featherweight

Dickie's next fight was seven months later, against Dave Pratt, but now fighting at featherweight. He beat Pratt by points decision, before dispatching Charlie Coke via technical knockout on 24 October 1984. His next bout, against John Sharkey, ended in his opponent being disqualified for repeated headbutts. A win over journeyman Steve Enwright in a first round stoppage, in December 1984, was followed by a second attempt at a Scottish Area title, this time for the vacant featherweight belt. His opponent on 25 February was Sharkey who he faced just three months earlier. The match was a short affair, with Dickie recording his first clean
knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
of his professional career, stopping the Glaswegian in the second round. After taking the Scottish featherweight belt, Dickie completed 1985 with wins over John Maloney, Mark Reefer and Dean Bramhald, before undertaking his first overseas fight, in South Africa. There he faced future South African lightweight champion Frank Khonkhobe at the De Beers Stadium in Kimberley, the match ended in a points draw. Returning to Britain, Dickie's next fight was for the vacant British featherweight title. Staged at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
on 9 April 1986, he defeated John Feeney on points to take the belt. He fought just twice more that year, but both were title defences. He stopped Welsh super-featherweight champion Steve Sims by knockout in the fourth round, and then successfully defended his title in a rematch with Feeney, another points decision.


Super-featherweight

After his two defences Dickie took a year out, relinquishing his titles to move up to super-featherweight. In October 1987 he beat Rocky Lawlor through a disqualification, before taking a points decision over American Arvell Campbell in January of the following year. This led to an attempt at the WBC International super-featherweight title held by Indonesian, Hengky Gun in March 1988. Dickie beat Gun by a technical knockdown in the fifth to become the WBC International super-featherweight champion. He only held onto the belt for five months, when he was stopped in the sixth by Tunisia's Kamel Bou-Ali in a title challenge at the Kings Hall in Stoke. Dickie continued fighting after losing his belt, now chasing the British super-featherweight title. He only fought three times between 1989 and 1990, winning all through technical knockouts. On 30 April 1991 he faced
Kevin Pritchard Kevin Lee Pritchard (born July 18, 1967) is an American basketball executive, and a former player and coach, who is currently the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers. Pritchard played 4 seasons in the NBA as a player, and w ...
the British super-featherweight champion. The match was fought at the National Sports Centre in Cardiff, Dickie winning the belt in the eighth. He retired after losing his final two fights, including his British super-featherweight title to
Sugar Gibiliru Dramani "Sugar" Gibiliru (born 13 July 1966) is a British former boxer who was British super featherweight champion in 1991. Career Born in Liverpool, he is the son of former Ghanaian lightweight and light welterweight, and West African welterwe ...
.


Death and legacy

Dickie died from a heart attack at the age of 46, in October 2010. His sudden and untimely death left a wife and two sons devastated by his loss. Following his death, a charitable trust was launched in his memory, by his brother and brother-in-law. His wife and sons had no part in the charity and did not benefit from its proceeds. A charity dinner was held at
Parc y Scarlets ''Parc y Scarlets'' (, meaning: ''Scarlets Park'') is a rugby union stadium in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, that opened in November 2008 as the new home of the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC. The ground replaced Stradey Park, the home of Llanelli's ru ...
in 2011, among those attending from the world of boxing included past opponents Feeney and Sims, and Welsh fighters Colin Jones and
Enzo Maccarinelli Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the World Boxing Organisation (WB0) cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008. At regional level, he held the European and Briti ...
. Following his death, the
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 ...
Dickie had sold twelve years before, was returned to his brothers and brother-in-law. Dickie is one of four Welshmen to have won the British super-featherweight title, alongside
Neil Haddock Neil Haddock (born 22 June 1964) is a Welsh former lightweight and super featherweight boxer. Before turning professional he won a silver medal as a lightweight at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. His early career as a professional lightweight was ...
, Floyd Harvard and Gary Buckland; and is one of five Welsh boxers to have taken the British featherweight title, the others being Jim Driscoll, Peter Harris, Steve Sims and
Howard Winstone Howard Winstone, MBE (15 April 1939 – 30 September 2000) was a Welsh world champion boxer, born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. As an amateur, Winstone won the Amateur Boxing Association bantamweight title in 1958, and a Commonwealth Games Gold Me ...
.


See also

*
List of British featherweight boxing champions List of British featherweight boxing champions is a table showing the Boxing, boxers who have won the British featherweight title. The title has been sanctioned by the National Sporting Club since 1909, and later by its replacement British Boxing ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickie, Robert 1964 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Carmarthenshire Welsh male boxers Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers