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Randy Turpin-The Leamington Locker


BoztheMadman
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Few boxers in history have had such a meteoric rise and fall in the game as Randolph Randy Turpin. He made a great upset in 1951 by beating Sugar Ray Robinson and thus becoming the first British world middleweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons in 1894. Turpin was a hard-hitting and capable boxer who also won the Commonwealth title at middleweight and light heavyweight, but experienced some devastating losses by ko, including the one in the rematch with Robinson. It would take almost 30 years before another Briton would win a world middleweight title, as Alan Minter won it in 1980.

 

Randolph Adolphus Turpin was born in Leamington, Warwickshire, on 7 June 1928, to a black father from Guyana and a white English mother. His mother's father had been a bare-knuckle fighter and Randolph would follow in his footsteps, as well as his older brother Dick. Randy started boxing at 12 and had 100 amateur fights, winning 95. He became the British junior champion at 112 pounds at the age of 15 and then won the 133lb championship and the 147lb junior and senior championships later. After spending a year in the merchant navy, he decided to turn pro on 17 September 1946. He won his first fight by TKO1. He went 15-0 before fighting Mark Hart 20 October 1947 and drawing against him in a 6-rounder, despite knocking him down twice. He lost his first fight on 26 April next year in an 8-round decision to Albert Finch. It was thought his recent separation with his wife, as well as her allegation of domestic violence against him, was to blame for his poor performance. On 21 September that year, he fought against Jean Stock and after getting knocked down several times, he retired after round five in his corner. Shortly before the fight, he was informed that he lost custody of his son and this was to blame for the debacle, as he told his brother Dick before the fight that he didn't feel like fighting. He moved on and beat the promising Belgian contender who had once defeated Marcel Cerdan-Cyrille Delannoit, by TKO8 in Birmingham, 20 June 1949. In 1950, he avenged the loss to Albert Finch by KO5. And then on 27 February 1951, he faced the Dutchman Luc van Dam in a fight for the vacant Euro middleweight title and knocked him out in only 48 seconds! He also avenged the loss to Jean Stock in another TKO in the fifth round. He defended the title against another Dutchman, Jan de Bruin, and won by KO6 in Coventry on 7 May. 10 July that same year, he would achieve his greatest triumph when he faced the reigning world champion and one of the greatest boxers in history: Sugar Ray Robinson. Robinson was reportedly undertrained for the fight and Turpin defeated him on points in 15 rounds at Earls Court Arena in Kensington, London.

 

However, the joy and sensation of this victory would prove to be shortlasting. Already 2 months later, 12 September at Polo Grounds in New York, Robinson reclaimed his title by TKO10. The fight was even going into round 10 with Robinson slightly ahead on two of the cards. Turpin had won the two previous rounds however and then opened a bad gash over Robinson's eye in the tenth. Robinson knew he had to do something big to win, so he unleashed a big right which hit the young Englishman on the jaw and dropped him. Turpin got up at 9 but was then battered along the ropes until the ref had no choice but stop it. Turpin protested the stoppage afterwards, saying:"The referee should not have stopped it. I was perfectly keen. There were only eight seconds to go in the round and I was covering up." But it didn't help, of course. He then decided to campaign as a light heavy and 10 June next year he won the Commonwealth title there by TKO11 against Don Cockell. Cockell was down three times before the stoppage. He later became a heavyweight contender. Turpin then vacated the title and decided to stay at middleweight after all. He then won the middleweight version of the same title on points against George Angelo on 21 October. 9 June '53 he also won the "British version of the world title" which was vacated by Robinson, by outpointing Charlie Humez of France. 21 October that year he fought Bobo Olson for the vacant full world title and was down twice, ultimately losing on points convincingly. Still, it was again trouble with a woman that made him lose, rather than the quality of his opponent. It was Adele Daniels, a black girl he met at a hotel in NY and who kept on following him around and trying to seduce him, despite him being engaged to a Welsh girl at the time. Turpin's bad luck would follow him also in his second fight after Olson, when he was caught with a lucky punch by Tiberio Mitri that landed just below the right ear, and knocked out in 1 minute and 5 seconds in his first defense of the Euro title he had also won against Humez. Mitri was a quality fighter, but was never known for his power. Turpin got up at five but stumbled across the ring and the fight ended in a KO1. The fight was in Rome, where Mitri was based, 2 May '54.

 

Turpin bounced back after the shocking and unfortunate defeat by recapturing the Commonwealth lhw title by KO2 against experienced Alex Buxton, 26 April '55 at Harringay Arena. However, he once again experienced a brutal upset loss to Gordon Wallace, an unremarkable Canadian, who knocked him out in 4 rounds 18 October same year, also in Harringay. Turpin was so disappointed he announced his retirement, but soon changed his mind. He was not the same fighter anymore, however, and after Adele Daniels had accused him of rape and assault, a lot of his focus was outside the ring. The case was settled out of court. In his third fight after the Wallace loss, he lost to Hans Streltz by a 10-round decision. He again stopped Alex Buxton, this time by TKO5, to win the British lhw title. He defended it once in a difficult fight against Arthur Howard, where he was down five times but won on points in 15 rounds. His last notable victory was over Dutch contender Wim Snoek, winning on points in 10 rounds, 11 February '58 in Birmingham. On 9 September that year, he faced the former world title challenger Yolande Pompey of Trinidad and Tobago, and was blown out in 2 rounds. He had a good first round and Pompey took a knee but got too confident in the second and was caught with a left hook followed with a right which put him flat on his back. He retired once again but came back in 1963, since he was heavily in debt after numerous failed business ventures. He failed to get approved by BBBofC however, due to his worsening eyesight, and after winning two incognito fights against debutantes by ko, last one in Malta, he retired in 1964, aged 36. His record is 66 wins with 45 ko's, 8 losses and 1 draw.

 

Randy Turpin committed suicide on 17 May 1966, 3 weeks before his 38th birthday. His troubles with women and finances had both marred his career and life for a while until then. He was a pivotal figure, being both the first British boxer of mixed race to become a world champion and the first British boxer to win the world middle title in a very long time. He was an original inductee into the IBHOF and was ranked 47th on Hamilton's historical order of merit. His brother Dick was a solid contender but never achieved the same success and another brother Jackie also boxed as a pro. Even today, Randy Turpin's name is remembered with fondness and pride in UK and his name holds a historical weight. He was probably capable of achieving even more, but his private problems affected his performances too often.

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