Dick Tiger
| Dick Tiger | |
|---|---|
Dick Tiger (left) with Nino Benvenuti in 1969
|
|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Richard Ihetu |
| Rated at | Light Heavyweight |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Reach | 71 in (180 cm) |
| Nationality |
 Nigerian
|
| Born |
August 14, 1929 Amaigbo, Nigeria |
| Died | December 14, 1971 (aged 42) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 82 |
| Wins | 60 |
| Wins by KO | 27 |
| Losses | 19 |
| Draws | 3 |
Dick Tiger (born Richard Ihetu; August 14, 1929 – December 14, 1971) was a professional boxer who held the World Middleweight and World Light Heavyweight Championships.
A Nigerian who emigrated to Liverpool and later to the United States, Tiger was an ethnic Igbo. Tiger was a boxer, commercial venturer, and Biafran rebel.
Tiger became a two-time undisputed world middleweight champion and helped keep boxing alive during the 1950s boxing industry recession. Tiger won the world middleweight title when he beat Gene Fullmer in 1962 and the light heavyweight title in 1966 when he dethroned José Torres of Puerto Rico.
Prior to these accomplishments, however, Tiger seemed condemned to poor management and a resulting lack of exposure. In 1957, using Liverpool as his fighting base, Dick Tiger was fighting on undercards for small purses, when by fortune, facing off against popular favorite Terry Downes at Shoreditch Town Hall, he walked away with a TKO after 6 heats. New management saw to it certain "errors in his style" were corrected, and in another year, Tiger had taken 17 of 19 fights and won the British Middleweight title. In 1959, handled by the independent Jersey Jones, Tiger came to America, to face adversity in a whole, new way. Jersey Jones, resisting the influences of Madison Square Garden, brokered deals for Tiger by himself, which in the short run, cost them both. In an independent promotion at Edmonton, Alberta, Tiger's Empire belt was lost in a more-than questionable 15 round nod to local challenger Wilf Greaves. The decision as rendered, had first been called a draw; appalled, Jones demanded a recount of the cards, which boomeranged, showing the fight, dominated by Tiger, as a win for Greaves. Tiger, sincere and honorable in his dealings, often found this virtuous approach not reciprocated, particularly in North America.
...
Wikipedia