Randolph Turpin
| Randolph Turpin | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Randolph Adolphus Turpin |
| Nickname(s) | The Leamington Licker |
| Weight(s) |
Middleweight Light heavyweight |
| Height | 5 ft 9 1⁄2 in (1.77 m) |
| Reach | 74 1⁄2 in (189 cm) |
| Nationality | English |
| Born |
7 June 1928 Leamington, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 17 May 1966 (aged 37) Leamington, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 75 |
| Wins | 66 |
| Wins by KO | 45 |
| Losses | 8 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
Randolph Adolphus Turpin (7 June 1928 – 17 May 1966), better known as Randolph Turpin, and in the United States also as Randy Turpin, was an English boxer who was considered by some to be Europe's best middleweight boxer of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1951 he became world middleweight champion when he defeated Sugar Ray Robinson. Turpin was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2001.
Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, to a black father Lionel who was born in British Guyana in 1886, and died within a year of Randolph's birth, having never recovered from injuries suffered in a gas attack during the battle of the Somme, leaving his mother Beatrice (née Whitehouse, 1904–1974), to raise four children. He started, like his brother Dick, to be trained in the art of boxing at Leamington Boys' Club.
Turpin turned professional in London in 1946, soon after his 18th birthday. Trained by his elder brother Dick, who himself was a successful middleweight, Randolph knocked out Gordon Griffiths in his first bout. Turpin put together a string of 16 wins in a row, all over the United Kingdom, until drawing with Mark Hart over six rounds in his last bout of 1947.
Three wins later, he found himself facing Albert Finch who inflicted on Turpin his first defeat, an 8-round-decision loss. After one more win he lost again, knocked out in five rounds by Jean Stock in London.
Turpin was determined not to lose again after the Stock defeat, and put together another string of wins which reached 12 (including a four-round disqualification win against William Poli). Rematched with Finch, this time with the British middleweight title on the line, Turpin avenged his first loss and won his first championship by knocking out Finch in five rounds on 17 October 1950 at Harringay Arena.
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