"Randolph Turpin Randolph Adolphus Turpin (7 June 1928 – 17 May 1966), better known as Randolph Turpin, and in the United States also as Randy Turpin, was the undisputed Middleweight Champion of the World. 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 now known as Guyana"
"Terry Downes Terry Downes, BEM (9 May 1936 – 6 October 2017) was a British middleweight boxer, occasional film actor, and businessman. He was nicknamed the ""Paddington Express"" for his aggressive fighting style. At the time of his death, Downes was Britain's oldest surviving former world champion. He held the world middleweight title (the version recognised by Europe, New York, and Massachusetts) for ten months from 1961-62. Terry Downes was born in Paddington, London. His father Richard worked as a mechanic, and his mother Hilda in a department store. Downes boxed as a junior for the Fisher ABC. He moved"
"was the subject of ""This Is Your Life"" in 1970 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Thames Television's Euston Road Studios. Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was an English heavyweight boxer. Cooper held the British, Commonwealth, and European heavyweight titles several times throughout his career, and unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight championship in 1966. Following his retirement from the sport, Cooper continued his career as a television and radio personality; he was the first (and is today one of four people) to twice win the public vote for BBC Sports"
"McAvoy as the tenth best British boxer of all time, the second best British boxer of all time in the middleweight division, behind Randolph Turpin and the thirty-ninth best middleweight in the history of boxing. In 1951, he was stricken with polio and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He had survived both diphtheria and a broken neck prior to his bout with polio. Suffering from insomnia and depression, McAvoy committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates at his home in Partington, Cheshire, England, on November 20, 1971. Jock McAvoy Joseph Patrick Bamford (20 November 1908 – 20"
"Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was an English heavyweight boxer. Cooper held the British, Commonwealth, and European heavyweight titles several times throughout his career, and unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight championship in 1966. Following his retirement from the sport, Cooper continued his career as a television and radio personality; he was the first (and is today one of four people) to twice win the public vote for BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award and is thus far the only boxer to be awarded a knighthood. Cooper was born on 3 May"
"next fight Leahy attempted to defend his British middleweight crown for the first time, however, he once again lost a 15 round decision, enabling Wally Swift to become the new champion. After losing to future world champion Nino Benvenuti in Milan, Leahy fought for a final time on 19 March 1965, losing to Jupp Elze in Cologne, Germany. Leahy's boxing career came to an abrupt end in September 1965. As he was driving to see his manager in Leamington Spa, he ran into the back of a car transporter which was parked up; its driver asleep and its lights off."
"being taken ill with a chest infection. He was 76. His funeral was held at Knowle Parish Church. Wally Swift Wally Swift (10 August 1936 – 10 November 2012) was a British boxer who won the British welterweight title in 1960 and twice fought for the Commonwealth title before moving up to middleweight, becoming British champion between 1964 and 1965. He went on to fight for the European super welterweight and middleweight titles and the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles. Born in Nottingham and raised in a Bilborough council house along with seven siblings, Wally Swift took up boxing at"
"determined and the date of death was estimated at ""some time on or after Saturday, 1 September"" – he was last seen alive on 1 September by a nurse, meaning that he had been dead for up to 11 days before his body was found. Shaun Cummins Shaun Cummins (8 February 1968 – September 2012) was a British boxer who won the WBA Inter-Continental super welterweight title in 1992 and went on to fight for the British and European middleweight titles. He was paralysed by a motorcycle accident in 2004 and was murdered by his carer Thomas Dunkley eight years"
"stabbed in the throat during a fight after a drinking session, and died at the age of 46. Jackie Paterson Jackie Paterson (5 September 1920 – 19 November 1966) was a Scottish boxer who was world flyweight boxing champion. He was also British champion at flyweight and bantamweight. Born in Springside, Ayrshire, Paterson emigrated with his family from Scotland, when he was eight years old, to Scranton, Pennsylvania. He returned to Scotland in his early teens to work at John Brown & Co, shipbuilders on the Clyde. He later worked as a butcher. When he was thirteen, he joined the"
"Shaun Cummins Shaun Cummins (8 February 1968 – September 2012) was a British boxer who won the WBA Inter-Continental super welterweight title in 1992 and went on to fight for the British and European middleweight titles. He was paralysed by a motorcycle accident in 2004 and was murdered by his carer Thomas Dunkley eight years later. Born in Leicester, Shaun Cummins boxed as an amateur out of Belgrave Amateur Boxing Club and began his professional career in 1986 with a points victory over Michael Justin at Loughborough Town Hall. He won his next five fights before suffering his first defeat"
"1960 at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Middlesex, aged 77. O'Keeffe's professional boxing record can be summarised as follows: Pat O'Keeffe Pat O'Keeffe (17 March 1883 – 16 August 1960, spelled by many sources as Pat O'Keefe), is a former professional English boxer who became the British champion in both the welterweight and middleweight weight classes. His professional career spanned the years between 1902 and 1918. In 1914 he made an unsuccessful bid for the European heavyweight belt, losing to Georges Carpentier. Between 1907 and 1910 he left Britain and continued his boxing career in the United States, and then"
"retiring from boxing, Cummins went on to become a bodybuilder, debt collector and a bodyguard for pop star Lee Ryan. Cummins was seriously injured in an accident on the A6 in Birstall in 2004 when his motorcycle was in a collision with a car, and complications from an infected cut on his backside left him paralysed from the chest down and needing assistance from a carer and nurses. He received £400,000 compensation after the accident. Cummins was found dead at his bungalow in Marriott Road, Leicester, on 12 September 2012; his body had been badly dismembered. His carer Thomas Dunkley"
"co-founded a boxing club in Skelmersdale and for 35 years trained young boxers there. He died of a heart attack, aged 73, and was survived by four children. His grandson James Lloyd was named after him, and now currently competes for Cambridge University Boxing Club. Jimmy Lloyd James ""Jimmy"" Lloyd (5 July 1939 – 22 March 2013) was an English boxer. He won a bronze medal in the welterweight division at the 1960 Olympics, losing in the semifinals to the eventual winner Nino Benvenuti. After winning the Amateur Boxing Association of England light middleweight title in 1962 he turned professional"
"Brian London Brian Sidney Harper (born 19 June 1934), known professionally as Brian London, is an English retired heavyweight boxer. He was the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion from 1958 to 1959, and twice challenged for the world heavyweight title, losing to Floyd Patterson in 1959 and Muhammad Ali in 1966, both times via knockout. He was one of a quartet of British boxers, with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine, and Dick Richardson, who dominated the British boxing scene throughout the 1950s and 1960s. An orthodox fighter, London was 6 feet tall and fought at about 14 stone 9 pounds (205"
"of Scottish boxing great Ken Buchanan. McGowan died at Monklands Hospital at Airdrie, North Lanarkshire on 15 February 2016. He had been in poor health in his later years and was living in a nursing home in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. Walter McGowan Walter McGowan, MBE (13 October 1942 – 15 February 2016), was a Scottish boxer born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. He was known for having been the world flyweight champion (Lineal champion. Recognized by European Boxing Union, British Boxing Board of Control and ""The Ring""). He was the son of Thomas McGowan, who had boxed under the name of"
"Heavyweight boxers. He is a member of ""Blackpool Sportsmen's Aid Society"" (BSAS) which raises funds for local charities and sporting needs in Blackpool. Brian London Brian Sidney Harper (born 19 June 1934), known professionally as Brian London, is an English retired heavyweight boxer. He was the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion from 1958 to 1959, and twice challenged for the world heavyweight title, losing to Floyd Patterson in 1959 and Muhammad Ali in 1966, both times via knockout. He was one of a quartet of British boxers, with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine, and Dick Richardson, who dominated the British boxing"
"Thomas Thomas (boxer) Thomas ""Tom"" Thomas (8 April 1880 – 13 August 1911), was a Welsh boxer, the first British middleweight boxing champion. He was born at Glynarthen, Cardiganshire but moved to Carncelyn Farm, Penygraig, in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales at an early age. Born at Glynarthen, Cardiganshire (the home of his mother) and then moving to Carnelyn Farm, he began boxing in a sideshow, touring with Freddie Welsh and Jim Driscoll. After winning the local Rhondda valley heavyweight ""championship"", he won a National Sporting Club middleweight competition in London. Eventually, in May 1906, he fought the English"
"Roland Todd Roland Todd (14 January 1900 — 22 May 1969 (aged 69)) born in Marylebone London was an English professional middle/light heavyweight boxer of the 1910s, and 1920s, who won the National Sporting Club (NSC) (subsequently known as the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC)) British middleweight title, British Empire middleweight title, and European Boxing Union (EBU) middleweight title, his professional fighting weight varied from , i.e. middleweight to , i.e. light heavyweight, After boxing he worked on the railways until his retirement in 1965, after being knocked down by a car on 18 May 1969 close to his"
"and proved to be Lueshing's final fight. He returned to live in England and went on to become a boxing agent, his clients including Nigel Benn. In 2016 his autobiographical book ""The Belt Boy"" was published, detailing his troubled early life including the physical and sexual abuse he received as a child, and resulting suicide attempts, and how boxing changed his life. Kevin Lueshing Kevin Lueshing (born 17 April 1968) is a British former boxer who was British welterweight champion between 1996 and 1997 and three times fought for world titles, winning the IBO World welterweight title in 1996. From"
"and suffered from dementia pugilistica. His adopted son, Luis Rodrigo Griffith, was his primary caregiver. Emile Griffith Emile Alphonse Griffith (February 3, 1938 – July 23, 2013) was a professional boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands who became a World Champion in the welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight classes. His best known contest was a 1962 title match with Benny Paret. At the weigh in, Paret infuriated Griffith, a bisexual man, by touching his buttocks and making homosexual slurs. Griffith won the bout by knockout; Paret never recovered consciousness and died in the hospital 10 days later. In 1963 and"
"British, Commonwealth and European titles from Henry Cooper. The bout was in May 1970, at Wembley, and Bugner won by a technical knockout in the fifth, signalling an end to London's career. After retiring from boxing, London became a businessman in his hometown of Blackpool, owning several nightclubs, and is still a fitness fanatic running 12 miles a day. Teetotal all of his life, in 2006 it was revealed that he was still only a few pounds over his fighting weight. He is married with three children. In January 1971 English footballer Bobby Moore was embroiled in what became a"
"tried to talk to him about his time in the ring he would change the subject. He was found dead from gunshot wounds in the flat above the transport café on 17th May 1966. He had a wound to the head (the bullet lodged against his skull and didn’t enter his brain) and a second wound to his heart which killed him. His daughter Carmen who was 17 months old at the time, also had two bullet wounds and it was assumed that he had shot her before taking his own life. His daughter was rushed to hospital and managed"
"Liverpool in 1952. After winning the Empire featherweight championship, he won the world crown by defeating French Algerian Cherif Hamia in Paris in 1957. He lost the title to US fighter Davey Moore on 18 March 1959. Other opponents include Billy ""Spider"" Kelly, Percy Lewis, Tommy Profitt, Sammy McCarthy, Ricardo Moreno, and Willie Pep. In 1959 he was awarded the MBE following his world title win and went on to become a coach in Nigeria, which awarded him the country's highest honour in 1973. He died on 26 January 1998 at his home in Apapa, Lagos. Hogan Bassey Hogan ""Kid"""
"champion Pat O'Keeffe to become the first national British middleweight champion. In 1909, he fought Charlie Wilson to become the first holder of a Lonsdale Belt at his weight. He won over thirty fights before losing the British middleweight title to Jim Sullivan in November 1910. He began to suffer from rheumatism. He died from heart failure in August 1911 in Cardiff. Although his boxing record is not very well documented he is believed to have won 41 of his 44 fights. Thomas Thomas (boxer) Thomas ""Tom"" Thomas (8 April 1880 – 13 August 1911), was a Welsh boxer, the"
"suffering severe burns. Jim Sullivan died on 22 July 1949, aged 63, in the Atkinson Hospital in Wimbledon. Jim Sullivan (boxer) Jim Sullivan (7 June 1886 – 22 July 1949) was a British boxer who was British middleweight champion between 1910 and 1912. He went on to challenge for the European title. From Bermondsey, Jim Sullivan began his professional career in 1908. After early fights which included two draws and two wins against Curly Watson, Sullivan fought Tom Thomas for the British middleweight title in November 1910, winning a 20-round points decision. In June 1911 he fought Billy Papke for"
"of lung cancer on 3 March 2012, at the age of 76. Dave Charnley David Fraser Charnley (10 October 1935 – 3 March 2012) was an English lightweight boxer considered to be one of the greatest British fighters in his weight class. Known as ""The Dartford Destroyer"", the left-handed Charnley had a 10-year career lasting from 1954 to 1964. Charnley won a bronze medal at the 1954 Commonwealth Games and went on to become undefeated British lightweight champion (1957–63), Commonwealth lightweight champion (1959–62) and European lightweight champion (1960–61). Charnley made two unsuccessful world title challenges against his arch-rival Joe 'Old"
"the ninth round despite trailing on points, only to be outpointed six weeks later, in what Boxing News declared to be one of the finest victories by a British boxer in the previous 20 years. Scott retired in 1973. Career Record: Harry Scott (boxer) Harry Scott (27 October 1937 – 16 December 2015) was a British boxer and contender in the middleweight division during the 1960s. He never fought for the British title, losing three final eliminators. Yet his ability was widely recognised, and he fought around the world, facing four past or future world champions, including Emile Griffith and"
"Jack Dempsey (wrestler) Thomas Moore (1920 – November 2007) was a British professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Jack Dempsey, who was active in North American and European regional promotions from the 1930s to the 1960s. At the time of his 1966 retirement, he was a quadruple-crown British, European, Commonweatlh and World (European version) Welterweight Champion. One of the leading British welterweight champions during the 1960s, he faced many top stars of the era including George Kidd, Joe Murphy, John Foley, Eddie Capelli, Bob Steele, Alan Colbeck and, most notably, Mick McManus whom he defeated for the British"
"Jack Dempsey (wrestler) Thomas Moore (1920 – November 2007) was a British professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Jack Dempsey, who was active in North American and European regional promotions from the 1930s to the 1960s. At the time of his 1966 retirement, he was a quadruple-crown British, European, Commonweatlh and World (European version) Welterweight Champion. One of the leading British welterweight champions during the 1960s, he faced many top stars of the era including George Kidd, Joe Murphy, John Foley, Eddie Capelli, Bob Steele, Alan Colbeck and, most notably, Mick McManus whom he defeated for the British"
"not want his boxers hurt. Jim Watt, one of six Lawless-trained-and-managed boxers who went on to win world titles (including Frank Bruno, and Joe Calzaghe under different management), wrote in his autobiography, ""Watt's My Name:"" He was married to his wife Sylvia for 53 years and they had two children, Lorraine and Steven. On 24 December 2009, Lawless died in Marbella, Spain, in hospital after undergoing gallbladder surgery. Among the boxers Lawless managed/trained were: Terry Lawless Terry Lawless (29 March 1933 – 24 December 2009) was an English boxing manager and trainer who worked in London, most successfully during the"
"title. Only five weeks later Paul travelled to Milan to face WBC World Champion Rocky Mattioli in a non-title fight, losing the fight on points. Eight days later he faced German champion Frank Wissenbach in Berlin, losing via a second-round knockout. In April 1978 he had his final fight, a points victory over Joe Jackson in Coventry. Larry Paul Larry Paul (19 April 1952 – 9 October 2017) was a British boxer who was the first to hold the British light middleweight title, holding it between September 1973 and November 1974. Born in Liverpool in 1952 to a White Irish"
"Talbot pub in Market Harborough. George Aldridge (boxer) George Aldridge (born 1 February 1936) is a former middleweight boxer who was British champion from 1962 to 1963 and fought for the European title in 1963. Born in London, Aldridge was raised in Market Harborough in Leicestershire after his family were evacuated during World War II; There he joined the Market Harborough Amateur Boxing Club, and made his professional debut in October 1956 with a draw against Paddy Delargy. A string of wins in 1957 led to a fight for the Midlands Area title in February 1958, which he won by"
"was ranked as the top flyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2006. Jimmy Wilde William James Wilde (15 May 1892 – 10 March 1969) was a Welsh professional boxer and world boxing champion. Often regarded as the greatest British fighter of all time, he was the first official world flyweight champion and was rated by American boxing writer Nat Fleischer, as well as many other professionals and fans including former boxer, trainer, manager and promoter, Charley 'Broadway' Rose, as ""the Greatest Flyweight Boxer Ever"". Wilde earned various nicknames such as, ""The Mighty Atom,"" ""Ghost with the"