Randy Turpin
Encyclopedia
Randolph Adolphus Turpin (7 June 1928 – 17 May 1966) known as the Leamington Larruper, was an English
boxer
who was considered by some to be Europe
's best middleweight
boxer of the 1940s and 1950s.
, to a black father who had emigrated from Guyana and a white British mother, 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 5 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 4-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
.
Three more wins followed, including a disqualification win in 8 rounds against important challenger Tommy Yarosz. He then met European middleweight champion Luc Van Dam in London, whom he knocked out in the first round to seize the European championship.
Four wins followed after that, including a rematch with Stock, against whom he avenged his second defeat, knocking him out in 5 rounds. Then world middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson
travelled to London and, on 10 July 1951, risked his title against Turpin, who won the world title by beating Robinson on a 15-round decision.
Turpin became an instant national hero. His win over Robinson gave him such celebrity that even many people who were not boxing fans knew who he was. When he signed for a rematch with Robinson and chose Gwrych Castle
near Abergele
in North Wales
to train, the castle was constantly hounded by fans and tourists.
in New York
on 12 September 1951.
This turned out to be the beginning of Turpin's problems, because he would begin to miss the sweet life that being a world boxing champion gave him.
He tried to regain his former status and, three fights later, beat Don Cockell
in 11 rounds by a knockout
to win the British Commonwealth
light-heavyweight title.
Turpin went back down in weight, and beat Georges Angelo to regain his British middleweight title, and put on another string of wins, leading to his challenge of Bobo Olson
for the world middleweight title that Robinson had left vacant after retiring. His second trip to New York turned into another 15-round defeat, this time at the hands of Olson.
In 1954, he went to Rome
where he lost his European middleweight title by a knockout in the first round to Tiberio Mitri
.
He kept trying mightily as he could to regain his former condition as a world champion and even retained his British middleweight title a few times in his next ten fights, but he lost two of them to obscure opponents.
After that, he managed another winning streak against some obscure boxers, but by 1958 it was clear his best days in boxing were long over. He lost that year to Yolande Pompey, another future world title challenger, by a second-round knockout in Birmingham
, and retired in 1959.
In 1962, he began another comeback which lasted for only two fights, both of which he won, the last being held in Malta
.
He retired with a record of 66 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw. Of his 66 wins, 48 came by knockout.
By now he was so short of money that he resorted to professional wrestling. His name meant that he drew moderate crowds for a short time, but in the end this venture was not a success because he was a fighter not a showman.
in Wales
, he bought a public house
on the Great Orme
, which today retains several genuine artefacts from his career. Between 1952 and 1961, he was the registered licensee.
After being declared bankrupt, Turpin committed suicide by shooting himself in 1966. It is reported that, on the same day, he tried to kill his daughter.
On 17 May 1966 he was found dead in his home Gwen's Transport Cafe in Leamington Spa where he lived with his wife and four daughters, one of his daughters, Carmen aged 4, was taken to hospital in Birmingham with two shot wounds.
in Canastota, New York
in 2001. There is a statue of him in Market Square, Warwick
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
who was considered by some to be Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
's best middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
boxer of the 1940s and 1950s.
Biography
Born in Leamington SpaLeamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, to a black father who had emigrated from Guyana and a white British mother, he started like his brother Dick
Dick Turpin (boxer)
Dick Turpin, was an English middleweight boxer. He was British and Commonwealth middleweight champion, reputedly being the first black fighter to win a British boxing title...
to be trained in the art of boxing at Leamington Boys' Club.
Turpin turned professional in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1946, soon after his 18th birthday. Trained by his elder brother Dick, who himself was a successful middleweight, Randolph knocked out Gordon Griffiths
Gordon Griffiths
Gordon Craven Griffiths was an English cricketer: a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who played five times for Worcestershire between 1932 and 1935. He never made a significant impact on a game with the bat, having a top score of just 16 from his ten innings and finishing with a batting...
in his first bout. Turpin put together a string of 16 wins in a row, all over the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, until drawing with Mark Hart
Mark Hart
Mark Hart , is a multi-instrumentalist best known for his participation as a member of Supertramp and Crowded House....
over six rounds in his last bout of 1947.
Three wins later, he found himself facing Albert Finch
Albert Finch
Albert Finch was a British boxer from Croydon in South London, who was active from 1945 to 1958. He fought as both a middleweight and light-heavyweight, becoming British middleweight champion in 1950....
who inflicted on Turpin his first defeat, an 8-round-decision loss. After one more win he lost again, knocked out in 5 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 4-round disqualification win against William Poli). Rematched with Finch, this time with the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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
Harringay Arena
Harringay Arena was a sporting and events venue on Green Lanes in Harringay, North London, England. Built in 1936, it lasted as a venue until 1958.-Construction:...
.
Three more wins followed, including a disqualification win in 8 rounds against important challenger Tommy Yarosz. He then met European middleweight champion Luc Van Dam in London, whom he knocked out in the first round to seize the European championship.
Four wins followed after that, including a rematch with Stock, against whom he avenged his second defeat, knocking him out in 5 rounds. Then world middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson was an African-American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight...
travelled to London and, on 10 July 1951, risked his title against Turpin, who won the world title by beating Robinson on a 15-round decision.
Turpin became an instant national hero. His win over Robinson gave him such celebrity that even many people who were not boxing fans knew who he was. When he signed for a rematch with Robinson and chose Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle
Gwrych Castle is a Grade I listed 19th century country house near Abergele in Conwy county borough, North Wales.-History:Gwrych Castle was erected between 1819 and 1825 at the behest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh, grandfather of Winifred Cochrane, Countess of Dundonald. From 1894 until 1924,...
near Abergele
Abergele
Abergele is a community and old Roman trading town, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the Irish Sea coast and is known for its beach, where it is claimed by some that a ghost ship...
in North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
to train, the castle was constantly hounded by fans and tourists.
Decline
His days as a world champion didn't last long, however, and when he made his first trip outside his homeland for a fight, he lost his crown to Robinson by a tenth-round TKO with eight seconds left in the round at the Polo GroundsPolo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 12 September 1951.
This turned out to be the beginning of Turpin's problems, because he would begin to miss the sweet life that being a world boxing champion gave him.
He tried to regain his former status and, three fights later, beat Don Cockell
Don Cockell
Donald John Cockell was an English boxer. He fought for most of his career as a light-heavyweight and became the British and European champion at that weight. Later in his career he moved up to heavyweight and held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles...
in 11 rounds by a knockout
Knockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
to win the British Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
light-heavyweight title.
Turpin went back down in weight, and beat Georges Angelo to regain his British middleweight title, and put on another string of wins, leading to his challenge of Bobo Olson
Bobo Olson
Carl Olson was an American boxer. He was the world middleweight champion between October 1953 and December 1955, the longest reign of any champion in that division during the 1950s, although he is probably best remembered for his three knockout losses against Sugar Ray Robinson.His nickname, Bobo,...
for the world middleweight title that Robinson had left vacant after retiring. His second trip to New York turned into another 15-round defeat, this time at the hands of Olson.
In 1954, he went to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
where he lost his European middleweight title by a knockout in the first round to Tiberio Mitri
Tiberio Mitri
Tiberio Mitri was an Italian boxer who fought from 1946 to 1957. During his career, Mitri was the Italian and European middleweight champion....
.
He kept trying mightily as he could to regain his former condition as a world champion and even retained his British middleweight title a few times in his next ten fights, but he lost two of them to obscure opponents.
After that, he managed another winning streak against some obscure boxers, but by 1958 it was clear his best days in boxing were long over. He lost that year to Yolande Pompey, another future world title challenger, by a second-round knockout in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, and retired in 1959.
In 1962, he began another comeback which lasted for only two fights, both of which he won, the last being held in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
.
He retired with a record of 66 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw. Of his 66 wins, 48 came by knockout.
By now he was so short of money that he resorted to professional wrestling. His name meant that he drew moderate crowds for a short time, but in the end this venture was not a success because he was a fighter not a showman.
Retirement and suicide
According to articles, reports and a biography, Turpin couldn't deal with the obscurity resulting from the loss of his crown. In LlandudnoLlandudno
Llandudno is a seaside resort and town in Conwy County Borough, Wales. In the 2001 UK census it had a population of 20,090 including that of Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, which are within the Llandudno Community...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, he bought a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
on the Great Orme
Great Orme
The Great Orme is a prominent limestone headland on the north coast of Wales situated in Llandudno. It is referred to as Cyngreawdr Fynydd in a poem by the 12th century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr...
, which today retains several genuine artefacts from his career. Between 1952 and 1961, he was the registered licensee.
After being declared bankrupt, Turpin committed suicide by shooting himself in 1966. It is reported that, on the same day, he tried to kill his daughter.
On 17 May 1966 he was found dead in his home Gwen's Transport Cafe in Leamington Spa where he lived with his wife and four daughters, one of his daughters, Carmen aged 4, was taken to hospital in Birmingham with two shot wounds.
Memorial
Turpin was inducted as a member of the International Boxing Hall Of FameInternational Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
in Canastota, New York
Canastota, New York
Canastota is a village located inside the Town of Lenox in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 4,425 at the 2000 census.The Village of Canastota is in the south part of the Town of Lenox.- History :...
in 2001. There is a statue of him in Market Square, Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
.
See also
Further reading
- James Morton Fighters: The Sad Lives and Deaths of Freddie Mills and Randolph Turpin, Time Warner Paperbacks, 2005. ISBN 0751533211