Dick Richardson (boxer)

Dick Richardson (1 June 1934 – 15 July 1999) was a heavyweight boxer from the Maesglas area of Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He held the European heavyweight title from March 1960 to June 1962. In all, he won 31 of his 47 professional bouts, losing 14, with two drawn. He was one of a quartet of British heavyweights in the 1950s and early 1960s, along with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine and Brian London, who held out the possibility of a challenging for a heavyweight world champion.

Dick Richardson
Statistics
Real nameRichard Alexander Richardson
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Nationality Welsh
Born1 June 1934
Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
Died15 July 1999 (aged 65)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights47
Wins31
Wins by KO24
Losses14
Draws2
No contests0

Richardson defeated a number of top heavyweights in his career, including; Karl Mildenberger, Bob Baker, Brian London and Hans Kalbfell.

Career

He was born Richard Alexander Richardson but was known as Dick. He was 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and weighed about 14 stone 4 pounds (200 lb; 91 kg). He had a few amateur bouts before being called up for his national service in 1953. He served in the Royal Army Service Corps where he became boxing champion. However he was beaten in the inter-services boxing championships by Brian London, later to become British heavyweight boxing champion, and fighting under his real name of Harper. He turned professional in 1954, being managed by Wally Lesley and trained by Johnny Lewis at a gym in Blackfriars, London. In September 1954, he lost his first professional bout on points against Henry Cooper's twin brother, George, fighting under the ring name of Jim Cooper. He avenged this defeat in March 1955 with a technical knockout in the second round.

Rising up

Richardson began to build up an impressive list of victories, many of them inside the distance. In May 1956 he fought fellow Welsh heavyweight, Joe Erskine, in the Maindy Stadium, Cardiff, in front of 35,000 fans. Despite knocking Erskine down in round five, Richardson lost on points. Richardson continued to look for higher-class opponents and in October 1956, he fought the ex-world champion Ezzard Charles in a fight that became a farce when the American was disqualified in round two for persistent holding. He next fought the world-class Cuban, Nino Valdes in December 1956, but was forced to retire in the eighth round.

Richardson's first title fight was for the Commonwealth (British Empire) Heavyweight Title against the holder, the Jamaican, Joe Bygraves, in Cardiff in May 1957. The fight, over fifteen rounds was a draw and Bygraves retained his title.

In October 1957, Richardson, was easily out-pointed in a bout against the future world light-heavyweight champion, Willie Pastrano. His career appeared to be faltering when he was beaten by Henry Cooper in September 1958, on a technical knockout in the fifth round, and also lost to Joe Erskine on points in June 1959.

European title

However, in March 1960, he was matched against the German boxer Hans Kalbfell, for the vacant European heavyweight title. He had previously beaten Kalbfell in four rounds, in Porthcawl, and he won this bout, held in Dortmund, Germany, by a technical knockout in the thirteenth round. The defeat of Kalbfell provoked a riot amongst the German fans, and Richardson needed a police escort to reach his dressing room.

Richardson defended his European title in August 1960, against Brian London, in Porthcawl, winning by a technical knockout in the eighth round. This result provoked a brawl, when London's father and brother, with Richardson's brothers coming in to defend as the Londons invaded the ring to protest that Richardson had used his head to open a cut on his opponent.

Richardson also won a return bout against Hans Kalbfell in Dortmund in February 1961, gaining a points decision.

Richardson won the next defence of his title, in February 1962, against the German, Karl Mildenberger, by an astonishing first-round knockout. The bout was held in Dortmund. Mildenberger would fight Muhammad Ali for the world title several years later.

Richardson's fourth defence of his title was in June 1962, against the hard-punching Swede, Ingemar Johansson. Johansson had been world heavyweight champion after beating Floyd Patterson, but had subsequently lost the title to Patterson in June 1960. The bout was held in Gothenburg, Sweden in front of 50,000 spectators, and Richardson was knocked out in the eighth round.

Richardson's last fight was in March 1963, when Henry Cooper defended his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles against him at Wembley. Richardson was knocked out in the fifth round.

Retirement and death

Richardson retired at the relatively early age of 28, and ran a small chain of butcher's shops in Surrey. Dick Richardson, offered advice to Newport Heavyweight David Pearce. Dick believed if David had signed with a promoter from London he would have become a World Champion. David would not leave his father due to his loyalty[1] He died from cancer on 15 July 1999, aged 65. He was married to Betty Richardson with one son, Gary and one daughter Lyn, from whom he has six grandchildren.

In his 47 professional bouts, he won 31 (24 on knock-outs), and lost 14 (4 on knock-outs). Two of his bouts were drawn.

Professional boxing record

31 Wins (24 knockouts, 6 decisions, 1 DQ), 14 Losses (4 knockouts, 7 decisions, 3 DQs), 2 Draws
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 26-8-1 Henry Cooper KO 5 26 March 1963 Empire Pool, Wembley, London BBBofC/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles.
Loss 24-2 Ingemar Johansson KO 8 17 June 1962 Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 30-1 Karl Mildenberger KO 1 24 February 1962 Westfalenhallen, Dortmund EBU Heavyweight Title. Mildenberger knocked out at 2:35 of the first round.
Loss 37-22-8 Howard King PTS 10 5 September 1961 Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Win 26-6-1 Hans Kalbfell PTS 15 18 February 1961 Westfalenhallen, Dortmund EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win 23-6 Brian London TKO 8 29 August 1960 Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss 39-7-1 Mike DeJohn DQ 8 27 July 1960 Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win 25-5-1 Hans Kalbfell TKO 13 27 March 1960 Westfalenhallen, Dortmund EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss 38-7-1 Mike DeJohn PTS 10 1 December 1959 Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Loss 34-3-1 Joe Erskine PTS 10 24 June 1959 Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win 25-16-4 Bert Whitehurst PTS 10 10 March 1959 Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Win 13-5 Garvin Sawyer PTS 10 28 October 1958 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Loss 15-7-1 Henry Cooper TKO 5 3 September 1958 Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win 50-12-1 Bob Baker PTS 10 9 July 1958 Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win 29-18-6 Hans Friedrich KO 4 17 May 1958 Newtown Pavilion, Newtown, Powys
Loss 39-2 Cleveland Williams DQ 4 25 March 1958 Empress Hall, Earl's Court, Kensington, London
Win 13-18-4 Maurice Mols TKO 6 3 March 1958 Carmarthen Market Hall, Carmarthen
Loss 49-11-1 Bob Baker PTS 10 10 December 1957 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Loss 41-5-5 Willie Pastrano PTS 10 22 October 1957 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win 17-2 Hans Kalbfell TKO 4 31 July 1957 Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Draw 35-9 Joe Bygraves PTS 15 27 May 1957 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff Commonwealth Heavyweight Title.
Win 17-5-1 Giannino Luise TKO 5 1 April 1957 Nottingham Ice Stadium, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Loss 35-14-3 Nino Valdes TKO 8 4 December 1956 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win 91-20-1 Ezzard Charles DQ 2 2 October 1956 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win 24-14-1 Kurt Schiegl TKO 1 16 July 1956 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win 17-15-8 Guenter Nurnberg TKO 3 7 July 1956 Park Avenue Field, Aberystwyth
Loss 27-0-1 Joe Erskine PTS 10 7 May 1956 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win 33-8-1 Marcel Limage RTD 5 27 February 1956 Cardiff
Win 33-10-5 Werner Wiegand TKO 6 17 January 1956 Streatham Ice Arena, Streatham, London, England
Win 14-2-1 Alain Cherville KO 2 6 December 1955 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win 12-28-5 Robert Warmbrunn TKO 1 7 November 1955 Abergavenny Market Hall, Abergavenny
Win 10-30-4 Robert Eugene KO 4 18 October 1955 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win 0-16-2 Emile DeGreef KO 2 26 September 1955 Carmarthen Drill Hall, Carmarthen
Win 18-4-1 Peter Bates TKO 3 13 September 1955 White City Stadium, White City, London
Win 11-15-4 Jean Serres TKO 3 29 August 1955 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win 0-14 Prosper Beck PTS 8 18 July 1955 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Loss 12-8-1 Hugh Ferns DQ 5 13 June 1955 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win 12-11 Morrie Bush KO 2 26 April 1955 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win 6-5 Denny Ball TKO 3 18 April 1955 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win 2-1 Jim Cooper TKO 2 15 March 1955 Streatham Ice Arena, Streatham, London, England
Win 10-7 Sid Cain TKO 3 28 February 1955 Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Win 12-9-2 Johnny McLeavy TKO 4 24 January 1955 Manor Place Baths, Walworth, London
Win 6-4-1 Sammy Clarke KO 1 10 January 1955 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win 3-4-2 Johnny Hall PTS 6 29 November 1954 Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Draw -- Bernie Jelley PTS 6 12 October 1954 Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win -- Peter Green KO 1 4 October 1954 Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win -- Jim Cooper PTS 6 14 September 1954 Harringay Arena, Harringay, London

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.