RANDOLPH TURPIN was undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, of the British fighters of the 1950s. So much is known about his professional career, and particularly about his famous victory over Sugar Ray Robinson, that it is, perhaps, easy to overlook just what a good amateur he was.
He did not stay an amateur for long, but he achieved a great deal in his four seasons with the vest. Born in June 1928, Randolph was only 14 when he picked up his first national title, winning the ABA Youth Class A 9st 7lbs championship.
He returned the following year to pick up the Class B title at the same weight. At that time the Class A title was open to lads aged 14 to 15, and the Class B title for lads aged between 15 and 16, their precise ages being based around the equivalent for their school year. Turpin returned in 1945 and won the ABA junior title at 10st 7lbs.
The BN reporter singled out his performance for praise, commenting that in winning his title by virtue of two first-round knockouts, his name, and that of a few other lads, should be remembered as “they contain the names of boys destined to go places in the world of boxing”.
The ABA Senior championships were delayed until the summer of 1945, largely due to the end of the war in Europe, which happened just the month before, and, as Turpin had turned 17 just three weeks beforehand, he could enter.
In its preview of the event, under the headline “Turpin the Terror”, BN noted that “The name is Turpin; Randolph Turpin, seventeen-year-old building worker, dark of skin, terrific of punch and something that crops up only very occasionally when it comes to boxing skill. He has a great chance”.
Randolph took that chance, beating Wally Thom, the future British welterweight champion, on points. He was the first man to win both junior and senior titles in the same year and only the second black fighter to win an ABA championship, following Cuthbert Taylor, who won at flyweight in 1928.
His nickname at this time was ‘Licker’ and when he joined the Royal Navy shortly afterwards, serving as a Ship’s Cook, it did not take him long to pick up the Navy middleweight title, which he inevitably followed up by winning the Inter-Services title at Brighton in April 1945. When he stepped into the ring at the Royal Albert Hall on 1 May 1946, he was still only 17 years old.
There aren’t many champions who have won two ABA titles at the same age, and none that won them both so young. Turpin had little trouble in hammering his semi-final opponent Ian Mitchell in two rounds, scoring five knockdowns in the process, before beating Glaswegian Ian Watson, again inside the distance, to defend his middleweight crown.
A rather lacklustre performance followed when, representing the ABA against France, he drew his contest in Paris. Amateur draws were common in Europe in 1946, but in the UK they were not allowed as the judges had to find a winner in every contest on this side of the channel. His final amateur contest took place at the Empire Pool, Wembley on 29 May 1946 when Randolph represented the ABA once more, this time in a match against the USA.
The ABA team managed a 5-3 victory against the Americans, with wins for Skeets Gallacher, Charlie Squires, Eddie Thomas, Johnny Ryan, and, of course, Turpin. Here is the BN report for Turpin’s victory, “Anspach, cautioned for holding almost immediately, turned to the referee and asked ‘Who, me?’
A minute later, the US Marine was incapable of asking anybody anything. Turpin, swiftly on his feet after a slip, crashed his opponent down with a right to the chin and repeated the dose as the bemused American scrambled up. This time Anspach stayed put”.
