On 10th July, 1951, Randolph Turpin made history by beating Sugar Ray Robinson to become middleweight champion of the world. This was a great achievement; Sugar Ray Robinson had only been beaten once, out of a total of 133 professional fights.
Randolph Turpin was born in Leamington on 7th June 1928. He was a cook in the Royal Navy, and had a very successful amateur career, becoming A.B.A welterweight champion in 1945. In 1946 he turned professional, and won all his first 19 fights. He became British middleweight champion in 1950 and European champion in 1951.
He only held the world title for 64 days, when Robinson reclaimed the title in a rematch in October 1951. However he continued to gain further national titles, including the Lonsdale belt for becoming British Light Heavyweight champion three times, in 1952, 1955 and 1956. He was also Commonwealth Light Heavyweight champion in 1952.
Also in 1952 Randolph Turpin became the licensee of Randy's Bar at the summit of the Great Orme until 1961. The Llandudno Urban Council bought him out when he got into financial difficulties with the Inland Revenue.
Tragically, Randolph faced many problems towards the end of his life and committed suicide with a single bullet in 1966, aged just 37. In 1979 a plaque was unveiled in Leamington Town Hall in his memory, and in 2001, he was inducted into the American International Hall of Fame, the ultimate award that a boxer can achieve.
