Over the years, some great British boxing warriors have battled their way through massive, even monstrous odds. Modern-day legends such as Lloyd Honeyghan, Nigel Benn, Tyson Fury, Ricky Hatton, and Carl Froch have sent their opponents packing, the odds be damned. But it can never be forgotten – in fact, it never will be forgotten – how THE biggest, most enormous upset ever scored by a British boxer came on the evening of July 10th in 1951.
On this night, the superb Sugar Ray Robinson, on the final stop of his whistle-stop tour of Europe, met Randolph Turpin in London. 18,000 fans were on hand to see the incomparable Sugar Ray, an astonishing 129-1-2(84) coming in, face swell underdog Turpin, 40-2-1(29).
Nobody thought Turpin would win, but the British fans were certain of one thing: Randy would give his best, his all. And he would make the flamboyant, overconfident Robinson work hard to keep his middleweight crown. Instead, in what must have been the uplifting party of all parties in the UK, whose residents were still slowly recovering from the ravages of WW II at the time (rationing didn’t end in the UK until 1954), Turpin pulled it off.
Robinson, tired from his European efforts, both in the ring and out of it (“I left my legs in Paris,” Sugar Ray later quipped when reflecting on his Euro exertions) had a tough time with Turpin’s style, with his sheer physical strength, and with his own fatigue. Sugar Ray was also cut during the fight, with the greatest to ever do it later complaining, just a little, about Turpin’s “ruffian style” of fighting.
As rare as it was to see Robinson lose, it was equally as rare to listen to him make any excuse for having done so. To his championship credit, Robinson also said he had “no alibis” for having lost and that his sole goal was now regaining the title. Turpin, an ultimately tragic figure, didn’t have too long to enjoy his fantastic victory.
Just 64 days later, in New York, Robinson, again having a tough time with Randy – Sugar Ray being badly cut and on the verge of being stopped – poured it on in seismic fashion to flatten Turpin in the tenth round of another classic encounter. Turpin got back up, but after taking five hefty head shots, his eyes glassy, Turpin was saved by referee Ruby Goldstein.
There was no rubber match.
Instead, both greats headed into an uncertain future. Nobody knew how much Robinson had left at age 31. While absolutely nobody could have possibly predicted the terrible downfall Turpin would suffer.
But on this day, some 73 years ago, Randolph Turpin was the king of kings, and he became so by defeating the greatest fighter who ever lived. Nothing in terms of British boxing glory has ever come close, either before or since. And very likely never will.
