Dick Richardson (boxer)

Dick Richardson
Statistics
Real name	Richard Alexander Richardson
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Nationality	Welsh
Born	1 June 1934 Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
Died	15 July 1999 (aged 65)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	47
Wins	31
Wins by KO	24
Losses	14
Draws	2
No contests	0

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 outstanding British heavyweights in the 1950s and early 1960s, along with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine and Brian London, who held out the possibility of a British heavyweight world champion.

Richardson defeated a number of top heavyweights in his career, including; Ezzard Charles, 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.

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 'Bomber' 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. 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 which 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	26/03/1963	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	BBBofC/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles.
Loss	24-2	Ingemar Johansson	KO	8	17/06/1962	Nya Ullevi, Gothenburg	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win	30-1	Karl Mildenberger	KO	1	24/02/1962	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia	EBU Heavyweight Title. Mildenberger knocked out at 2:35 of the first round.
Loss	37-22-8	Howard "Honeyboy" King	PTS	10	05/09/1961	Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Win	26-6-1	Hans Kalbfell	PTS	15	18/02/1961	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win	23-6	Brian London	TKO	8	29/08/1960	Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss	39-7-1	Mike DeJohn	DQ	8	27/07/1960	Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win	25-5-1	Hans Kalbfell	TKO	13	27/03/1960	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss	38-7-1	Mike DeJohn	PTS	10	01/12/1959	Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Loss	34-3-1	Joe Erskine	PTS	10	24/06/1959	Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win	25-16-4	Bert Whitehurst	PTS	10	10/03/1959	Empire Pool, Wembley, London
Win	13-5	Garvin Sawyer	PTS	10	28/10/1958	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Loss	15-7-1	Henry Cooper	TKO	5	03/09/1958	Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win	50-12-1	Bob "The Grinder" Baker	PTS	10	09/07/1958	Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Win	29-18-6	Hans Friedrich	KO	4	17/05/1958	Newtown Pavilion, Newtown, Powys
Loss	39-2	Cleveland Williams	DQ	4	25/03/1958	Empress Hall, Earl's Court, Kensington, London
Win	13-18-4	Maurice Mols	TKO	6	03/03/1958	Carmarthen Market Hall, Carmarthen
Loss	49-11-1	Bob "The Grinder" Baker	PTS	10	10/12/1957	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Loss	41-5-5	Willie Pastrano	PTS	10	22/10/1957	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win	17-2	Hans Kalbfell	TKO	4	31/07/1957	Coney Beach Pleasure Park, Porthcawl
Draw	35-9	Joe Bygraves	PTS	15	27/05/1957	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff	Commonwealth Heavyweight Title.
Win	17-5-1	Giannino Luise	TKO	5	01/04/1957	Nottingham Ice Stadium, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
Loss	35-14-3	Nino Valdes	TKO	8	04/12/1956	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win	91-20-1	Ezzard Charles	DQ	2	02/10/1956	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win	24-14-1	Kurt Schiegl	TKO	1	16/07/1956	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	17-15-8	Guenter Nurnberg	TKO	3	07/07/1956	Park Avenue Field, Aberystwyth
Loss	27-0-1	Joe Erskine	PTS	10	07/05/1956	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	33-8-1	Marcel Limage	RTD	5	27/02/1956	Cardiff
Win	33-10-5	Werner Wiegand	TKO	6	17/01/1956	Streatham Ice Arena, Streatham, London, England
Win	14-2-1	Alain Cherville	KO	2	06/12/1955	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win	12-28-5	Robert Warmbrunn	TKO	1	07/11/1955	Abergavenny Market Hall, Abergavenny
Win	10-30-4	Robert Eugene	KO	4	18/10/1955	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win	0-16-2	Emile DeGreef	KO	2	26/09/1955	Carmarthen Drill Hall, Carmarthen
Win	18-4-1	Peter Bates	TKO	3	13/09/1955	White City Stadium, White City, London
Win	11-15-4	Jean Serres	TKO	3	29/08/1955	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	0-14	Prosper Beck	PTS	8	18/07/1955	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Loss	12-8-1	Hugh Ferns	DQ	5	13/06/1955	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	12-11	Morrie Bush	KO	2	26/04/1955	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London
Win	6-5	Denny Ball	TKO	3	18/04/1955	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	2-1	Jim "Twin George" Cooper	TKO	2	15/03/1955	Streatham Ice Arena, Streatham, London, England
Win	10-7	Sid Cain	TKO	3	28/02/1955	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Win	12-9-2	Johnny McLeavy	TKO	4	24/01/1955	Manor Place Baths, Walworth, London
Win	6-4-1	Sammy Clarke	KO	1	10/01/1955	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	3-4-2	Johnny Hall	PTS	6	29/11/1954	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Draw	--	Bernie Jelley	PTS	6	12/10/1954	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	--	Peter Green	KO	1	04/10/1954	Maindy Stadium, Cardiff
Win	--	Jim "Twin George" Cooper	PTS	6	14/09/1954	Harringay Arena, Harringay, London

Sources & external links

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