Dick Tiger
Encyclopedia
Dick Tiger CBE  was a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 from Ubahu village, Amaigbo
Amaigbo
Amaigbo is a larger town in Imo State, Nigeria. It is the headquarters of Nwangele Local Government Area.Amaigbo is of Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria.Promiment people from Amaigbo include, Dick Tiger-late boxing legend, Dr Walter Ofonagoro-former Minister for Information Federal Republic of Nigeria,...

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, who emigrated to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and later to the United States of America. Tiger was a member of the Igbo
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...

 ethnic group. Tiger was a talent
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...

ed boxer, commercial venturer, and Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...

n rebel
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...

.

Professional career

Dick Tiger was one of the greatest fighters to come out of Africa. He became a two-time undisputed world middleweight titlist and helped keep boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 alive during the 1950s boxing industry recession. Tiger earned an undisputed Light-Heavyweight world championship. In 1962, Tiger won the world middleweight boxing championship.

On May 20, 1965, Tiger floored Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
Rubin Carter
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fought professionally as a middleweight boxer from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he was arrested for a triple homicide in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey...

 three times and won a unanimous 10-round decision. Tiger took on Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer is a former American middleweight boxer and world champion.-Professional career:Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout...

 and won the world's Middleweight title by decision in fifteen. Later in a rematch he drew in fifteen and in the rubber match won by knockout in seven rounds.

Tiger was an "in-house fighter" at New York City's Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

.

Retirement and death

After retiring from boxing, Tiger worked as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...

 in New York. One day, he felt a strong pain in his back. Tested by doctors, he was diagnosed with liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...

. Tiger had been banned by the Nigerian government in his country because of his involvement in the Biafran movement; however, the ban was lifted immediately after news about his condition arrived in Nigeria.

He died of liver cancer on December 14, 1971; he was 42 years old.

Biafran rebel cause

Tiger developed a portfolio of investments before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War
Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, 6 July 1967–15 January 1970, was a political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra...

. Tiger was appointed CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, but he returned his insignia as a protest for what he perceived as a lack of support by Great Britain to the Biafran cause.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|60 Wins (27 Knockouts), 19 Defeats (2 Knockouts), 3 Draws
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Res.
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes
|- align=center
|Loss
|60-19-3
|align=left| United States Virgin Islands Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|60-18-3
|align=left| United States Andy Kendall
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|59-18-3
|align=left| Italy Nino Benvenuti
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|58-18-3
|align=left| United States Frank DePaula
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|57-18-3
|align=left| United States Bob Foster
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|57-17-3
|align=left| United States Roger Rouse
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|56-17-3
|align=left| Puerto Rico José Torres
José Torres
José Torres , was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1965, he defeated Willie Pastrano to win the WBC and WBA light heavyweight championships...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|55-17-3
|align=left| Nigeria Abraham Tomica
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|54-17-3
|align=left| Puerto Rico José Torres
José Torres
José Torres , was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur boxer, he won a silver medal in the junior middleweight at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1965, he defeated Willie Pastrano to win the WBC and WBA light heavyweight championships...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|53-17-3
|align=left| United States Virgin Islands Emile Griffith
Emile Griffith
Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|53-16-3
|align=left| Germany Peter Mueller
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|52-16-3
|align=left| United States Joey Giardello
Joey Giardello
Carmine Orlando Tilelli was an American boxer who was the middleweight champion of the world from 1963 to 1965, and was better known by his professional pseudonym of Joey Giardello.-Early life:...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|51-16-3
|align=left| United States Rubin Carter
Rubin Carter
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fought professionally as a middleweight boxer from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he was arrested for a triple homicide in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|50-16-3
|align=left| Argentina Juan Carlos Rivero
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|49-16-3
|align=left| United States Joey Archer
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, , is a retired boxer. Archer defeated Sugar Ray Robinson in Robinson's final fight in 1965 , and fought Hall of Fame boxers such as Emile Griffith and Dick Tiger....


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|49-15-3
|align=left| United States Don Fullmer
Don Fullmer
Don Fullmer is a former boxer and brother of former world middleweight champion Gene Fullmer.Eight years younger than his more famous brother, Don followed Gene into the gym in West Jordan, Utah, to learn how to box. He fought as an amateur for four years and did not lose in sixty-five fights...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|48-15-3
|align=left| Puerto Rico Jose Monon Gonzalez
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|47-15-3
|align=left| United States Joey Giardello
Joey Giardello
Carmine Orlando Tilelli was an American boxer who was the middleweight champion of the world from 1963 to 1965, and was better known by his professional pseudonym of Joey Giardello.-Early life:...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|47-14-3
|align=left| United States Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer is a former American middleweight boxer and world champion.-Professional career:Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw
|46-14-3
|align=left| United States Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer is a former American middleweight boxer and world champion.-Professional career:Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|46-14-2
|align=left| United States Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer
Gene Fullmer is a former American middleweight boxer and world champion.-Professional career:Fullmer began his professional career in 1951 and won his first 29 fights, 19 by knockout...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|45-14-2
|align=left| United States Henry Hank
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|44-14-2
|align=left| Cuba Florentino Fernández
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|43-14-2
|align=left| United States William Pickett
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|42-14-2
|align=left| United States Hank Casey
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|41-14-2
|align=left| United States Spider Webb
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|40-14-2
|align=left| United States Gene Armstrong
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|39-14-2
|align=left| Canada Wilf Greaves
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|38-14-2
|align=left| Canada Wilf Greaves
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|38-13-2
|align=left| Argentina Víctor Zalazar
Víctor Zalazar
Victor Zalazar is a former Argentine boxer, who won the bronze medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.Zalazar was known as "El Cacique", or "The Wild Bullet".- Olympic results :...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|37-13-2
|align=left| United States Gene Armstrong
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|36-13-2
|align=left| United States Holly Mims
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|35-13-2
|align=left| United States Joey Giardello
Joey Giardello
Carmine Orlando Tilelli was an American boxer who was the middleweight champion of the world from 1963 to 1965, and was better known by his professional pseudonym of Joey Giardello.-Early life:...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|35-12-2
|align=left| United States Joey Giardello
Joey Giardello
Carmine Orlando Tilelli was an American boxer who was the middleweight champion of the world from 1963 to 1965, and was better known by his professional pseudonym of Joey Giardello.-Early life:...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|34-12-2
|align=left| United States Gene Armstrong
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|33-12-2
|align=left| United States Rory Calhoun
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw
|33-12-2
|align=left| United States Rory Calhoun
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|33-12-1
|align=left| United States Randy Sandy
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|32-11-1
|align=left| United States Randy Sandy
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|32-10-1
|align=left| Trinidad and Tobago Yolande Pompey
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|31-10-1
|align=left| United States Spider Webb
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|31-9-1
|align=left| Kingdom of England Billy Ellaway
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|30-9-1
|align=left| Kingdom of England Pat McAteer
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|29-9-1
|align=left| Kingdom of England Johnny Read
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|28-9-1
|align=left| Kingdom of England Jimmy Lynas
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|27-9-1
|align=left| Early Modern France Jean Ruellet
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|26-9-1
|align=left| Republic of Ireland Paddy Delargy
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw
|25-9-1
|align=left| Kingdom of England Pat McAteer
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|25-9
|align=left| Early Modern France Jean Claude Poisson
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|24-9
|align=left| Wales Phil Edwards
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|23-9
|align=left| Kingdom of England Alan Dean
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|22-9
|align=left| Kingdom of Scotland Willie Armstrong
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|22-8
|align=left| Early Modern France Marius Dori
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|21-8
|align=left| Kingdom of England Terry Downes
Terry Downes
Terry Downes is a retired British middleweight boxer. He was nicknamed the "Paddington Express" for his aggressive fighting style. As of 2008, Downes was Britain’s oldest surviving former world champion...


|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|20-8
|align=left| Kingdom of England Johnny Read
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|19-8
|align=left| Kingdom of England Alan Dean
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|18-8
|align=left| Kingdom of England Alan Dean
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|18-7
|align=left| Kingdom of England Jimmy Lynas
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|17-7
|align=left| Kingdom of England Wally Scott
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|16-7
|align=left| Kingdom of England Alan Dean
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|15-7
|align=left| Wales Dennis Rowley
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|14-7
|align=left| Kingdom of England George Roe
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|14-6
|align=left| Kingdom of England Jimmy Lynas
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|14-5
|align=left| Kingdom of England Gerry McNally
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Loss
|14-4
|align=left| Kingdom of England Alan Dean
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|

TV

  • Appeared as a guest on an episode of the American television series What's My Line?. The panel correctly guessed his occupation.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK