Dick Turpin
English middleweight boxer (1920–1990)
- Born
- 26 November 1920, Leamington Spa
- Died
- 7 July 1990
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Sport
- boxing
- Discipline
- middleweight
- Occupation
- boxer
Lionel "Dick" Turpin (26 November 1920 – 7 July 1990) was an English middleweight boxer. He was British and Commonwealth middleweight champion, reputedly being the first black fighter to win a British boxing title. He was elder brother and trainer of the more famous Randolph Turpin, who became world middleweight champion after beating Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951.. Dick Turpin's father, Lionel Turpin Senior, had emigrated from British Guiana and settled in Leamington Spa, where he worked in a foundry. He died young from injuries sustained during the First World War, leaving his wife Beatrice to raise five children. The family's boxing tradition extended across three brothers: Jack competed as a featherweight, Dick as a middleweight, and Randolph went on to become world champion. Dick's historic victory over Vince Hawkins on 28 June 1948 was notable not only for the title it secured but for the barriers it broke: he became the first black fighter to win a British boxing title in the modern era, in a period when racial discrimination remained widespread in British sport and society.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q5273488 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.