Turpin and the man with the ‘iron fist’

AN EMAIL from Down Under this week suggests that Leamington and Warwick’s former World Middleweight boxing champion Randolph Turpin was floored in 1951 - and not by Sugar Ray Robinson.

Gemma Galvin has emailed from Australia with the sensational suggestion that her grandfather James (Jimmy) Galvin knocked Turpin to the ground during an exhibition in a Leamington park.

Gemma is looking for a newspaper article from July 1951, which she says tells the story of this remarkable feat.

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She said: “The article concerns my ageing and unfortunately dying grandfather James Galvin and Randolph Turpin. According to my grandfather, before Turpin fought Sugar Ray for the title, an exhibition showcase was held in a park (I believe in Leamington). Members of the crowd were asked to come into the ring and last a round with Turpin in exchange for a cash prize.

“My grandfather bravely (or stupidly depending on how you look at it) volunteered himself and actually threw a punch that knocked Turpin to the ground. My grandfather was very quick to defend Turpin by saying he got back up and pummeled him so hard he couldn’t see properly for days and returned to work that evening covered in bruises and with a swollen face.

“The next day the front page of a newspaper exclaimed ‘Are we sending the wrong man to fight?’ or something to that extent, and talked about my grandfather’s iron fist.

“My grandfather is now very unwell and, although he is not given long to live, he is a ferociously stubborn and stoic individual who refuses to let his illness get the better of him.

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“This Christmas is my first back home in Ireland in eight years and I would love nothing more than to produce the newspaper clipping for him (and us as a family) as it may well be the last time I will celebrate the festive season with him.”

Unfortunately we have been unable to trace the cutting in the files of the Courier, the Leamington Morning News or the Warwick Advertiser in Leamington library.

Does anyone remember this story and which newspaper might have published it? If so, please contact Peter Gawthorpe on 01926 457732 or email [email protected]

· For the record, Turpin beat world middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson in London on July 10, 1951, on a 15-round decision. He became a national hero but when he travelled to New York for the rematch he lost his crown to Robinson by a tenth-round technical knockout on September 12, 1951.

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