Richard Dunn (born 19 January 1945) is an English former heavyweight boxer who was the British (1975–76), European (1976) and Commonwealth (1975–76) Champion. He unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight title in 1976.[2]

Richard Dunn
Born (1945-01-19) 19 January 1945 (age 79)
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Statistics
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights45
Wins33
Wins by KO16
Losses12
Draws0
No contests0[1]

Early life

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Richard Dunn was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire on 19 January 1945.[1] He played rugby in his teens and early 20s. Starting boxing as an amateur in the early 1960s, he turned professional in his mid-20s whilst continuing to work as a scaffolder, living in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He was unable to afford the expense of sparring partners to train with for most of his career, and his coach was his father-in-law.[3] He was a soldier in the British Army, serving as a non-commissioned officer with 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment in the 1960s-70s, being awarded the Corps' Fishmongers' Trophy in 1974.[4]

Boxing career

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A southpaw, Dunn's professional career began with a win over Cardiff fighter Del Phillips in a heavyweight eliminator competition in Mayfair, London in July 1969. His second fight was on the same day in the semi-final. It was a first-round defeat against Danny McAlinden, who dispatched all three of his opponents in under three rounds to win the competition. However, in May 1973, Dunn defeated Billy Aird on points in an eliminator for the British Heavyweight Championship at Grosvenor House in London. He lost the final eliminator against Bunny Johnson, in October, after a tenth-round knockout at the King's Hall in Manchester. However, when he faced the same opponent at the Empire Pool at Wembley for both the British and Commonwealth titles in September 1975, he prevailed on points, after 15 rounds.

British title

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Dunn made his first defence against McAlinden two months later. However, this time it was Dunn that won with a knockout after McAlinden went down three times in the second round.

On 6 April 1976 Dunn won the European Heavyweight Title by a third-round TKO of the German boxer Bernd August at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Title shot

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On 24 May 1976 Dunn was given the chance of fighting for the WBC and WBA titles against the American champion Muhammad Ali at the Olympic Hall in Munich, Germany. Dunn, despite fighting in a spirited fashion, found himself seriously outmatched by Ali in power and technique, being knocked down several times by the American champion, who clearly realized the un-equalness of the competition in his favour and began to land carefully timed and weighted punches to stun Dunn but minimize the chance of physical injury to him as the fight went on. At the 2:05 minute mark in the fifth round Dunn went to the canvas for the final time and the referee stopped the match in a technical knock-out, with Ali playing to the crowd comically windmilling a punch that was coming that would be overwhelming, and to encourage the referee to end the match as having run its course. (This was to be the last knockout Ali achieved in his professional career).[5]

Aftermath

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Dunn lost his next fight in London five months later with Joe Bugner, surrendering all his titles in a first-round knock-out. His final fight was a fifth-round knock-out defeat to the South African boxer Kallie Knoetze at the Ellis Park Tennis Stadium in Johannesburg on 10 September 1977, after which Dunn retired from the sport.

Dunn was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1976 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews just ahead of his fight with Muhammad Ali.[citation needed]

Post-career civic honours

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Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Odsal Top, Bradford

The 'Richard Dunn Sports Centre' was opened by Bradford Council in Dunn's home town in 1978, named in honour of his sporting achievements. The facility was closed in November 2019, and was due to be demolished in 2020, with the Council announcing the intention to name a new road on the site after Dunn in the future.[6][7] However the future of the unused leisure centre is now in doubt, after Historic England granted the building Grade II listed status, following an appeal by the Twentieth Century Society.[8]

Later life

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After his sports career, having lost money in a failed hotel venture, Dunn lived in Scarborough, North Yorkshire with his wife Janet and three children, returning to work as a scaffolder. He was seriously injured in 1989 on an oil rig in the North Sea after a 40 ft fall which broke both of his legs.[9] In retirement he lives in Scarborough, where he has been associated with charity work for Parkinson's UK and is the honorary president of the town's amateur boxing club.[10]

Dunn has dementia and Alzheimer's disease.[11]

Professional boxing record

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33 Wins (16 knockouts, 17 decisions), 12 Losses (11 knockouts, 1 decision) [12]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 12-2   Kallie Knoetze KO 5 10 Sep 1977   Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Loss 51-7-1   Joe Bugner KO 1 12 Oct 1976   Empire Pool, London, England BBBofC British/Commonwealth/EBU Heavyweight Titles.
Loss 51-2   Muhammad Ali TKO 5 24 May 1976   Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany WBA/WBC Heavyweight Titles. Referee stopped the bout at 2:05 of the fifth round.
Win 21-2-1   Bernd August TKO 3 6 Apr 1976   Royal Albert Hall, London, England EBU Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:38 of the third round.
Win 32-12-1   Terry Krueger TKO 3 25 Nov 1975   Royal Albert Hall, London, England Referee stopped the bout at 2:29 of the third round.
Win 27-5-2   Danny McAlinden KO 2 4 Nov 1975   Empire Pool, London, England BBBofC British/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles.
Win 43-6   Bunny Johnson PTS 15 30 Sep 1975   Empire Pool, London, England BBBofC British/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles.
Win 22-17-3   Rocky Campbell TKO 7 7 May 1975   Solihull Civic Hall, Solihull, England
Win 5-1   Neville Meade TKO 4 17 Feb 1975   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 8-2-1   Tim Wood PTS 8 9 Sep 1974   Grosvenor House, London, England
Loss 44-5-3   Jose Manuel Urtain KO 4 22 May 1974   Madrid, Spain
Loss 2-1-2   Ngozika Ekwelum KO 7 11 Apr 1974   Berlin, Germany
Loss 9-4-1   Jimmy Young TKO 8 18 Feb 1974   Mayfair Sporting Club, London, England
Win 12-2   Obie English TKO 10 14 Jan 1974   Grosvenor House, London, England Referee stopped the bout at 2:50 of the tenth round.
Loss 34-6   Bunny Johnson KO 10 11 Oct 1973   King's Hall, Manchester, England
Win 12-5   Larry Beilfuss TKO 4 9 Jul 1973   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 13-5-2   Billy Aird PTS 10 14 May 1973   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 21-7   Johnny Griffin KO 3 15 Mar 1973   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 17-5   Rufus Brassell DQ 3 13 Feb 1973   Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England
Win 17-2   Roy Williams PTS 8 15 Jan 1973   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 24-10-5   Ray Patterson PTS 8 20 Nov 1972   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 16-5   Larry Renaud KO 1 16 Oct 1972   Grosvenor House, London, England Renaud knocked out at 1:45 of the first round.
Win 21-6-3   Roger Tighe PTS 10 21 Mar 1972   Midland Hotel, Bradford, England
Win 3-2   Ron Oliver KO 1 21 Feb 1972   Mayfair Sporting Club, London, England
Loss 18-11-1   Rocky Campbell TKO 1 9 Dec 1971   Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England
Win 11-3   Cliff Field TKO 4 24 Nov 1971   Nottingham Ice Stadium, Nottingham, England
Win 31-10   Carl Gizzi PTS 8 22 Sep 1971   Solihull Civic Hall, Solihull, England
Win 8-2   Dennis Forbes PTS 8 22 Jun 1971   Cafe Royal, London, England
Win 22-4   Bunny Johnson PTS 8 13 Apr 1971   Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Win 7-3-2   Brian Jewitt PTS 8 25 Jan 1971   National Sporting Club, London, England
Win 6-1   Dennis Forbes KO 1 14 Dec 1970   National Sporting Club, London, England
Loss 8-18-4   George Dulaire TKO 1 2 Nov 1970   County Hotel, Bedford, England
Loss 6-1   Billy Aird TKO 6 7 Sep 1970   Hotel Piccadilly, Manchester, England BBBofC Central Heavyweight Title.
Win 9-16-2   Obe Hepburn TKO 5 21 May 1970   Anglo-American Sporting Club, London, England
Win 12-25-3   Billy Wynter PTS 6 4 May 1970   Bedford, England
Win 9-15-2   Obe Hepburn PTS 6 31 Mar 1970   York Hall, London, England
Loss 4-1   Billy Aird PTS 8 23 Feb 1970   Grosvenor House, London, England
Win 18-22-3   Lloyd Walford PTS 6 25 Nov 1969   Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, England
Win 5-15-3   George Dulaire TKO 2 3 Nov 1969   County Hotel, Bedford, England
Win 3-3   John Cullen PTS 3 3 Nov 1969   County Hotel, Bedford, England
Win 4-0   Billy Aird PTS 3 3 Nov 1969   County Hotel, Bedford, England
Win 2-4   Jack Cotes TKO 3 13 Oct 1969   Nottingham Ice Stadium, Nottingham, England
Win 2-3   Jack Cotes TKO 2 8 Sep 1969   Hotel Piccadilly, Manchester, England
Win 7-0-1   Del Phillips PTS 3 7 Jul 1969   London, England
Loss --   Danny McAlinden KO 1 7 Jul 1969   London, England

References

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  1. ^ a b "Richard Dunn". Boxing Stats. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  2. ^ "BoxRec: Richard Dunn". boxrec.com. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  3. ^ 'Richard Dunn: Yorkshire lad on a perilous mission', New York Times, 23 May 1976.
  4. ^ "Richard Dunn | ParaData". www.paradata.org.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  5. ^ Muhammad Ali vs Richard Dunn 1976-05-24, retrieved 9 November 2022
  6. ^ "Bradford Street to be named after boxer Richard Dunn". BBC News. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  7. ^ Bradford Metropolitan District Council | Sports and Leisure facilities | Richard Dunn Sports Centre
  8. ^ "'Surprising decision' sees Richard Dunn Centre awarded listed status". 5 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Where are they now?: Richard Dunn". The Independent. 12 April 1993. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  10. ^ Davies, Gareth A. (5 June 2016). "Muhammad Ali beating me was the highlight of my life, says Richard Dunn". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Richard Dunn: Boxer's family sent rare fight footage after appeal". BBC News. BBC. 9 September 2021. Archived from the original on 15 September 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  12. ^ Richard Dunn - Boxer
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