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Adeyinka Makinde,
Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal,
Word Association Publishers, $18.95 (312 pages)
Dick Tiger: The Life and
Times of a Boxing Immortal
A Biography by
Adeyinka Makinde
Reviewed by
Gavin Evans
When it comes to rating the greatest African
boxer of all-time it is impossible to sidestep Dick
Tiger. A strong case can be made for Azumah Nelson’s
devastating power, refined skills and superlative record
but it was the man known to his parents as Richard Ihetu
who laid the path for the likes of Nelson, Ike Quartey
and, today, Sam Peter, in their bids to win over the
hard-to-please American fight fans.
Forty years have passed since Tiger became the
first-ever African boxer to win world titles in two
weight divisions. The weight-drained Biafran-Nigerian
controversially lost his world middleweight title to
Emile Griffith (with 17 of the 22 ringside reporters
giving the fight to the champion) and then shocked the
boxing world by giving away 8 lb., 4 inches and seven
years to batter the 39-1-1 Jose Torres around the ring
to lift the world light heavyweight title.
But 1966 was also a year of great sadness. The pogroms
directed against the Igbo people unleashed a series of
events that forced Tiger into exile and clouded his
remaining six years. He became a vocal international
voice for the fledgling Biafran state, renouncing all
association with Nigeria and returning his MBE to
Britain in protest against its support for the Nigerian
regime. He was commissioned as an officer in the Biafran
army, after which he smuggled his wife and eight
children out of the country, while popping back and
forth between Biafra and America, competing in major
fights – a remarkable spell in a truly remarkable life.
He returned home following the defeat of the Biafran
independence campaign, and on December 15 1971 died of
liver cancer. For a while he was virtually forgotten but
over the last 15 years there has been a revival in his
posthumous fortunes. In 1991 Tiger became the first
African boxer to be elected to the International Boxing
Hall of Fame and since then films of his fights shown on
ESPN and a steady stream of magazine articles have
helped to revive his reputation. Adeyinka Makinde, a
Nigerian-born, London-based barrister and law lecturer,
has added considerably to this legacy with a fascinating
first biography.
He mixes the story of Tiger’s early life in Aba, Eastern
Nigeria, with a social history of the Igbo people,
before getting his teeth into the long tale of the man’s
boxing career, which he tells with understated flare,
never stinting from criticism of his subject when due.
Makinde’s research is impressive. For instance, contrary
to published records, which have Tiger winning one and
losing one against Tommy West, Makinde shows he had
three bouts with West, losing them all.
Following his countryman, Hogan Kid Bassey, he arrived
in Liverpool in 1955 and began the British leg of his
career with four defeats (two disputed). At that stage
British boxing was reeling from the doubling of the
taxes on gross promotional receipts (from 15 to 30
percent). African boxers, prepared to accept lower
purses, helped to keep it alive, even if they were
regarded as expendable.
Tiger was a slow learner, but one who eventually
absorbed his lessons well. His breakthrough came in 1957
when he was pitted with one of the young stars in the
Mickey Duff and Harry Levene stable, Terry Downes,
stopping him in six rounds. Later that year he drew with
the British champion Pat McAteer and in four months
stopped him in four rounds to win the Commonwealth
title.
After four years in Britain he relocated to New York and
it was there that he learnt the fine points of the game.
He suffered several setbacks, including questionable
losses to Rory Calhoun, Joey Giardello and Wilf Greaves,
but a series of impressive wins over leading contenders
earned him a shot at Gene Fullmer’s middleweight title.
He proved to be significantly stronger than the Utah
ironman, driving him around the ring, slipping his
punches, carving up his face and outboxing him to lift
the title. In the return, a more cautious Fullmer earned
a draw but in their third fight, in Ibadan, Nigeria, the
rampant Tiger forced Fullmer’s retirement after seven
emphatic rounds.
His third defence came against his old rival, Joey
Giardello, who jabbed and ran, to lift the title. It
took Tiger two years to force Giardello into a return –
a frustrating period that saw him picking up four wins
and a highly dubious split points loss to Joey Archer.
One of his victims in this period was Rubin ‘Hurricane’
Carter, who was dropped three times and badly beaten up,
afterwards describing it as the worst beating he had
taken “inside or outside of the ring.”
In his next fight a 36-year-old Tiger had no trouble
regaining the world title, with his second win over
Giardello and followed that with a knockout over
Germany’s Peter Mueller, that controversial points loss
to Griffiths (for example, Ring editor Nat
Fleisher gave it to Tiger by ten rounds to five), and
that shock light heavyweight title victory over Torres.
Over the next 18 months he picked up a return win over
Torres and a 12th round stoppage over mandatory
contender Roger Rouse. His career seemed over when he
was knocked out in four rounds by Bob Foster and yet he
returned to outpoint Frankie De Paula in The Ring’s
1968 Fight of the Year, and followed this with wins over
middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti and light
heavyweight contender Andy Kendall. He retired at 41
after losing a return with Griffith.
Films show Tiger as an aggressive boxer-puncher. His
defence was tight, his head movement excellent. He was
immensely strong, always superbly conditioned and he had
one of the firmest chins in middleweight history. While
not a one punch blastout artist, he was heavy-handed – a
solid, draining puncher who was particularly adept at
working the body. His record shows 17 or 18 losses
(depending on whose version you accept) but at least 11
were legitimately disputed. He struggled with quick
moving, defensive boxers, although he beat several of
them. Victories over fellow world champions Downes,
Giardello, Fullmer, Torres and Benvenuti and top
contenders like Florentino Fernandez, Rubin ‘Hurricane’
Carter and Henry Hank place him comfortably within the
top 20 middleweights of all time, and perhaps even the
top ten.
Makinde’s book also reveals him as a fine human being –
intelligent, and resourceful, with a deep self-pride and
a profound commitment to his people. Unlike so many
boxers of his time and ours, he was a virtual
teetotaller who always trained hard, never cut corners
and avoided trouble outside the ring, except when it
came to his battle against the Nigerian military regime
in the late 1960s. Dick Tiger is a compelling and
inspiring read, that will certainly appeal to anyone
with an interest in boxing history, African history, or
both.
Source: Gavin Evans (The
Fist boxing magazine, July 2006. Australia)
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Tribute to a boxing legend
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posted 17 July 2006
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updated 18 October 2007 |
