Battling Jack Turpin: You Gotta Fight Back

He suffered two defeats in the first a points decision to Albert Finch over eight rounds and the second a stoppage defeat to Jean Stock. Turpin was knocked down four times and retired on his stool at the end of round five. It was said that these two defeats were as a result of marital problems that he was going through at the time. On the day of the Stock fight he had been notified that his wife had been given custody of his son and he had told his brother Dick that he had lost interest in the planned fight and didn't feel like going ahead.

He embarked on a weight training regime designed by a man called Arthur Batty and built up his physical strength. Weight training was frowned upon in boxing circles because it was thought that it made fighters muscle bound and inflexible in their movements.

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Turpin proved to be the exception to this rule and many of his future opponents including Sugar Ray Robinson would comment on his immense physical strength. Turpin developed a knockout punch with either hand and became a formidable force for any fighter to deal with.

He then went on a winning streak where he avenged the two defeats that he had suffered and in the process picked up the British Middleweight Title and the vacant European Middleweight Title. Incidentally his brother Dick had been the first non-white fighter to win a British Title when he had beaten Vince Hawkins in for the British Middleweight Title, following the removal of the colour bar that had been in place. In Sugar Ray Robinson who is considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time embarked on a European tour. The final leg of the tour was a fight for the world title with Randolph Turpin in London.

Few people gave Turpin a chance of winning against Robinson and in fact many people thought that it was a mismatch and that Turpin could be badly hurt. Robinson had been unbeaten as an amateur and had only lost one fight out of a total of as a professional and that was to Jake LaMotta. He had subsequently avenged the loss to LaMotta beating him five times.

Many people listened to the fight on the wireless to see if Turpin could beat Robinson. Turpin was not overawed by the occasion and took the fight to Robinson from the first bell. By the 15th round Turpin was ahead on points and only had to survive the round to win. He was the first British fighter to hold the world middleweight title since Bob Fitzsimmons in He had become an overnight sporting hero and two days later was given a civic reception before a crowd of 10, people in his hometown of Leamington with the mayors of both Leamington and Warwick present.

In order to get the fight with Robinson, Turpin had to sign a contract that contained a 90 day return clause. Meaning that if he won he had to give Robinson a return fight within 90 days of the original fight. The return fight took place on 12th September at the Polo Grounds, New York before a crowd of 61, people. Turpin again gave Robinson a hard fight and it was fairly even going into the 10th round. Robinson sustained a bad cut and in desperation went for a knockout.

He managed to knock Turpin down with a big right hand punch. Turpin got up at the count of nine and was then trapped against the ropes and taking a sustained beating when the referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight. He stopped Cockell in the 11th round. Cockell went on to give Rocky Marciano a good fight at heavyweight. He regained the European Middleweight Title in and was nominated to fight for the vacant world title against Carl 'Bobo' Olsen. The fight against Olson took place at Madison Square Gardens in Turpin who had not trained properly for the fight won the first three rounds but then faded and was outpointed over 15 rounds having been floored in the ninth and tenth rounds.

Turpin spent much of the fight trapped on the ropes taking punches at close quarters to the head and body.

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After the fight Turpin was urinating blood indicating that he had suffered damage to his kidneys from Olson's sustained body punches. Turpin suffered a first round stoppage loss to Tiberio Mitri who was not known as a big puncher. In Rome in when he was caught by a left hook and half punched and half pushed to the canvas. He fell heavily and hit the back of his head on the ring floor, staggering to his feet only to collapse into the ropes before again regaining his feet.

The referee decided he was in no fit state to continue and stopped the fight.

Mitri had exploited a flaw in Turpin's technique whereby he kept his right hand low exposing his chin to a left hook. In his younger days his reflexes had been fast enough to prevent such a thing from happening. But as he aged his reflexes began to slow and his punch resistance diminished. In addition he was suffering from eye problems and his peripheral vision was starting to deteriorate. However, in October of that year he was knocked out by the unheralded Canadian dock worker Gordon Wallace.

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Suffering four knockdowns in the process and announced his retirement. He came out of retirement in and scored two wins before losing on points to Hans Stretz in Germany. He had his final fight in when he was knocked out by Yolande Pompey. The BBBC stopped him acting as a sparring partner for Terry Downes in because of the cumulative impact of ring beatings on his mental and physical state. He had two unlicensed fights not licensed by the BBBC in and against opponents who were making their professional debut and he stopped both opponents.

After leaving school Randolph worked as a labourer on building sites. In he decided to join the Royal Navy and was given the title of assistant cook. However, as he was talented at boxing he was allowed to spend most of his time training for upcoming contests. He lives in Warwick. Terry Fox is a lecturer, musician and writer. He lives in Stoke on Trent. Now almost 80 years old, he is as charismatic and feisty as ever, and in Battling Jack , Turpin tells his own unique story.

It is the remarkable tale of a man whose indomitable spirit has out-stared ignorance and prejudice, tasted triumph and celebrity, and endured hardship and tragedy. He was wounded on the battlefields of France and invalided to Warwick, the first black man to settle there.

Lionel married a local girl but his early death left her struggling to raise their three sons and two daughters in pre-Welfare State England. As young men, the gladiatorial glamour of the ring lured Jack and his brothers into professional boxing. From a home-made backstreet gymnasium, they punched their way into the record books and into the hearts of the British people. Battling Jack charts the remarkable life and times of the man who was once Britain's busiest featherweight. It offers a ringside seat at heroic battles and comic encounters as Turpin vividly recalls the sport, sex and slapstick of life in the now forbidden boxing booths of the travelling fairs.

He takes us behind the scenes of a scandal that rocked the sporting world and into his confidence over the mystery that surrounds his younger brother's death by gunshot. Complete with previously unpublished photographs, this is a wonderfully candid account of the life of a very singular man.

Heartrending, raw, honest and funny, Battling Jack is a story that had to be told. Me mum's warned me, 'Keep on the footpath, right against the wall.

I seem to have been waiting for ever. Suddenly, I see him coming slowly towards me from the foundry where he works as an iron moulder. We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To download from the iTunes Store, get iTunes now.

• Lionel Turpin.
• The Peterkin Papers (Dover Childrens Classics).
• Randolph Turpin.
• Jackie Turpin Battling Jack First Edition – Richard Thornton Books?
• I Have Come to Love You.
• Gluten-Free Gourmet: The Video Guide.
• Battling Jack Turpin.

Now in his 80th year, 'Battling' Jack Turpin is the last surviving member of his generation of Britain's best-known and best-loved boxing family. He was wounded on the battlefields of France and invalided to Warwick, the first black man to settle in the area. Lionel married a local girl but his early death left her struggling to raise their three sons and two daughters in pre-Welfare State England.

As young men, the excitement and gladiatorial glamour of the ring lured Jack and his brothers into professional boxing. From a home-made backstreet gymnasium, they punched their way into the record books and into the hearts of the British people.

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