A PAIR of boxing gloves belonging to legendary Leamington boxer Randolph Turpin have gone under the hammer for £500.
The leather gloves, worn in preparation for his world title fight against the great American Sugar Ray Robinson, were auctioned off by Griffin Auctioneers in Warwick on Tuesday December 12.
Also in the lot were an original programme cover and ticket for the Middleweight Championship of the World fight with Robinson on July 10, 1951 at Earls Court in London.
The gloves had been in the possession of a close family friend of the Turpin family.
Randolph was born to an English mother and a black father in the late 1920s. His dad, Lionel had come to the UK from British Guyana to fight in the First World War.
Randolph was the youngest of the couple’s five children who all showed off their athletic prowess while growing up in Warwick.
Three of the five – Randolph as well as older brothers Dick and Jackie – were all talented boxers and excelled in the area’s boxing clubs.
After an impressive amateur career, Randolph turned pro as a teenager in 1946 while serving in the Royal Navy.
His early career, while successful, saw him suffer several defeats but he went on to claim British and European titles..
But Randolph – nicknamed the Leamington Licker – was given little hope of beating Robinson, but his strength and awkward style made life hard for Robinson.
And after 15 gruelling rounds Randolph claimed the title on points and in doing so, cemented his name in boxing folklore.
