George Turpin (born 10 January 1952 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

) is an Olympic medallist and former

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He won a bronze medal at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Early life

Turpin was born in

on 10 January 1952.

Boxing career

Amateur career

Turpin boxed out of Golden Gloves ABC, situated in the heart of

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area ...

. Turpin was unbeaten as a senior amateur against British opposition. After winning the British ABA championship for 2 consecutive years in 1971 and 1972, he won a bronze medal at the

. In the semifinals of the men's

(– 54 kg) division he was defeated by

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

's eventual gold medalist Orlando Martínez on a hotly disputed 3–2 split decision. Turpin gave England its first victory with a decision over Ray Theragood of Santa Fe, N.M. in a 119 pound-class bout in the

Felt Forum The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600, and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is located beneath the main Madiso ...

, on 15 January 1973 before a crowd of around 1,000 people. He was part of the England's national amateur boxing team, who were up against the United States team.

Professional career

Turpin had a successful professional career, from 1973 to 1977, recording eleven wins, with five being by knockout, three losses and two draws. Turpin is listed as one of the ten best

Boxers of all time.

1972 Olympic results

Below is the record of George Turpin, a bantamweight boxer from Great Britain who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics: * Round of 64: bye * Round of 32: defeated Pierre Amont N'diaye (Senegal) by decision, 5–0 * Round of 16: defeated Chee Yen Wang (Chinese Taipei) by decision, 5–0 * Quarterfinal: defeated John Mwaura Nderu (Kenya) by decision, 4–1 * Semifinal: lost to Orlando Martinez (Cuba) by decision, 2–3 (was awarded a bronze medal)

The Mersey Fighters Book

Turpin is featured in volume three of the popular 'Mersey Fighters' book series, titled 'More lives and times of Liverpool's boxing heroes'. The book contains in-depth biographical information on Turpin, described as one of the region's 'biggest names' in an interview with the author.

References

External links

* *
George Turpin on the Olympic Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, George 1952 births English male boxers Olympic boxers of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Living people Boxers from Liverpool Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Bantamweight boxers