Jürgen Blin (24 April 1943 – 7 May 2022) was a mid-20th century German boxer, who was the Heavyweight Champion of Germany, and European Heavyweight Champion in 1972, and internationally represented the state of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Early life

Blin was born on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

island of

Fehmarn Fehmarn (, da, Femern; from Old Wagrian Slavic "''Fe More''", meaning "''In the Sea''") is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, after Rüg ...

on 24 April 1943 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and was a native of the North German city of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. While living in Hamburg he was a butcher before his boxing career.

Boxing career

Blin's record in the ring was 30–12–6 with eight knockouts.Jurgen Blin record
at boxrec.com He was greatly admired by German boxing fans for his toughness and stamina in the ring. He was briefly Heavyweight Champion of Germany after defeating Gerhard Zech for the title (he had two draws with him previously). His first professional bout came against Klaus Krüger in October 1964. Blin won this bout, as well as the next five bouts against domestic opponents, and lost his first professional bout in June 1965 to Ray Patterson in

Jordal Amfi Jordal Amfi was an indoor ice hockey rink in Oslo, Norway, the first bearing that name. The venue opened in 1951 to host the 1952 Winter Olympics. Jordal was also the site of the 1958 and the 1999 IIHF World Championship. It would in the followi ...

. Blin lost a decision to

Joe Bugner József Kreul Bugner (born 13 March 1950) is a Hungarian-born British- Australian former heavyweight boxer and actor. He holds triple nationality, being a citizen of Hungary and a naturalised citizen of both Australia and the United King ...

in May 1971 when fighting for the European Heavyweight title. Blin later won the title in June 1972, his greatest triumph in the ring, when he beat Jose Urtain (who had beaten Blin for the same title in June 1970). However, in October 1972, Blin once again faced Bugner who regained the title by knocking the German out in the eighth round. On 26 December 1971, he fought the American boxer Muhammad Ali at Hallenstadion Arena, in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

, Switzerland, Blin being knocked out 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the seventh round.

Later years

Blin was co-author with Stephen Brunt of a chapter in a book titled '' ''Facing Ali'''' (2002), about his 1971 contest with the United States champion boxer. He died of kidney failure at a hospital in Hamburg on 6 May 2022, aged 79.

Professional boxing record

, - , align="center" colspan=8, 30 Wins (8 knockouts, 22 decisions), 12 Losses (4 knockouts, 8 decisions), 6 Draws , - , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Result , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Record , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Round , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , -align=center , Loss , , align=left,

Ron Lyle Ronald David Lyle (February 12, 1941 – November 26, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980, and in 1995. He challenged unsuccessfully for the world heavyweight championship, losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975. Kno ...

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Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

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Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Muhammad Ali , KO , 7 , 26 December 1971 , align=left,

Hallenstadion The Hallenstadion (german: , ''Zürich Indoor Stadium'') is a multi-purpose facility located in the quarter of Oerlikon in northern Zürich. It is home to the ZSC Lions of the National League (NL) and has a capacity of 11,200 spectators. Design ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, George "Scrap Iron" Johnson , TKO , 2 , 1 October 1971 , align=left,

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Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Roberto Davila , PTS , 10 , 26 February 1971 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Vasco Faustino , PTS , 8 , 5 February 1971 , align=left,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Charley Polite , PTS , 10 , 2 January 1971 , align=left,

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Sylvester Dullaire , KO , 8 , 17 November 1970 , align=left,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Billy Joiner , PTS , 10 , 9 October 1970 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Jose Manuel Urtain , PTS , 15 , 22 June 1970 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Gerhard Zech , PTS , 10 , 21 November 1969 , align=left, Ernst Merck Halle,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, David E. Bailey , PTS , 10 , 12 September 1969 , align=left, Ernst Merck Halle,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left,

Giulio Rinaldi Giulio Rinaldi (13 February 1935 – 18 July 2011) was an Italian boxer. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics where he was eliminated in the first bout. Pro career During his thirteen and-a-half-year professional career from 1957 to 19 ...

, PTS , 10 , 29 May 1969 , align=left, Grugahalle, Essen,

, align=left, , - , Draw , , align=left, Macan Keita , PTS , 8 , 29 November 1968 , align=left,

Festhalle Frankfurt Festhalle Frankfurt is a multi-purpose arena located in Frankfurt, Germany. The interior of the dome at its highest reaches a height of 40 meters. It provides an area of 5,646 square metres, offering by a variable grandstand system space for up t ...

, align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Peter Weiland , PTS , 10 , 1 November 1968 , align=left, Ostseehalle,

, align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Piero Tomasoni , DQ , 2 , 29 September 1968 , align=left,

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

, Lombardy , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Gerhard Zech , PTS , 12 , 11 May 1968 , align=left,

Deutschlandhalle Deutschlandhalle was an arena located in the Westend (Berlin), Westend neighbourhood of Berlin, Germany. It was inaugurated on 29 November 1935 by Adolf Hitler. The building was granted landmark status in 1995, but was demolished on 3 December 20 ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

, Berlin , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Lloyd Walford , PTS , 8 , 8 March 1968 , align=left, Sporthalle,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Renato Moraes , PTS , 10 , 17 February 1968 , align=left,

, Berlin , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Giuseppe Ros , PTS , 8 , 15 December 1967 , align=left, Sporthalle,

, align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Piero Del Papa , PTS , 10 , 11 November 1967 , align=left,

, Berlin , align=left, , - , Draw , , align=left, Jose Menno , PTS , 8 , 8 September 1967 , align=left, Sporthalle,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Ivan Prebeg , KO , 5 , 28 April 1967 , align=left, Sporthalle,

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Giulio Saraudi Giulio Saraudi (3 July 1938 – 20 April 2005) was an Italian boxing, boxer, and an Olympics, Olympic bronze medalist. In 1961, he held 49 titles and a line of 45 bouts, whom he won 37 .Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome,

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Westfalenhallen Westfalenhallen (English: Halls of Westphalia) is a commercial complex composed of conference (Kongresszentrum Dortmund) and exhibition centers (Messe Dortmund) with an indoor arena (Westfalenhalle), located in Dortmund, Germany. It is surroun ...

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Andre Wyns , PTS , 6 , 15 April 1966 , align=left, Ernst Merck Halle,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, align=left, , - , Draw , , align=left, Raimo Nisula , PTS , 8 , 18 March 1966 , align=left, Masshallen, Gothenburg , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Joseph Juvillier , PTS , 8 , 2 December 1965 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Willem Bomber , PTS , 6 , 10 September 1965 , align=left, Ernst Merck Halle,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Valere Mahau , PTS , 4 , 9 April 1965 , align=left, Ernst Merck Halle,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Manfred Schlesinger , PTS , 6 , 27 March 1965 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Danilo Zoratti , KO , 3 , 30 January 1965 , align=left, Stadthalle Bremen, Bremen , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Friedrich Mayr , KO , 1 , 16 January 1965 , align=left,

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, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Manfred Ackers , PTS , 4 , 5 December 1964 , align=left, Sporthalle,

, align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Klaus Krueger , PTS , 4 , 16 October 1964 , align=left, Sporthalle,

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blin, Jurgen 1943 births 2022 deaths People from Fehmarn European Boxing Union champions German male boxers Heavyweight boxers Deaths from kidney disease Sportspeople from Schleswig-Holstein