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Alan Minter

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Alan Minter
Minter in 2005
Born(1951-08-17)17 August 1951
Penge, Bromley, London, England
Died9 September 2020(2020-09-09) (aged 69)
Guildford, Surrey, England
NationalityBritish
Other namesBoom Boom, Minty
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height5’10”
Reach71 in (180 cm)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights49
Wins39
Wins by KO23
Losses9
No contests1
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1972 Munich Light-middleweight

Alan Sydney Minter (17 August 1951 – 9 September 2020) was a British professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1981. He held the undisputed middleweight title in 1980, having previously held the British middleweight title from 1975 to 1976, and the European middleweight title twice between 1977 and 1979. As an amateur, Minter won a bronze medal in the light-middleweight division at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Early life

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Minter was born in Penge, Bromley, Kent, to his German-born mother Anne Minter,[1] and his father Syd Minter, a plasterer.[1][2] His family moved to Crawley, West Sussex, and he joined Crawley Boxing Club at aged 11,[3] training under John Hillier and Dougie Bidwell.[4]

Amateur career

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Minter took part at the 1970 European Junior Championships at the middleweight division, but in the very first fight he was stopped in the 2-nd round by Vyacheslav Lemeshev (USSR).[5] Because Minter was the 1971 Amateur Boxing Association of England Middleweight Champion, he was selected to box for UK in the Olympics 1972.[6] He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the light-middleweight classification, losing in the semifinal to Dieter Kottysch of West Germany by a 3-2 marginal decision which was hotly disputed.[6] Kottysch went on to win the gold medal.[6]

1972 Olympic results

[edit]

Minter's results at the 1972 Munich Olympics are as follows:[7]

  • Round of 64: bye
  • Round of 32: Defeated Reggie Ford (Guyana) by second-round knockout
  • Round of 16: Defeated Valeri Tregubov (Soviet Union) by decision, 5–0
  • Quarterfinal: Defeated Loucif Hamani (Algeria) by decision, 4–1
  • Semifinal: Lost to Dieter Kottysch (West Germany) by decision, 2–3 (was awarded bronze medal)[8]

Professional career

[edit]

Minter began his professional career with 11 straight wins,[9] the first against Maurice Thomas in London on 31 October 1972, winning by knockout in the 6th round.[10] Minter won his first five fights by knockout until 16 January 1973, when Pat Dwyer went the distance, Minter taking the fight on points.[9] Minter won his next five fights, three by knockout,[9] before being defeated for the first time after the referee stopped the fight in the eighth round against "Scottish" Don McMillan due to bad cuts suffered by Minter. Two more wins followed before facing Jan Magdziarz, who beat him twice in a row (once in the eighth and once in the sixth) again due to cuts.[9]

1974 was a mixed year for Minter, beating Tony Byrne by a decision in eight,[9] losing in two to Ricky Torres (again on cuts),[9] having a third fight with Magdziarz, resulting in a no contest,[9] closing the year with a win against Shako Mamba in Hamburg, Germany.[9]

In 1975, he won four fights in a row, including another bout in Hamburg and, by the end of the year, he challenged Kevin Finnegan for the British Middleweight title, winning it by a 15-round decision.[10]

In 1976, he won six fights, to extend his streak to ten consecutive wins.[9] Among the boxers he beat were Billy Knight by a knockout[9] and Finnegan once again, by decision in 15,[9] both in defence of his British title,[9] along with former world title challenger Tony Licata,[9] knocked out in six and United States Olympic Games Gold medal winner Sugar Ray Seales,[9] in five rounds. These wins gave Minter a ranking among the top ten Middleweight challengers.[9]

In 1977, he won the European Middleweight title by beating Germano Valsecchi by a knockout in five in Italy.[10] But in his next fight his winning streak ended when he lost to former world title challenger Ronnie Harris by a knockout in eight.[9] Minter returned to top ten challenger status by upsetting the former World Welterweight and Light Middleweight Champion Emile Griffith with a ten-round decision win in Monte Carlo,[9] but then he lost his European title to Gratien Tonna by a knockout in eight at Milan.[9] He closed '77 with a third 15-round decision win over Finnegan to retain his British title.[9]

1978 was a sad year for Minter, although he won all three of his bouts. On 15 February, at the Muhammad Ali–Leon Spinks I undercard in Las Vegas, Nevada, he won his first bout in the United States by knocking out Sandy Torres in five.[9] Then, he went to Italy once again to regain his European Middleweight title by knocking out Angelo Jacopucci in twelve rounds.[9] Jacopucci died a few days afterwards, due to injuries sustained in the bout.[11] Minter finished his year by avenging his loss to Tonna with a six-round knockout.[9]

In 1979, Minter won all four of his fights, two of them by knockout. On 16 March 1980, in Las Vegas, he was given a shot at World Middleweight Champion Vito Antuofermo's title at Caesars Palace. He won the title by a 15-round split decision[10] in which the judges' scorecards varied wildly. A Venezuelan judge had Minter losing the fight, while the British judge (Roland Dakin) had Minter winning 13 of the 15 rounds. In a rematch held three months later in London on 28 June, Minter retained the world title by a TKO in eight rounds.[9]

On 27 September 1980, Minter's short run as world champion came to an abrupt end when he was stopped on cuts in the third round against 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler at Wembley Arena in London.[12] The fight was controversial owing to a racially-charged remark Minter made during the build-up (Minter was alleged to have said that he "didn't intend to lose his title to a black man", though he insisted that he had actually said that he didn't intend to lose to "that" black man, and had been goaded to say so by his promoters)[13] and then by a crowd riot once the referee had agreed with Minter's corner that he was unable to continue, with chairs, bottles and glasses being hurled into the ring after the decision.[14]

Minter beat fringe contender Ernie Singletary in London, in 1981,[9] but after losses to future Hagler challengers Mustafa Hamsho in Las Vegas[9] and Tony Sibson in London,[9] he retired for good.[10]

He left boxing with a record of 39 wins, 9 losses and 1 no contest, with 23 wins by knockout.[9][10]

Death

[edit]

Minter died of cancer in September 2020, in Guildford at the age of 69.[11][15]

Professional boxing record

[edit]
49 fights 39 wins 9 losses
By knockout 23 8
By decision 16 1
No contests 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
49 Loss 39–9 (1) Tony Sibson TKO 3 (12), 1:59 15 Sep 1981 Wembley Arena, London, England For European middleweight title
48 Loss 39–8 (1) Mustafa Hamsho SD 10 6 Jun 1981 Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, US
47 Win 39–7 (1) Ernie Singletary PTS 10 17 Mar 1981 Wembley Arena, London, England
46 Loss 38–7 (1) Marvin Hagler TKO 3 (15), 1:45 27 Sep 1980 Wembley Arena, London, England Lost WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
45 Win 38–6 (1) Vito Antuofermo RTD 8 (15) 28 Jun 1980 Wembley Arena, London, England Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
44 Win 37–6 (1) Vito Antuofermo SD 15 16 Mar 1980 Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, US Won WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
43 Win 36–6 (1) Doug Demmings PTS 10 23 Oct 1979 Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
42 Win 35–6 (1) Monty Betham TKO 2 (10), 1:05 26 Jun 1979 Wembley Arena, London, England
41 Win 34–6 (1) Renato Garcia TKO 9 (10), 2:40 1 May 1979 Wembley Arena, London, England
40 Win 33–6 (1) Rudy Robles PTS 10 6 Feb 1979 Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
39 Win 32–6 (1) Gratien Tonna RTD 6 (15) 7 Nov 1978 Empire Pool, London, England Retained European middleweight title
38 Win 31–6 (1) Angelo Jacopucci KO 12 (15) 19 Jul 1978 Municipal Stadium, Bellaria, Italy Won vacant European middleweight title
Jacopucci died of injuries sustained in this bout.[16]
37 Win 30–6 (1) Sandy Torres KO 5 (10), 1:57 15 Feb 1978 Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, US
36 Win 29–6 (1) Kevin Finnegan PTS 15 8 Nov 1977 Empire Pool, London, England Won vacant British middleweight title
35 Loss 28–6 (1) Gratien Tonna TKO 8 (15), 1:10 21 Sep 1977 Palasport di San Siro, Milan, Italy Lost European middleweight title
34 Win 28–5 (1) Emile Griffith PTS 10 30 Jul 1977 Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo, Monaco
33 Loss 27–5 (1) Ronnie Harris TKO 8 (10), 3:00 12 Apr 1977 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
32 Win 27–4 (1) Germano Valsecchi KO 5 (15) 4 Feb 1977 Palasport di San Siro, Milan, Italy Won European middleweight title
31 Win 26–4 (1) Sugar Ray Seales TKO 5 (10), 2:14 7 Dec 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
30 Win 25–4 (1) Tony Licata TKO 6 (10), 1:30 9 Nov 1976 Empire Pool, London, England
29 Win 24–4 (1) Kevin Finnegan PTS 15 14 Sep 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, England Retained British middleweight title
28 Win 23–4 (1) Frank Reiche TKO 8 (10) 24 May 1976 Olympiahalle, Munich, West Germany
27 Win 22–4 (1) Billy Knight TKO 2 (15), 3:00 27 Apr 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, England Retained British middleweight title
26 Win 21–4 (1) Trevor Francis TKO 8 (10), 1:05 20 Jan 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
25 Win 20–4 (1) Kevin Finnegan PTS 15 4 Nov 1975 Empire Pool, London, England Won vacant British middleweight title
24 Win 19–4 (1) Peter Wulf KO 6 (10) 30 May 1975 Hamburg, West Germany
23 Win 18–4 (1) Larry Paul PTS 10 25 Mar 1975 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
22 Win 17–4 (1) Tony Allen PTS 8 10 Feb 1975 Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
21 Win 16–4 (1) Henry Cooper KO 1 (8), 2:25 20 Jan 1975 Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
20 Win 15–4 (1) Shako Mamba PTS 8 30 Nov 1974 Munich, West Germany
19 NC 14–4 (1) Jan Magdziarz NC 4 (10) 29 Oct 1974 Royal Albert Hall, London, England NC after both boxers were disqualified for inactivity
18 Loss 14–4 Ricky Ortiz TKO 2 (10) 21 May 1974 Empire Pool, London, England
17 Win 14–3 Tony Byrne PTS 8 26 Mar 1974 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
16 Loss 13–3 Jan Magdziarz RTD 6 (8) 11 Dec 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
15 Loss 13–2 Jan Magdziarz TKO 3 (8) 30 Oct 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
14 Win 13–1 Ernie Burns TKO 5 (8) 2 Oct 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
13 Win 12–1 Octavio Romero PTS 8 10 Sep 1973 Empire Pool, London, England
12 Loss 11–1 Don McMillan TKO 8 (8), 0:45 5 Jun 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
11 Win 11–0 George Aidoo TKO 5 (8) 9 May 1973 York Hall, London, England
10 Win 10–0 Frank Young PTS 8 27 Mar 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
9 Win 9–0 Harry Scott PTS 8 13 Mar 1973 Empire Pool, London, England
8 Win 8–0 Gabe Bowens TKO 7 (8), 1:55 20 Feb 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
7 Win 7–0 Pat Brogan TKO 7 (8) 30 Jan 1973 York Hall, London, England
6 Win 6–0 Pat Dwyer PTS 8 16 Jan 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Mike McCluskie KO 5 (8) 8 Jan 1973 Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester, England
4 Win 4–0 Ronnie Hough TKO 5 (8) 11 Dec 1972 Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Anton Schnedl TKO 7 (8) 5 Dec 1972 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
2 Win 2–0 John Lowe TKO 3 (6) 14 Nov 1972 Empire Pool, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Maurice Thomas TKO 6 (6) 31 Oct 1972 Royal Albert Hall, London, England

[9]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Remembering Alan Minter". boxingnewsonline.net. 15 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Alan Minter obituary". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Crawley Boxing club history". crawleyboxingclub.co.uk. 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Crawley Boxing Club mourns passing of John Hillier, trainer of World champion Alan Minter". crawleyobserver.co.uk. 11 January 2018.
  5. ^ "1.European Junior Championships - Miskolc, Hungary - November 8-14 1970".
  6. ^ a b c "Alan Minter Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Light-Middleweight (≤71 kilograms), Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Boxing; British Olympians who challenged and conquered the world". ilfordrecorder.co.uk. 6 April 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Alan Minter ID# 11467". boxrec.com. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Boxing Speakers - Alan Minter". primeperformersagency.co.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Alan Minter: British boxing legend dies at 69". BBC News. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Alan Minter, British boxing great who became world champion, dies aged 69". The Guardian. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  13. ^ Pye, Steven (3 October 2013). "Remembering Alan Minter v Marvin Hagler: One of boxing's lowest moments". The Guardian.
  14. ^ "Boxing Speakers - Alan Minter". thefightcity.com. 27 September 2019.
  15. ^ Benson, Michael (10 September 2020). "Boxing news: Former undisputed middleweight champion Alan Minter dies of cancer aged 69". Talksport.
  16. ^ "Doctor Convicted In Boxing Death (Published 1983)". The New York Times. 29 January 1983. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Amateur boxing titles
Previous:
John Conteh 		ABA middleweight champion
1971 		Next:
Frank Lucas
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Bunny Sterling 		British middleweight champion
4 November 1975 – 1977
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Kevin Finnegan
Preceded by
Germano Valsecchi
 European middleweight champion
4 February 1977 – 21 September 1977 		Succeeded by
Gratien Tonna
Preceded by
Kevin Finnegan
 British middleweight champion
8 November 1977 – 1979
Vacated 		Vacant
Title next held by
Kevin Finnegan
Vacant
Title last held by
Gratien Tonna 		European middleweight champion
19 July 1978 – 1980
Vacated
World boxing titles
Preceded by WBA middleweight champion
16 March 1980 – 27 September 1980 		Succeeded by
WBC middleweight champion
16 March 1980 – 27 September 1980
The Ring middleweight champion
16 March 1980 – 27 September 1980
Undisputed middleweight champion
16 March 1980 – 27 September 1980
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