About Dick Tiger
Richard Ihetu GCOI (August 14, 1929 – December 14, 1971), professionally known as Dick Tiger was a Nigerian professional boxer and former military officer of the Biafran army often regarded as one of the best boxers of the 20th century and one of the greatest boxers of his generation, Tiger held the undisputed middleweight and light-heavyweight championships making him the first African to do so. He is the first African to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Tiger was born in Amaigbo in Imo State and later moved to Aba in 1946 at aged 17 where he began boxing while working as a market trader with his mother, he later emigrated to Liverpool, England to pursue his boxing career and later to the United States. In 1963, Tiger hosted the first-ever world boxing championship bout held on African soil at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, Nigeria which he won. Tiger was Igbo and officially joined the Biafran Army in December 1967 after he publicly declared his allegiance to Biafra during a press conference in New Jersey in June 1968, he was officially commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the morale corps of the Biafran Armed Forces primarily training soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. He was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958, but famously returned his insignia on May 15, 1968, to protest Britain’s support and weapon supplies to Nigeria during the Nigerian-Biafran civil war. Tiger was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1962 and 1965, while the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1962 and 1966. In 1996, Tiger was voted as one of the best boxers of the 1960s. Tiger was included in the 1998 book "Best Boxers of the 20th Century". In 2002, Tiger was voted by The Ring magazine as the 31st greatest fighter of the last 80 years. His first world title win in 1962 was ranked the 15th most memorable moment in Nigerian sports history since 1960 by Premium Times in 2020, the highest ranked combat sports-related moment. Tiger became a two-time undisputed world middleweight champion and helped keep boxing alive during the 1950s boxing industry recession. Tiger won the WBA middleweight title when he beat Gene Fullmer on October 23, 1962, and the light heavyweight title in 1966 when he dethroned José Torres of Puerto Rico. New management saw to it certain "errors in his style" were corrected, and in another year, Tiger had taken 17 of 19 fights and won the British Middleweight title. The decision as rendered, had first been called a draw; appalled, Jones demanded a recount of the cards, which boomeranged, showing the fight, dominated by Tiger, as a win for Greaves.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.