Alan Minter


Alan Minter is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1981. He held the undisputed middleweight title in 1980, having previously held the British middleweight 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.

Amateur career

Minter was the 1971 Amateur Boxing Association of England Middleweight Champion. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the light middleweight classification. His loss in the semifinals was to Dieter Kottysch of West Germany. The West German boxer won the decision by a 3-2 margin that was hotly disputed. Kottysch was the eventual gold medalist. Minter left the amateur boxing ranks shortly thereafter.
Minter began his professional career in London on 31 October 1972 by knocking out Maurice Thomas in six rounds.

1972 Olympic results

Below is the record of Alan Minter, a British light middleweight boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympics:
Minter won five fights in a row by knockout and, in 1973, Pat Dwyer became the first boxer to go the distance with him, over eight rounds in London. Minter won his next five fights, three by knockout, before tasting defeat for the first time after the referee stopped the fight in the eighth round to "Scottish" Don McMillan due to bad cuts suffered by Minter. Two more wins followed before facing Jan Magziarz, who beat him twice in a row again due to cuts.
1974 was a mixed year for Minter, beating Tony Byrne by a decision in eight, losing in two to Ricky Torres, having a third fight with Magziarz result in a no contest in four rounds and closing the year with a win in eight rounds by decision in his first international fight, against Shako Mamba in Hamburg, Germany.
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.
In 1976, he won six fights, to extend his streak to ten consecutive wins. Among the boxers he beat were Billy Knight by a knockout in two and Finnegan once again, by decision in 15, both in defence of his British title, along with former world title challenger Tony Licata, knocked out in six and United States Olympic Games Gold medal winner Sugar Ray Seales, beaten in five. These wins gave Minter a ranking among the top ten Middleweight challengers.
In 1977, he won the European Middleweight title by beating Germano Valsecchi by a knockout in five in Italy. But in his next fight his winning streak ended when he lost to former world title challenger Ronnie Harris by a knockout in eight. 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, but then he lost his European title to Gratien Tonna by a knockout in eight at Milan. He closed '77 with a third 15-round decision win over Finnegan to retain his British title.
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. Then, he went to Italy once again to regain his European Middleweight title by knocking out Angelo Jacopucci in twelve rounds. Jacopucci died a few days afterwards, due to injuries sustained in the bout. Minter finished his year by avenging his loss to Tonna with a six-round knockout.
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 in which the judges' scorecards varied wildly. A Venezuelan judge had Minter losing the fight, while the British judge had Minter winning 13 of the 15 rounds. In a rematch held in London, Minter retained the world title by a TKO in eight rounds. Minter's run as world champion came to an end on 27 September of that year, when he was stopped on cuts in three rounds to Marvin Hagler at Wembley Arena in London.
In the run-up to the fight, Minter had caused controversy by stating that he "did not intend to lose his title to a black man". After the fight was stopped, Minter's supporters caused a riot, throwing beer cans and bottles into the ring and both boxers had to be ushered away by the police.
Minter beat fringe contender Ernie Singletary in London, in 1981, but after losses to future Hagler challengers Mustafa Hamsho in Las Vegas and Tony Sibson in London, he retired for good.
He left boxing with a record of 39 wins, 9 losses and 1 no contest, with 23 wins by knockout.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
49Loss39–9 Tony SibsonTKO3, 1:5915 Sep 1981 Wembley Arena, London, EnglandFor European middleweight title
48Loss39–8 Mustafa HamshoSD106 Jun 1981 Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, US
47Win39–7 Ernie SingletaryPTS1017 Mar 1981 Wembley Arena, London, England
46Loss38–7 Marvin HaglerTKO3, 1:4527 Sep 1980 Wembley Arena, London, EnglandLost WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
45Win38–6 Vito AntuofermoRTD8 28 Jun 1980 Wembley Arena, London, EnglandRetained WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
44Win37–6 Vito Antuofermo1516 Mar 1980 Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, USWon WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
43Win36–6 Doug DemmingsPTS1023 Oct 1979 Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
42Win35–6 Monty BethamTKO2, 1:0526 Jun 1979 Wembley Arena, London, England
41Win34–6 Renato GarciaTKO9, 2:401 May 1979 Wembley Arena, London, England
40Win33–6 Rudy RoblesPTS106 Feb 1979 Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
39Win32–6 Gratien TonnaRTD6 7 Nov 1978 Empire Pool, London, EnglandRetained European middleweight title
38Win31–6 Angelo JacopucciKO12 19 Jul 1978 Municipal Stadium, Bellaria, ItalyWon vacant European middleweight title
37Win30–6 Sandy TorresKO5, 1:5715 Feb 1978 Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, US
36Win29–6 Kevin FinneganPTS158 Nov 1977 Empire Pool, London, EnglandWon vacant British middleweight title
35Loss28–6 Gratien TonnaTKO8, 1:1021 Sep 1977 Palasport di San Siro, Milan, ItalyLost European middleweight title
34Win28–5 Emile GriffithPTS1030 Jul 1977 Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo, Monaco
33Loss27–5 Ronnie HarrisTKO8, 3:0012 Apr 1977 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
32Win27–4 Germano ValsecchiKO5 4 Feb 1977 Palasport di San Siro, Milan, ItalyWon European middleweight title
31Win26–4 Sugar Ray SealesTKO5, 2:147 Dec 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
30Win25–4 Tony LicataTKO6, 1:309 Nov 1976 Empire Pool, London, England
29Win24–4 Kevin FinneganPTS1514 Sep 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandRetained British middleweight title
28Win23–4 Frank ReicheTKO8 24 May 1976 Olympiahalle, Munich, West Germany
27Win22–4 Billy KnightTKO2, 3:0027 Apr 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandRetained British middleweight title
26Win21–4 Trevor FrancisTKO8, 1:0520 Jan 1976 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
25Win20–4 Kevin FinneganPTS154 Nov 1975 Empire Pool, London, EnglandWon vacant British middleweight title
24Win19–4 Peter WulfKO6 30 May 1975 Hamburg, West Germany
23Win18–4 Larry PaulPTS1025 Mar 1975 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
22Win17–4 Tony AllenPTS810 Feb 1975 Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
21Win16–4 Henry CooperKO1, 2:2520 Jan 1975 Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
20Win15–4 Shako MambaPTS830 Nov 1974 Munich, West Germany
1914–4 Jan MagdziarzNC4 29 Oct 1974 Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandNC after both boxers were disqualified for inactivity
18Loss14–4 Ricky OrtizTKO2 21 May 1974 Empire Pool, London, England
17Win14–3 Tony ByrnePTS826 Mar 1974 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
16Loss13–3 Jan Magdziarz6 11 Dec 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
15Loss13–2 Jan MagdziarzTKO3 30 Oct 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
14Win13–1 Ernie BurnsTKO5 2 Oct 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
13Win12–1 Octavio RomeroPTS810 Sep 1973 Empire Pool, London, England
12Loss11–1 Don McMillanTKO8, 0:455 Jun 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
11Win11–0 George AidooTKO5 9 May 1973 York Hall, London, England
10Win10–0 Frank YoungPTS827 Mar 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
9Win9–0 Harry ScottPTS813 Mar 1973 Empire Pool, London, England
8Win8–0 Gabe BowensTKO7 20 Feb 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
7Win7–0 Pat BroganTKO7 30 Jan 1973 York Hall, London, England
6Win6–0 Pat Dwyer816 Jan 1973 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
5Win5–0 Mike McCluskie5 8 Jan 1973 Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester, England
4Win4–0 Ronnie HoughTKO5 11 Dec 1972 Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
3Win3–0 Anton SchnedlTKO7 5 Dec 1972 Royal Albert Hall, London, England
2Win2–0 John LoweTKO3 14 Nov 1972 Empire Pool, London, England
1Win1–0 Maurice Thomas6 31 Oct 1972 Royal Albert Hall, London, England