48 Years Ago Today - Randy Turpin Suicides

Turpin documentary : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSS3oLP3YlY

He was born in Leamington in 1928 to a black Guyanan father and white English mother at a time when there were almost no people of mixed race in the country.

One of Britain’s first mixed race boxers Randolph Turpin (who was recently made bankrupt), committed suicide after trying to murder his 17-month-old daughter, this day in 1966 - 48 years ago.


He had struggled with money since finally retiring from boxing in 1962 after an unsuccessful return to the ring due to business failures during a three-year hiatus.

He was reduced to fighting as a wrestler and working in a scrap yard before the Inland Revenue landed the final blow by pursuing him for years of unpaid back taxes

The man was widely assumed to be suffering from the silent Killer Depression.

In 1948, his older brother, became the first non-white boxer to win a British title.

The following year, Dick lost his British and Commonwealth middleweight belt to Albert Finch.

Randy Turpin avenged his brother’s defeat and reclaimed family honour by knocking Finch out in five rounds in 1950, becoming champion himself.

He beat the GOAT Sugar Ray Robinson to become world middleweight champion 15 years prior to his death in 1951.

Robinson 64 Days later reclaimed his Crown.

Why did he try to kill his baby daughter?

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:Why did he try to kill his baby daughter?

I think it was linked to his depression, that might have caused other mental issues. I dont think anyone knows for certain

Sad end.

but he achieved a lot becoming world middleweight champion. Many people forget that he challenged Bobo Olson for the M/W title after Robinson retired but lost on points.

2 cracks at the title, 1 he took is not bad going at all. I know TRUSS likes to use Turpin as a slant on Robinsons carrer but Turpin was a decent fighter and could bang with 45 kos and only 3 losses 1 of which was to the greatest EVER.

Apparently he was great in the ring but crap in business.........Read somewhere that he bought a cafe just before a motorway was built near that road..

Something like that anyway........

Terrible thing suicide..........If a kid drinks themselves to death then it's bearable to a certain extent because you reconcile yourself that it's inevitable they'll be lost and that in a way it's their fault which makes it easier to come to terms with !!........Though you always feel you could have been more understanding in bad moments..Later on.

When it's suicide there is no reconciling.. it's generally a spontaneous act that takes family members unawares and what's left is only the realization that their loved one was going through horrors and they weren't there to help...

Sorry things didn't work out for Randy......He deserved better..

I assume his brother was the first non-white British champ in the gloved/modern era?

My dad met Randolf at a fairground in Shrewsbury. Not sure if he was doing exhibitions or not and a mate of mine was working at a lady's house and noticed lots of pics of Turpin on the wall. He asked why she had them and she said she was his daughter or granddaughter. Can't remember which now.

Certainly was a shame he committed suicide, considering he was a real talent and his claim to fame.

Ah thats sad, but is there a co-relation with boxing and depression in general? or other boxers more or less suffered similar fate?

The knob tried to kill his daughter. Good ridance.

3fingers wrote:The knob tried to kill his daughter. Good ridance.

When you're going to kill yourself, your thinking isn't always rational.

Brain damage is closely liked to depression, so not surprising that there are high instances of depression in boxers, that's not to say that all boxers that suffer depression are brain damaged though, retirement and the void left in boxers lives is also a significant issue.

Turpin may have suffered depression all his life. It's only in recent years that people feel comfortable talking about these things in public. It could also be the fact that he was going bankrupt, and he had no other skills that would help him maintain his lifestyle that drove him over the edge.

He met SRR at the right time in the first fight but fair play he did well in the rematch.

The pain, excitement, adrenaline and adulation of being a fighter stimulates the brains pleasure centres. Happy hormones are released and travel to the happy place. These pathways become entrenched. Similar kind of thing happens in drug addiction. Nothing does it like the buzz of a crack pipe... or a fight.

It seems to me he gets let off lightly with attempted infanticide because he bested SRR.

No fight = Depression, until alternative stimulus is found.

Well to this day his daughter refuses to accept that her father had anything to do with it and not much is known about what happened. Boxers have always been remembered what they achieved not what they did.

Wrongly so. Lets remember rolf harris for his art.

The two are the same, the person he apparently tried to kill and apparently is the operative word holds no ill feelings towards and herself doesn't believe it but you having read his wikipedia page know it all already.

Ive read a pdf of a newpaper article from the time (plus the wikipage). Its quite obvious what happened, he goes into her room shoots her twice then blows his brains out. His daughter being VERY young has no recollection.  His daughter does not want to beleive her father shot her. His daughter probably doesn't want to tarnish the name of the man who beat the man. People find it hard to speak out. Denial is often easier than confronting reality.

He goes into her room, shoots her twice, blows his brains out,, the mother rushes to hospital with her daughter. Pretty clear cut.

Ive read three pdfs now. Why do you say apparently?

I think the only person who doubts he shot her are Hammer and his daughter...  "Why wouldn't he have done that? Because he loved me that's why. "The father I remember just would not have been able to do that to me."

Whereas his Son says he was"a terrible disgrace to himself, for boxing and, really, I could say Leamington"

Theres lots of newspaper articles out there if you care to look. Visit a library which has an archive if you think it necessary?

If you are going to question whether he shot his daughter, then, you are going to have to question whether he committed suicide.

He was found dead in a room with a revolver; his daughter had two gunshot wounds. Lets rewrite he history....he was murdered!

It's just a thought and I have no grounds for this, but they were struggling financially, and in his lowest moment, he may have thought he'd be alleviating the burden for his wife. He'd seen his mother struggle all her life. Maybe he didn't want his daughter to either.


Just not thinking straight. Awful thing, depression.

3fingers wrote:The knob tried to kill his daughter. Good ridance.

A better understanding of mental illness may be in order............As for Strongy's assertion that he got Robbo at the right time..That's just the usual bollox....

Robbo lost by a mile the first time and struggled the second because of Turpin's style.....Desperate rally turned it for him..

Robbo always struggles with Turpin and the fact he reneged on a deal for a third fight probably say's it all.............

But as we know only modern fighters back out of fights..

Truss, I'm not a clinical psychologist.

If i understood depression in medical and psycho-social terms I might be able to understand certain behaviours but I'd never mitigate the attempted murder of a little girl (unless I was defence lawer).

I accepted that depression can effect our moral judgement. However I find it a step too far to use it as an excuse for infanticide.

An understanding of psychology might help to describe motivations, or help us to empathise, but it certainly doesn't JUSTIFY ALL ACTIONS.....especially the attempted murder of a small girl.

You should lay off Chisora; maybe he was depressed when he punched his Mrs?

Maybe jimmy saville was depressed when he finger bashed a minor?

I'm not suggesting he should have a free ride........But like I always said to Lumbering Jack (who hated everybody and everything and who's Mrs has been pregnant for at least two years and counting) I suggest noting that life isn't black and white and that there are grey areas.......

Just writing someone off as a knob when he was obviously out of his mind and at the end of his tether seems a little harsh..

I've worked with addicts many of whom appear completely rational one minute and completely irrational the next when the addiction takes over........

Depression is the same roller coaster ride..

Depression is a terrible terrible thing and It isn't a black and white subject..

I know where your coming from.

What I think we can deduce from the documentary is that while Turpin was clearly a far from perfect human being, it's evident that deep down he must have been a kind man, not once but on plenty of occasions he got people out of trouble financially, and tellingly, those closest to him remained loyal to him. The word infanticide suggests his actions were down to his fulfilling some sadistic impulse, which frankly strikes me as ridiculous in the extreme. Preposterous.

I dont think there are many at all that fully understand depression. Its still an area where much is unknown. However its fast becoming a modern convenient catch all buzzword for excusing any and all of lifes problems and avoiding responsibility. It gets thrown about far too much for my liking.

catchweight wrote:However its fast becoming a modern convenient catch all buzzword for excusing any and all of lifes problems and avoiding responsibility. It gets thrown about far too much for my liking.

Really what brings you to that conclusion..

Countless examples of it that I have witnessed. I think its just the way society is. There is very little accountability starting with oneself. Fat people suing fast food chains, smokers suing tobacco companies etc. Its always someone or something elses fault.

Herman Jaggery wrote: The word infanticide suggests his actions were down to his fulfilling some sadistic impulse, which frankly strikes me as ridiculous in the extreme. Preposterous.

I used the word infanticide as a verb i.e. to kill a child....without inference to sadism.

I don't want to get sucked into this debate, it's such a horrible subject. I didn't word it very well, no. What I thought you meant was that his actions may have something to do with punishing his wife. The sadism directed at his wife rather than the child.

Only offering up possible explanations with the little evidence there is to go on. There's no condoning his actions, even though you seem to make light of it.

As far as im aware im the one whos doing the criticising and not the one making light or condoning. To be honest ive got no idea why he did it. Dont know much about it. Someone said he was depressed. Ok. Good Boxer. Tradgic End. I shouldnt judge. Its hard when you have daughter whos your world.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:The two are the same, the person he apparently tried to kill and apparently is the operative word holds no ill feelings towards and herself doesn't believe it but you having read his wikipedia page know it all already.

Yea this is kinda interesting, if the daughter says she has no idea about her father trying to kill her on what basis these conclusions have been published, I know Wikipedia is a not a perfect place to refer but its hardly faulty either coz of high standard maintenance.

Forget about it.......Let's move on....

I'm not suggesting he didn't do it Fingers but we're talking about a racially prejudiced Britain in the 60's and reports at the time aren't wholly reliable. We'll never exactly what happened but it's not as cut and dried as you're suggesting.

Woman have killed their children and its been blamed on post natal depression. Such things happen a lot and its tragic. The obvious question is why? My guess is that it is something primeval in parents and instinctive like when a fighter sees blood on his opponent, sort of like seeing your prey wounded.

Plus Turpin had a good amount of fights and took a good amount of punches to the head at a time where the medical attention fighter's are afforded today was non existant which might explain his dramatic behaviour.

I don't know but I don't think that it was an act of a sane man.

Ive moved on Truss