Tiger learned
to box from British military officers stationed in Nigeria. He began
his professional boxing career in his homeland in 1952, and he went
on to win the Nigerian championship in the middleweight division before
moving to England in 1955. After losing his first four matches in
England, he improved rapidly, and on March 27, 1958, he knocked out
Pat McAteer to become the British Commonwealth middleweight champion.
In 1959 Tiger began boxing in the United States, and on October
23, 1962, he won the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title
with a 15 round decision over American Gene Fullmer. Tiger retained
the title with a 15 round draw with Fullmer on February 23, 1963,
and with a 7th round knockout of Fullmer on August 10, 1963. Tiger
lost the title on December 7, 1963, in a 15 round decision to American
Joey Giardello.
After decisioning Jose Torres to win title honors,
Tiger then defended his crown against Torres and Montanan Roger Rouse,
before coming up short against veteran Bob Foster of Washington, DC.
The left hook Foster used to dethrone Tiger in an instant, was rated
among “The 10 Deadliest Punches of the Last 25 Years” in 1975. The
power in the one punch K.O. made such an impact upon Garden promoters,
it was felt that a rematch would do poor business. This attitude forced
Tiger to contend for the right to regain his crown, and saw him matched
against up-and-comer Frankie DePaula, who was coming off five consecutive
knockouts. The fight to qualify against Foster was, for its first
four rounds, a war which saw both men go down twice, and was selected
by Ring magazine as “Fight of the Year”. Though Dick Tiger took the
decision, having proved his mettle, ill treatment on the American
side seemed to cling, as Frankie DePaula, the man he had defeated,
was inexplicably given the chance at Bob Foster.
Retirement and
death
After retiring from boxing, Tiger worked as a guard at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York. One day, he felt a strong pain in his back.
Tested by doctors, he was diagnosed with liver cancer.
He had
been banned by the Nigerian government in his country because of his
involvement in the Biafran movement, however, the ban was lifted immediately
after news about his condition arrived in Nigeria. He died of liver
cancer on 14 December 1971, aged 42.