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.