Alan Minter


Alan Sydney Minter was an English professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1981. He held the undisputed middleweight title in 1980, having previously held the British middleweight title 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.

Early life

Minter was born in Penge, Bromley, Kent, to Syd and Anne Minter. His father was a plasterer, and his mother was of German birth. His family moved to Crawley, West Sussex, and he joined Crawley Boxing Club at aged 11, training under John Hillier and Dougie Bidwell.

Amateur career

Minter took part at the 1970 European Junior Championships at the middleweight division, but in the very first fight he was stopped in the 2-nd round by Vyacheslav Lemeshev. Because Minter was the 1971 Amateur Boxing Association of England Middleweight Champion, he was selected to box for UK in the Olympics 1972. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the light-middleweight classification, losing in the semifinal to Dieter Kottysch of West Germany by a 3-2 marginal decision which was hotly disputed. Kottysch went on to win the gold medal.

1972 Olympic results

Minter's results at the 1972 Munich Olympics are as follows:

Professional career

Minter began his professional career with 11 straight wins, the first against Maurice Thomas in London on 31 October 1972, winning by knockout in the 6th round.
Minter won his first five fights by knockout until 16 January 1973, when Pat Dwyer went the distance, Minter taking the fight on points. Minter won his next five fights, three by knockout, before being defeated for the first time after the referee stopped the fight in the eighth round against "Scottish" Don McMillan due to bad cuts suffered by Minter. Two more wins followed before facing Jan Magdziarz, 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 Magdziarz, resulting in a no contest, closing the year with a win 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 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, in five rounds. 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 1977 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, on the undercard of the first Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, he won his first bout in the United States by knocking out Sandy Torres in five rounds. Then, in July, 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, and Minter considered quitting boxing. Minter finished his year by avenging his loss to Tonna with a six-round knockout in November at Wembley.
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 three months later in London on 28 June, Minter retained the world title by a TKO in eight rounds.
On 27 September 1980, Minter's short run as world champion came to an abrupt end when he was stopped on cuts in the third round against 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler at Wembley Arena in London. The fight was controversial owing to a racially-charged remark Minter made during the build-up and then by a crowd riot once the referee had agreed with Minter's corner that he was unable to continue, with chairs, bottles and glasses being hurled into the ring after the decision.
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.

Death

Minter died of cancer in September 2020, in Guildford at the age of 69.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
49LossTony SibsonTKO3, 1:5915 Sep 1981Wembley Arena, London, EnglandFor European middleweight title
48Loss39–8 Mustafa HamshoSD106 Jun 1981Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, US
47Win39–7 Ernie SingletaryPTS1017 Mar 1981Wembley Arena, London, England
46Loss38–7 Marvin HaglerTKO3, 1:4527 Sep 1980Wembley Arena, London, EnglandLost WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
45Win38–6 Vito AntuofermoRTD8 28 Jun 1980Wembley Arena, London, EnglandRetained WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
44Win37–6 Vito Antuofermo1516 Mar 1980Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, USWon WBA, WBC, and The Ring middleweight titles
43Win36–6 Doug DemmingsPTS1023 Oct 1979Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
42Win35–6 Monty BethamTKO2, 1:0526 Jun 1979Wembley Arena, London, England
41Win34–6 Renato GarciaTKO9, 2:401 May 1979Wembley Arena, London, England
40Win33–6 Rudy RoblesPTS106 Feb 1979Wembley Conference Centre, London, England
39Win32–6 Gratien TonnaRTD6 7 Nov 1978Empire Pool, London, EnglandRetained European middleweight title
38Win31–6 Angelo JacopucciKO12 19 Jul 1978Municipal Stadium, Bellaria, ItalyWon vacant European middleweight title
Jacopucci died of injuries sustained in this bout.
37Win30–6 Sandy TorresKO5, 1:5715 Feb 1978Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, US
36Win29–6 Kevin FinneganPTS158 Nov 1977Empire Pool, London, EnglandWon vacant British middleweight title
35Loss28–6 Gratien TonnaTKO8, 1:1021 Sep 1977Palasport di San Siro, Milan, ItalyLost European middleweight title
34Win28–5 Emile GriffithPTS1030 Jul 1977Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo, Monaco
33Loss27–5 Ronnie HarrisTKO8, 3:0012 Apr 1977Royal Albert Hall, London, England
32Win27–4 Germano ValsecchiKO5 4 Feb 1977Palasport di San Siro, Milan, ItalyWon European middleweight title
31Win26–4 Sugar Ray SealesTKO5, 2:147 Dec 1976Royal Albert Hall, London, England
30Win25–4 Tony LicataTKO6, 1:309 Nov 1976Empire Pool, London, England
29Win24–4 Kevin FinneganPTS1514 Sep 1976Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandRetained British middleweight title
28Win23–4 Frank ReicheTKO8 24 May 1976Olympiahalle, Munich, West Germany
27Win22–4 Billy KnightTKO2, 3:0027 Apr 1976Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandRetained British middleweight title
26Win21–4 Trevor FrancisTKO8, 1:0520 Jan 1976Royal Albert Hall, London, England
25Win20–4 Kevin FinneganPTS154 Nov 1975Empire Pool, London, EnglandWon vacant British middleweight title
24Win19–4 Peter WulfKO6 30 May 1975Hamburg, West Germany
23Win18–4 Larry PaulPTS1025 Mar 1975Royal Albert Hall, London, England
22Win17–4 Tony AllenPTS810 Feb 1975Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
21Win16–4 Henry CooperKO1, 2:2520 Jan 1975Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
20Win15–4 Shako MambaPTS830 Nov 1974Munich, West Germany
1914–4 Jan MagdziarzNC4 29 Oct 1974Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandNC after both boxers were disqualified for inactivity
18Loss14–4Ricky OrtizTKO2 21 May 1974Empire Pool, London, England
17Win14–3Tony ByrnePTS826 Mar 1974Royal Albert Hall, London, England
16Loss13–3Jan Magdziarz6 11 Dec 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
15Loss13–2Jan MagdziarzTKO3 30 Oct 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
14Win13–1Ernie BurnsTKO5 2 Oct 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
13Win12–1Octavio RomeroPTS810 Sep 1973Empire Pool, London, England
12Loss11–1Don McMillanTKO8, 0:455 Jun 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
11Win11–0George AidooTKO5 9 May 1973York Hall, London, England
10Win10–0Frank YoungPTS827 Mar 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
9Win9–0Harry ScottPTS813 Mar 1973Empire Pool, London, England
8Win8–0Gabe BowensTKO7, 1:5520 Feb 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
7Win7–0Pat BroganTKO7 30 Jan 1973York Hall, London, England
6Win6–0Pat Dwyer816 Jan 1973Royal Albert Hall, London, England
5Win5–0Mike McCluskie5 8 Jan 1973Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester, England
4Win4–0Ronnie HoughTKO5 11 Dec 1972Hilton on Park Lane, London, England
3Win3–0Anton SchnedlTKO7 5 Dec 1972Royal Albert Hall, London, England
2Win2–0John LoweTKO3 14 Nov 1972Empire Pool, London, England
1Win1–0Maurice Thomas6 31 Oct 1972Royal Albert Hall, London, England

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

''The Ring'' magazine titles

Regional/International titles

Undisputed titles