Dick Tiger

CTL-E-7086 · Person · other · 1929–1971

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07958 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7086.

Dick Tiger was born Richard Ihetu on August 14, 1929, in Nigeria — Britannica specifies Amaigbo, Orlu — and turned professional in 1952, the International Boxing Hall of Fame records. He campaigned in Nigeria and England, won the British Commonwealth middleweight title, and debuted in the United States in 1959. In October 1962 he decisioned Gene Fullmer to win the WBA middleweight title and earned recognition as undisputed champion by stopping Fullmer in August 1963 in a fight staged in Nigeria, the Hall records; he lost and regained the crown against Joey Giardello, then lost it to Emile Griffith in 1966. Moving up, he won the light heavyweight title from Jose Torres in 1966 and lost it to Bob Foster on a fourth-round knockout in 1968, the only time he was stopped in his career. During the Biafran civil war (May 1967–January 1970), Britannica records, Tiger served in the Biafran army as a public relations officer, lost his property and money in the war, worked afterward as a museum security guard in New York, and returned to Nigeria when terminally ill with cancer. His totals are carried split: the Hall's biography gives 59 wins, 19 losses and 3 draws with 26 knockouts in 81 bouts, while Britannica gives 61 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws with 26 knockouts in 81 matches. He died December 14, 1971.

The record

• Also known as: Richard Ihetu

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0462. Identity: this record is Richard Ihetu, who fought as Dick Tiger; the Commons file description's 'American boxer' wording is the file's own error and is not carried — Britannica and the Hall both record a Nigerian fighter born in Nigeria. Record-total disposition (carried split, never blended): Hall biography 59-19-3 (26 KOs); Britannica 61-17-3 (26 KOs), both over 81 bouts. Biafra disposition: the war service, loss of property and money, museum-guard work and return to Nigeria are carried exactly as Britannica states them and no further war claim is made. The 1966 Griffith (S8-06) and 1968 Foster (S8-07) title fights are bout results carried in the descriptions, not relationship edges. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Tiger is the packet's two-division champion whose career spans three continents, and the Biafra years belong in the record on Britannica's sourcing alone, stated no larger than that source states them. Photo: CLEARED, Public domain, 1962 photograph whose Commons file description names Dick Tiger.

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame. "Dick Tiger." IBHOF.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Dick Tiger." Britannica.com. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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