DICK TIGER

Richard Ihetu GCOI (August 14, 1929 – December 14, 1971), professionally known as Dick Tiger was a Nigerian professional boxer and former military officer of the Biafran army often regarded as one of the best boxers of the 20th century and one of the greatest boxers of his generation, Tiger held the undisputed middleweight and light-heavyweight championships making him the first African to do so. He is the first African to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame

Tiger was born in Amaigbo in Imo State and later moved to Aba in 1946 at aged 17 where he began boxing while working as a market trader with his mother, he later emigrated to Liverpool, England to pursue his boxing career and later to the United States. In 1963, Tiger hosted the first-ever world boxing championship bout held on African soil at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, Nigeria which he won.

Tiger was Igbo and officially joined the Biafran Army in December 1967 after he publicly declared his allegiance to Biafra during a press conference in New Jersey in June 1968, he was officially commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the morale corps of the Biafran Armed Forces primarily training soldiers in hand-to-hand combat.

After retiring, he worked as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. One day, he experienced severe back pain and was later diagnosed with liver cancer.

Tiger had previously been banned by the Nigerian government due to his involvement with the Biafran movement. However, the ban was lifted after news of his illness reached Nigeria. He died of liver cancer on 14 December 1971 in Aba, Nigeria, at the age of 42.

The Ring Fighter of the Year for 1962 and 1965.

Queen Elizabeth II honored Tiger with the Order of the British Empire. He later returned it in protest of the British government's support of the Nigerian regime during the civil war.