Albert Finch

Albert Finch (16 May 1926 – 23 January 2003) was a British boxer from Croydon in South London, who was active from 1945 to 1958. He fought as both a middleweight and light-heavyweight, becoming British middleweight champion in 1950.

He was one of seven children and learnt to box at the age of eight. He had a successful amateur career, winning 63 out of 68 contests.

Professional career He had his first professional fight on 14 August 1945 at the Queensbury Club, Soho, London. He fought a draw over six rounds against Eddie Starrs.

He continued to build up a successful domestic record with the odd defeat. In October 1948 he beat Mark Hart for the Southern Area middleweight title, winning on points over 12 rounds.

In April 1948, he fought the promising young middleweight, Randolph Turpin, at the Royal Albert Hall, and inflicted Turpin's first defeat, winning on points over eight rounds.

In June 1949, he challenged Dick Turpin, elder brother of Randolph, for his British and Commonwealth middleweight titles. The fight was held in Birmingham and Turpin won on points over fifteen rounds.

In April 1950, he had a re-match with Dick Turpin, who in the meantime had lost his Commonwealth title. The fight was held in Nottingham and Finch won on points over fifteen rounds after having been knocked down twice. He was now the British middleweight champion.

Finch held the British title for only six months before losing it to Dick Turpin's brother, Randolph in October 1950. They met at Harringay Arena, and Turpin, who had a powerful punch, knocked Finch out in the fifth round.

Finch began to find it difficult to make the middleweight weight limit and so moved up to fight as a light-heavyweight. Following the Turpin defeat, he had a run of seven straight victories against light-heavyweights before fighting Don Cockell for his British and European light-heavyweight titles. The fight was in October 1951, at the Harringay Arena, and Cockell won by a knockout in the seventh round.

He continued fighting as a light-heavyweight and in November 1954 he had another attempt at the British light-heavyweight title when he fought the holder, Alex Buxton, in Birmingham. Unfortunately, he suffered another knockout, this time in the eighth round. By fighting at the heavier weight he was meeting heavier punches and so suffered more knockouts than previously.

In March 1956, he had a third attempt at the British light-heavyweight title when he fought Ron Barton for the vacant title. The fight at Harringay Arena ended with Barton winning by a technical knockout in the eighth round. This was his last title fight.

He continued fighting, with mixed success. One notable victory was a win by disqualification against Jim Cooper, Henry Cooper's twin brother, in Stockholm. He had his last fight in March 1958, losing by a knockout in the third round against Noel Trigg.

Retirement After his retirement he worked at a meat market in Croydon and was active in assisting youthful boxers. He died in 2003 at the age of 76 years.

Professional boxing record

Loss

KO 3 17 March 1958

Draw

PTS 8 3 February 1958

Draw

PTS 8 13 January 1958

Win

PTS 10 3 October 1957

Loss

PTS 8 21 August 1957

Loss

KO 2 29 July 1957

Win

DQ 7 19 May 1957

Win

PTS 12 26 March 1957

Loss

PTS 8 3 February 1957

Win

PTS 8 28 December 1956

Win

TKO 10 8 September 1956

Loss

TKO 8 13 March 1956

Draw

PTS 8 22 January 1956

Win

PTS 10 30 October 1955

Draw

PTS 8 4 October 1955

Loss

KO 8 9 November 1954

Win

TKO 9 18 May 1954

Win

TKO 8 23 March 1954

Win

PTS 8 23 February 1954

Win

TKO 5 3 November 1953

Win

TKO 7 20 October 1953

Draw

PTS 8 13 October 1953

Win

PTS 8 6 October 1953

Loss

PTS 10 8 September 1953

Loss

PTS 10 18 May 1953

Win

PTS 10 25 April 1953

Loss

TKO 9 20 March 1953

Win

PTS 8 16 February 1953

Loss

DQ 5 2 December 1952

Loss

KO 6 28 October 1952

Win

PTS 8 14 October 1952

Win

PTS 10 23 February 1952

Win

TKO 8 13 February 1952

Win

TKO 5 21 January 1952

Loss

KO 7 16 October 1951

Win

TKO 5 29 May 1951

Win

TKO 5 16 May 1951

Win

PTS 10 30 April 1951

Win

TKO 9 19 March 1951

Win

PTS 8 26 February 1951

Win

PTS 8 12 February 1951

Win

PTS 8 22 January 1951

Loss

KO 5 17 October 1950

Win

PTS 10 27 September 1950

Draw

PTS 10 21 July 1950

Win

TKO 8 3 July 1950

Win

PTS 10 26 June 1950

Win

TKO 3 12 June 1950

Win

PTS 15 24 April 1950

Win

PTS 10 29 March 1950

Draw

PTS 10 13 March 1950

Draw

PTS 8 21 February 1950

Loss

PTS 10 7 February 1950

Win

KO 4 5 December 1949

Win

PTS 10 14 November 1949

Loss

PTS 8 24 October 1949

Win

PTS 10 4 October 1949

Win

PTS 8 18 August 1949

Loss

PTS 15 20 June 1949

Win

KO 7 24 May 1949

Win

PTS 8 21 April 1949

Win

PTS 8 10 March 1949

Loss

PTS 10 24 January 1949

Win

TKO 6 13 December 1948

Win

PTS 12 11 October 1948

Win

PTS 10 10 August 1948

Win

PTS 8 11 June 1948

Win

TKO 7 8 June 1948

Win

PTS 8 26 April 1948

Win

TKO 6 15 December 1947

Win

PTS 8 10 December 1947

Win

PTS 8 28 November 1947

No Contest

NC 4 1 July 1947

Win

PTS 8 28 April 1947

Loss

PTS 12 16 April 1947

Win

PTS 8 11 March 1947

Win

TKO 6 11 February 1947

Win

PTS 8 21 January 1947

Win

PTS 8 17 December 1946

Win

PTS 8 3 December 1946

Win

PTS 8 28 November 1946

Win

PTS 8 19 November 1946

Loss

PTS 12 23 October 1946

Win

TKO 8 14 October 1946

Win

PTS 10 9 October 1946

Loss

PTS 8 17 September 1946

Win

PTS 8 9 July 1946

Win

PTS 8 25 June 1946

Win

PTS 8 31 May 1946

Loss

TKO 5 25 March 1946

Win

PTS 8 19 March 1946

Win

PTS 8 25 January 1946

Win

PTS 8 24 January 1946

Win

TKO 5 16 January 1946

Win

PTS 8 7 January 1946

Win

PTS 8 18 December 1945

Win

PTS 6 3 December 1945

Win

PTS 8 13 November 1945

Win

KO 2 6 November 1945

Win

PTS 6 20 October 1945

Win

PTS 6 9 October 1945

Win

PTS 6 11 September 1945

Draw

PTS 6 14 August 1945