Richard Shrimpton

Richard Shrimpton was controversially called-up for the 1936 Olympic middleweight division ahead of the ABA champion Albert Harrington. Shrimpton’s selection came as a result of his greater experience, and also narrowly losing a great contest with Alf Shawyer in the South-east London Division Championships that year. Once in Berlin, Shrimpton was again involved in controversy. In his opening bout he knocked out China’s Chin Kuaiti in the first round. The referee counted out Chin but one of the judges protested that Shrimpton had thrown a punch too soon after coming out of a clinch and he was disqualified. British officials objected and the decision was overruled. Shrimpton was re-instated, only to lose in the next round to the eventual silver medallist Henry Tiller of Norway.

As an 18-year-old, Shrimpton boxed for the London Federation of Boys’ Clubs in their annual match against the Army. He went on to make his name with Walworth’s famous Lynn Boxing Club and was selected as a middleweight reserve for the 1936 match at Wembley between Great Britain and the United States. His best ABA performance was in reaching the semi-final in 1937, losing on points to the eventual champion, London Polytechnic’s Maurice Dennis. Shrimpton’s younger brother Eddie was an ABA schoolboys’ champion, and competed, also as a middleweight, at the 1938 ABA championships.