Alan Rudkin
by Ralph Oates
came into the world on the 18th of November 1941 and was brought up in Dingle, Liverpool. Rudkin had three attempts at winning world honours each time against outstanding champions. To make his task even harder was the fact that he had to venture into the title holder’s country. In truth Rudkin never had it easy in his championship bids. Rudkin’s challenges could rightfully be labelled a mission impossible. It would be true to say that lesser men than Rudkin had won a world title during their careers. It isn’t always about talent; it’s about getting the breaks and being in the right place at the right time.
Boxing fans will recognise the name Alan Rudkin, a fighter from Liverpool who was a world class bantamweight fighter who during his career won the British, European and Commonwealth titles. The said list of titles held by Rudkin more than confirmed that he had a very successful professional career. However the championship which Rudkin strongly desired was the one which eluded him the world title. It seemed that the Liverpool fighter was not fated to add the global crown to his name try as he may. Now you may wonder why is Rudkin, a fighter from Liverpool, mentioned in this column? Well, he is given a mention because he was actually born in Wales. This situation came about when Rudkin’s pregnant Mother was evacuated from Liverpool during the course of the second world war. Rudkin
Images Credit: Derek Rowe
26 CARDIFF TIMES
Rudkin’s first attempt to win the title took place on the 30th of November 1965 against the reigning title holder Fighting Harada at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Rudkin was considered the underdog in the contest, and it was viewed that he would leave the land of the rising sun a well beaten fighter. This was understandable since Harada was one tough fighter who’s experience far exceeded that of his opponent. It looked as if it was a case of putting the student in with the master and rarely does the student get the better of the master if at all. However the British challenger was not fazed by the champion and surprised many by pushing the Japanese fighter hard and did not look out of his league in his title bid. Rudkin lost a 15 round points decision but in so doing received a great deal of praise for his impressive showing in the contest. Harada was also a former world flyweight king.
