Richard Riakporhe

Richard Riakporhe (born 5 January 1990) is a British professional boxer who held the British cruiserweight title from 2019 to September 2020.

Richard Riakporhe
Statistics
Weight(s)Cruiserweight
Height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Reach77 in (196 cm)
NationalityBritish
Born (1990-01-05) 5 January 1990
London, England
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[1]
Total fights11
Wins11
Wins by KO8
Losses0

Early life

Born on 5 January 1990, Richard Riakporhe grew up on the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth, London. At the age of 15, he was stabbed in the chest outside a house party, requiring emergency surgery to drain his lungs of blood. Riakporhe had a late start to boxing; first stepping into a gym, the Lynn ABC, at the age of 19.[2] Alongside boxing as an amateur he continued in pursuit of further education, studying at college and eventually moving on to Kingston University in London, earning a degree in marketing communications and advertising in 2015.[3]

Professional career

Riakporhe made his professional debut on 6 August 2018, scoring a four-round points decision (PTS) victory over Jason Jones at the York Hall in London.[4] Following a second win in 2016 – a technical knockout (TKO) over Aaron Lacy in October[5] – he scored three consecutive TKO victories in 2017; against Istvan Orsos in February;[6] Milan Cechvala in May;[7] and Jiri Svacina in October.[8]

He began 2018 with a TKO victory over Adam Williams in March,[9] followed by a win via corner retirement (RTD) against Elvis Dube in July.[10] Riakporhe's final fight of 2018 was against Sam Hyde on 10 November at the Manchester Arena, with the vacant WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title on the line. Riakporhe won via eighth-round TKO after Hyde's trainer, Joe Gallagher, threw in the towel after Hyde sustained an eye injury from a right hook.[11] Riakporhe was behind on all three judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with two judges scoring the bout 68–65 while the third scored it 67–66.[12] The fight was televised live on Sky Sports Box Office in the United Kingdom and streamed through DAZN in the United States as part of the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew.[13]

The first defence of his WBA title came on 2 March 2019 against Tommy McCarthy at the East of England Arena in Peterborough. Riakporhe dropped his opponent twice en route to a fourth-round TKO.[14] He defended the title for a second time against Chris Billam-Smith on 20 July at The O2 Arena, London. Riakporhe won by split decision (SD), with two judges scoring the bout in favour of Riakporhe at 97–92 and 95–94, while the third scored it to Smith at 96–93.[15] The fight was televised live on Sky Sports Box Office in the United Kingdom and streamed through DAZN in the United States as part of the undercard for Dillian Whyte vs. Óscar Rivas.[16]

Outside of boxing

Drawing from his experiences of a troubled upbringing, Riakporhe set up a company, Enhancing Minds, which focuses on talking to schoolchildren on positive thinking and the dangers of knife crime.[2][17]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
11 fights 11 wins 0 losses
By knockout 8 0
By decision 3 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
11 Win 11–0 Jack Massey UD 12 19 Dec 2019 York Hall, London, England Won vacant British cruiserweight title
10 Win 10–0 Chris Billam-Smith SD 10 20 Jul 2019 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
9 Win 9–0 Tommy McCarthy TKO 4 (10), 2:45 2 Mar 2019 East of England Arena, Peterborough, England Retained WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
8 Win 8–0 Sam Hyde TKO 8 (10), 2:41 10 Nov 2018 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
7 Win 7–0 Elvis Dube RTD 2 (4), 3:00 28 Jul 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
6 Win 6–0 Adam Williams TKO 3 (4), 2:38 24 Mar 2018 The O2 Arena, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Jiri Svacina TKO 2 (6), 0:46 14 Oct 2017 York Hall, London, England
4 Win 4–0 Milan Cechvala TKO 1 (4), 2:15 27 May 2017 York Hall, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Istvan Orsos TKO 1 (4), 2:54 18 Feb 2017 York Hall, London, England
2 Win 2–0 Aaron Lacy TKO 1 (4), 2:14 1 Oct 2016 York Hall, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Jason Jones PTS 4 6 Aug 2016 York Hall, London, England

References
  1. "Boxing record for Richard Riakporhe". BoxRec.
  2. Williams, Luke (25 January 2017). "Richard Riakporhe: Man on a mission". Boxing Monthly. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  3. McManus, Oliver (16 February 2018). "Boxing Insider Interview with Richard Riakporhe". BoxingInsider.com. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. "BoxRec: Richard Riakporhe vs. Jason Jones". boxrec.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. Songalia, Ryan (2 October 2016). "John O'Donnell outpoints Tommy Tear". The Ring. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  6. Williams, Luke (23 February 2017). "Frontline diary: Thrills and spills at York Hall". Boxing Monthly. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  7. "BoxRec: Richard Riakporhe vs. Milan Cechvala". boxrec.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  8. "BoxRec: Richard Riakporhe vs. Jiri Svacina". boxrec.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  9. Williamson, Chris (24 March 2018). "Dillian Whyte vs. Lucas Browne - LIVE Results From O2 Arena". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  10. "BoxRec: Richard Riakporhe vs. Elvis Dube". boxrec.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  11. Horan, Matt (11 November 2018). "Usyk vs Bellew: Sam Hyde suffers bad injury in Richard Riakporhe loss". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  12. "BoxRec: Richard Riakporhe vs. Sam Hyde". boxrec.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  13. Foster, Elliot (10 November 2018). "Richard Riakporhe Beats Sam Hyde To Claim WBA Regional". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  14. Damerell, Richard (3 March 2019). "Richard Riakporhe halted Tommy McCarthy in fourth round on JD NXTGEN bill in Peterborough". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  15. Gilbert, Peter (21 July 2019). "Whyte vs Rivas: Richard Riakpore defeats Chris Billam Smith on points". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  16. Purewal, Andy (18 July 2019). "Richard Riakporhe: "I'm going to beat Chris Billam-Smith in every department!"". Boxing Social. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  17. O'Neill, Lottie (13 April 2019). "Inside the world of knife crime that got me and my brother stabbed". essexlive. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Ryad Merhy		 WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight champion
10 November 2018 – present		 Incumbent
Vacant
Title last held by
Lawrence Okolie		 British cruiserweight champion
19 December 2019 – September 2020
Vacated		 Vacant


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