Jürgen Blin

Jürgen Blin (24 April 1943 – 7 May 2022) was a mid-20th century German boxer, who was the Heavyweight Champion of Germany, and European Heavyweight Champion in 1972, and internationally represented the state of West Germany.

Jürgen Blin
Jürgen Blin in 1971
Born	(1943-04-07)7 April 1943 Fehmarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia, Germany
Died	7 May 2022(2022-05-07) (aged 79) Hamburg, Germany
Boxing career
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Boxing record
Total fights	48
Wins	30
Wins by KO	8
Losses	12
Draws	6

Early life

Blin was born on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn on 24 April 1943 during World War II, and was a native of the North German city of Hamburg. While living in Hamburg he was a butcher before his boxing career.

Boxing career

Blin's record in the ring was 30–12–6 with eight knockouts.^[1] He was greatly admired by German boxing fans for his toughness and stamina in the ring. He was briefly Heavyweight Champion of (West) Germany after defeating Gerhard Zech for the title (he had two draws with him previously).

Jürgen Blin (left) against Peter Weiland (right) for the German Heavyweight Championship in Kiel, 1968

His first professional bout came against Klaus Krüger in October 1964. Blin won this bout, as well as the next five bouts against domestic opponents, and lost his first professional bout in June 1965 to Ray Patterson in Jordal Amfi.^[1]

Blin lost a decision to Joe Bugner in May 1971 when fighting for the European Heavyweight title. Blin later won the title in June 1972, his greatest triumph in the ring, when he beat Jose Urtain (who had beaten Blin for the same title in June 1970). However, in October 1972, Blin once again faced Bugner who regained the title by knocking the German out in the eighth round.^[1]

On 26 December 1971, he fought the American boxer Muhammad Ali at Hallenstadion Arena, in Zürich, Switzerland, Blin being knocked out 2 minutes and 12 seconds into the seventh round.^[1]

Later years

Blin was co-author with Stephen Brunt of a chapter in a book titled Facing Ali (2002), about his 1971 contest with the United States champion boxer. He died of kidney failure at a hospital in Hamburg on 7 May 2022, aged 79.^[2][3]

Professional boxing record

30 Wins (8 knockouts, 22 decisions), 12 Losses (4 knockouts, 8 decisions), 6 Draws [4]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	24-1	Ron Lyle	TKO	2	4 October 1973	Denver, Colorado	Referee stopped the bout at 1:01 of the second round.
Win	0-9	Danny Machado	TKO	7	3 February 1973	Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Loss	39-4-1	Joe Bugner	KO	8	10 October 1972	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win	39-4-2	Jose Manuel Urtain	PTS	15	9 June 1972	Madrid	EBU Heavyweight Title. 73-68, 72-70, 71-67.
Win	21-13-1	Charles E. Chase	KO	5	5 May 1972	Hamburg
Loss	33-1	Muhammad Ali	KO	7	26 December 1971	Hallenstadion, Zürich	Blin knocked out at 2:12 of the seventh round.
Win	18-20-4	George "Scrap Iron" Johnson	TKO	2	1 October 1971	Hamburg
Loss	32-2-1	Joe Bugner	SD	15	11 May 1971	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	EBU Heavyweight Title. 69-70, 70-67, 71-73.
Win	24-14-3	Manuel "Pulgarcito" Ramos	PTS	10	2 April 1971	Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	21-22	Roberto Davila	PTS	10	26 February 1971	Hamburg
Win	7-7-2	Vasco Faustino	PTS	8	5 February 1971	Frankfurt, Hesse
Win	13-16-3	Charley Polite	PTS	10	2 January 1971	Wiesbaden, Hesse
Win	7-6	Sylvester Dullaire	KO	8	17 November 1970	Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	10-7-3	Billy Joiner	PTS	10	9 October 1970	Hamburg
Loss	30-0	Jose Manuel Urtain	PTS	15	22 June 1970	Barcelona, Catalonia	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Win	23-8-4	Ray Patterson	PTS	10	13 February 1970	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Win	30-9-6	Wilhelm Von Homburg	PTS	10	12 December 1969	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	33-9-3	Gerhard Zech	PTS	10	21 November 1969	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Win	17-17-3	David E. Bailey	PTS	10	12 September 1969	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Win	41-13-5	Giulio Rinaldi	PTS	10	29 May 1969	Grugahalle, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Draw	3-2-1	Macan Keita	PTS	8	29 November 1968	Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Loss	20-3-2	Peter Weiland	PTS	10	1 November 1968	Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein	Germany BDB Heavyweight Title.
Loss	32-6-5	Piero Tomasoni	DQ	2	29 September 1968	Brescia, Lombardy	EBU Heavyweight Title Eliminator.
Win	33-7-3	Gerhard Zech	PTS	12	11 May 1968	Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, West Berlin	Germany BDB Heavyweight Title.
Win	15-12-3	Lloyd Walford	PTS	8	8 March 1968	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	22-11-3	Renato Moraes	PTS	10	17 February 1968	Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, West Berlin
Win	18-3	Giuseppe Ros	PTS	8	15 December 1967	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Loss	33-3-3	Piero Del Papa	PTS	10	11 November 1967	Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, West Berlin
Draw	19-11-3	Jose Menno	PTS	8	8 September 1967	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	16-11-3	Ivan Prebeg	KO	5	28 April 1967	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Draw	32-6-2	Gerhard Zech	PTS	12	24 February 1967	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia	Germany BDB Heavyweight Title.
Draw	32-6-1	Gerhard Zech	PTS	12	18 November 1966	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia	Germany BDB Heavyweight Title.
Loss	6-0-2	Giulio Saraudi	PTS	8	23 September 1966	Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome, Lazio
Draw	40-9-3	Giulio Rinaldi	PTS	10	2 September 1966	Mungersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	18-15-6	Ossi Buettner	KO	8	15 June 1966	Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Win	6-5-1	Roland Graetz	PTS	6	14 May 1966	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	10-27-2	Andre Wyns	PTS	6	15 April 1966	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Draw	1-0	Raimo Nisula	PTS	8	18 March 1966	Masshallen, Gothenburg
Loss	8-8-2	Joseph Juvillier	PTS	8	2 December 1965	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Loss	46-25-6	Wim Snoek	RTD	6	16 October 1965	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	10-10-4	Willem Bomber	PTS	6	10 September 1965	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Loss	10-2	Ray Patterson	PTS	6	21 June 1965	Jordal Amfi, Oslo
Win	7-10-2	Valere Mahau	PTS	4	9 April 1965	Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg
Win	0-1	Manfred Schlesinger	PTS	6	27 March 1965	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	3-1	Danilo Zoratti	KO	3	30 January 1965	Stadthalle Bremen, Bremen
Win	1-6-1	Friedrich Mayr	KO	1	16 January 1965	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	1-7	Manfred Ackers	PTS	4	5 December 1964	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	--	Klaus Krueger	PTS	4	16 October 1964	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia