Career
Minter’s entry into the world of boxing came in extremely early. In 1971, merely 20 years old, Minter first tasted success by becoming the Amateur Boxing Association of England Middleweight Champion.
He made his professional debut on October 31, 1972 against Maurice Thomas. Minter had the ideal start to his professional career as he defeated Thomas by knockout in the 6th round. Same year, he won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.
Minter was on a roll early in his career. After his debut victory, he went on to record ten more wins. Interestingly, his first five victories came by knockout. In 1973, Pat Dwyer became the first fighter who dared to go the length with him up till the eighth round. Minter however won the fight.
His professional boxing career’s dream start suffered from its first blow on June 5, 1973 against fighter Don McMillan, thus recording Minter’s first loss. The fight was stopped by the referee in the eighth round after Minter sustained severe cuts from McMillan.
Following his loss to McMillan, he resumed his winning spree, recording back to back victories against Octavio Romero and Ernie Burns. However, the success extravaganza ended after he lost to Jan Magdriarz successively on October 30 and December 11 in the eighth and sixth round respectively. He lost both the fights due to cuts.
Year 1974 brought forth mixed results for Minter’s career. Though it opened with a victory against Tony Byrne in the eighth round, he lost the successive match against Ricky Ortiz in round two. He once more faced Jan Magdriarz but this third fight of the two boxers ended with a draw. He finished the year with a win against Shako Mamba.
Minter’s career scaled new peaks in 1975. After recording four straight wins, he challenged Kevin Finnegan for the British Middleweight title. The fight against Finnegan lasted for fifteen rounds at the end of which he was declared the winner. With this, Minter safely secured the Britain’s Middleweight Championship title.
Taking his 1975’s success story forward, he recoded six victories in 1976, eventually taking his winning streak to ten consecutive wins. He successfully defended his British title twice against Billy Knight and Kevin Finnegan. The unbeatable year helped Minter bag a seat in the top ten Middleweight challengers of the year.
On February 4, 1977, he defeated Germano Valsecchi in the fifth round by knockout. This success helped him bag the European Middleweight Championship title as well. The undefeated status finally ended on April 12, 1977 when he lost to Ronnie Harris in round eight. However, he bounced back with a win against Emile Griffith, thus retaining his seat in top ten Middleweight challengers.
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On September 21, 1977, he lost the fight against Gratien Tonna in the eighth round and with it his European Middleweight Championship title as well. However, he retained his Britain title, by winning against Finnegan in a 15 round decision.
In 1978, he won all the three fights lined up for the year. His fight against Angelo Jacopucci which resulted in his favour after 12 rounds knockout helped him regain his European Middleweight Championship. In the match against Gratien Tonna, he successfully retained his championship title.
In 1979, he won all the four matches of the season, of which two victories came by knockout, against Renato Garcia and Monty Betham in round 9 and 2 respectively.
The highpoint in his career came in 1980 when he was given a chance at World Middleweight Championship against Vito Antuofermo. Much to his delight, he won the fight in a fifteen round match in Las Vegas thus holding on to the World Middleweight Championship title for the first time.
In the aftermath of his victory against Antuofermo and his subsequent World Middleweight Championship title, a rematch was held which he won yet again by a TKO in eight rounds. He lost the next match to Marvin Hagler on September 27, due to cuts sustained in round three.
In 1981, he faced three fights of which he won once against Ernie Singletary in round 10. With this victory, he successfully retained his Britain and European Middleweight Championship. However, he lost the next two fights against Mustafa Hamsho and Tony Sibson. Following his defeat, he retired from boxing.
