Danny McAlinden

Daniel McAlinden (1 June 1947 – 8 March 2021)^[1] was a boxer from Northern Ireland. He won the British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship in 1972 when he defeated Jack Bodell in two rounds at Aston Villa football ground.^[2] Nicknamed "Dangerous Dan", he was managed by George Middleton who had managed Randolph Turpin when he was world middleweight champion in 1951.^[3] McAlinden was born in Newry and, at the age of 15, moved to Coventry.^[4] In 1966, McAlinden represented Northern Ireland at the Kingston British Empire and Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in the heavyweight division. In 1967, he fought at the European Championship in Rome.^[5] He turned professional in 1969 and, in his second fight, stopped future British champion Richard Dunn. On the program of the Joe Frazier versus Muhammad Ali I bout on 8 March 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, McAlinden outpointed Ali's brother, Rahaman, undefeated in seven fights, after six rounds in a contest for rising boxers.^[6] McAlinden was at one time considered a potential opponent for world champion George Foreman's first title defence. However, in 1973 his form dipped and he eventually lost his title in 1975 to Bunny Johnson in nine rounds. He attempted to win back the title in 1975 against champion Richard Dunn but lost in round two. He fought on until 1981. In total he had 45 fights with a 31–12–2 record, winning 28 by knockout.

In 2010 it was reported that McAlinden was suffering from cancer of the tongue.^[2]

Professional boxing record

31 Wins (28 knockouts, 3 decisions), 12 Losses (8 knockouts, 4 decisions), 2 Draws [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	8–8	Denton Ruddock	TKO	5	30 March 1981	Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham	Referee stopped the bout at 1:57 of the fifth round.
Loss	20–21–8	Tony Moore	PTS	8	14 December 1980	Burlington Hotel, Dublin	78–80.
Win	10–21–6	David Fry	TKO	6	22 September 1980	Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast
Loss	9–3–3	George Scott	PTS	8	20 November 1979	Maysfield Leisure Centre, Belfast	77.5–79.5.
Loss	12–3	Tommy Kiely	TKO	6	22 May 1978	Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London
Loss	8–1	Neil Malpass	TKO	3	19 September 1977	Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London
Win	1–2	Sean McKenna	TKO	2	26 July 1977	Templemore Sports Complex, Derry	BBBofC Northern Ireland Heavyweight Title.
Win	12–2	Terry O'Connor	TKO	1	7 April 1977	Dudley Town Hall, Dudley
Loss	13–6–2	Tony Moore	TKO	4	30 November 1976	Dudley Civic Hall, Dudley
Win	16–9–1	Eddie Fenton	TKO	4	14 July 1976	Wolverhampton
Loss	30–9	Richard Dunn	KO	2	4 November 1975	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	BBBofC British/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles.
Win	6–6	Rodell Dupree	KO	3	14 October 1975	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	11–2–1	Hartmut Sasse	KO	5	3 June 1975	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	--	Richie Yates	KO	3	29 April 1975	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Loss	38–6	Bunny Johnson	KO	9	13 January 1975	Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London	BBBofC British/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles.
Loss	29–5–1	Pat Duncan	PTS	10	15 January 1974	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London	97.5–99.
Win	14–12	Vernon McIntosh	KO	4	11 December 1973	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	16–11	Tony Ventura	TKO	1	13 November 1973	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	Referee stopped the bout at 1:45 of the first round.
Loss	13–3	Morris Jackson	TKO	3	14 May 1973	Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London
Win	3–2	Willie Moore	KO	5	12 December 1972	Villa Park, Birmingham
Win	58–12	Jack Bodell	KO	2	27 June 1972	Villa Park, Birmingham	BBBofC British/Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles. Bodell knocked out at 1:31 of the second round.
Loss	18–1–1	Larry Middleton	TKO	8	13 March 1972	King's Hall, Manchester
Win	12–1	Chuck Olivera	KO	7	9 December 1971	Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
Win	10–11	Dick Gosha	TKO	9	8 November 1971	Mayfair, London
Win	30–8–3	Bill Drover	KO	4	13 September 1971	Mayfair, London
Win	22–23	Roberto Davila	TKO	5	9 June 1971	Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Win	31–9	Carl Gizzi	PTS	10	28 April 1971	Solihull Civic Hall, Solihull
Win	7–0	Rahaman Ali	PTS	6	8 March 1971	Madison Square Garden, New York City
Draw	10–5–2	Tommy Hicks	PTS	10	24 February 1971	Mayfair Sporting Club, Mayfair, London
Win	15–31–5	Lou Bailey	PTS	8	19 January 1971	Ulster Hall, Belfast
Draw	23–10–4	Ray Patterson	PTS	10	3 December 1970	Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
Win	9–4–2	Tommy Hicks	TKO	7	12 November 1970	Southend
Win	13–11–4	Moses Harrell	TKO	1	12 October 1970	Mayfair Sporting Club, Mayfair, London
Loss	18–8–2	Jack O'Halloran	PTS	8	6 July 1970	Mayfair Sporting Club, Mayfair, London,
Win	2–5	JD McCauley	KO	1	19 May 1970	Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Win	4–2–2	Edmund Stewart	TKO	2	27 April 1970	Mayfair, London,
Win	7–3	Sylvester Dullaire	KO	4	17 March 1970	Wolverhampton
Win	12–24–3	Billy Wynter	TKO	3	5 March 1970	Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
Win	6–8–2	Tommy Clark	TKO	5	23 February 1970	Grosvenor House, Mayfair, London,
Win	6–13–6	Henri Ferjules	KO	2	12 January 1970	Mayfair Sporting Club, Mayfair, London,
Win	10–3–1	Phil Smith	TKO	3	17 November 1969	Great International Sporting Club, Nottingham
Win	7–12–2	Obe Hepburn	TKO	4	15 September 1969	Mayfair Sporting Club, Mayfair, London
Win	11–5–3	Dennis Avoth	TKO	1	7 July 1969	Mayfair, London
Win	2–1	John Cullen	TKO	2	7 July 1969	Mayfair, London
Win	--	Richard Dunn	KO	1	7 July 1969	Mayfair, London