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When Randolph Turpin beat Sugar Ray Robinson for the world middleweight title on July 10, 1951 he achieved a feat unlikely to ever be matched by any British boxer. But it also sent him spiralling towards a premature death.When Sheffields Kell Brook challenges Gennady Golovkin for his WBC, WBA and IBF world middleweight titles in London on Sept. 10, there will be inevitable comparisons with Turpins upset win over Robinson. Golovkin has a fearsome knockout record and will be a big favourite to continue his KO run against Brook at the O2 Arena, but Turpin faced a far bigger task.Robinson was a huge global star at the time, boxings undisputed pound-for-pound king and is generally regarded as the best pugilist in history. Before facing Turpin, His Sugarness had lost just once in 132 bouts over 11 years.Robinson arrived in the UK after an exhausting tour of Europe which featured six exhibition bouts, the last of which in Italy was just nine days before he stepped in the ring in front of 18,000 at Earls Court, London.Robinson, originally from Detroit but based in Harlem, underestimated the challenger from Leamington as he played golf in the day and cards through the night as his first world middleweight title defence approached. The night before the fight, he was said to have been playing cards and singing around a piano at his hotel in Windsor.Ex-Navy cook Turpin, despite being the home fighter, was largely ignored in the build-up to the fight and travelled to Earls Court by tube. Nobody outside of his team expected him to pull off an upset against the 1-4 favourite Robinson and millions -- including King George VI -- tuned into the radio to hear the fight live.Robinson had won the title from his fellow American Jake LaMotta earlier in the year in the St Valentines Day Massacre. But his first defence was a different affair and Robinson was unable to get into his rhythm as the challenger tied him up and roughed him up. Turpins awkward style and stamina saw him assume the ascendency as Robinsons slick skills deserted him.He never hurt me once, said Turpin.Robinson looked jaded and had to contend with a cut above his left eye as well as fatigue. By the latter rounds, the outcome became inevitable and Turpins hand was raised after 15 rounds as the crowd sang For Hes a Jolly Good Fellow.He was better than I was, said Robinson.The famous victory should have set Turpin up for life, but due to a clause in the fight contract there was a swift rematch, followed by a steady decline.Just 64 days later Robinson got revenge and his world middleweight title back via a brutal 10th-round stoppage at the Polo Grounds in New York. With Turpin penned against the ropes Robinson unloaded a frenzied, unanswered attack. Turpins body lay limp against the ropes and referee Ruby Goldstein waved the fight off, but the Briton felt the stoppage was premature.In the days before four world title belts and phoney champions, Turpin only fought for the middleweight crown once more, when he lost to Bobo Olson by a unanimous decision back in New York in 1953. Turpins career went into decline and he took some punishing beatings before his final licensed bout in 1958.After boxing, Turpin worked in a scrap metal yard before opening a cafe in Leamington and the fortune he made from boxing soon evaporated as he gave away a lot of his ring earnings to hangers on and family while making poor investments.In researching my book A Champions Last Fight, I saw letters written by Turpin who claimed his promoter Jack Solomons and manager George Middleton owed him money from his boxing career.Turpin felt trapped, threatened and betrayed by a ￡15,000 tax bill and in May 1966, as the nation was looking forward to the forthcoming World Cup and the heavyweight clash between Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper, Turpin was found shot dead with a suicide note nearby in an upstairs room of his cafe.He was 37 and it was almost 15 years since his glorious win over Robinson when, as an inscription on Turpins statue in Warwick states: In palace, pub and parlour, the whole of Britain held its breath. 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LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla.?-- Mason Cox made a name for himself in the AFL this season, and hes aiming for bigger and better results in 2017.The 25-year-old Collingwood big man acquitted himself well in his rookie AFL campaign, kicking 17 goals in 11 games for the Magpies. Cox ranks among the first Americans to play in the AFL, and at a height of 211 cm, hes the tallest player in the league history, just ahead of Fremantles Aaron Sandilands.Cox impressed in his debut at the annual Anzac Day clash against Essendon, kicking the first goal of the match in front of more than 85,000 fans. The former college basketball player from Oklahoma State also booted four goals in a later game against Brisbane.ESPN Australia caught up with Cox for a Q&A session this past weekend at the USAFL national tournament in Florida. Heres what transpired:How do you assess your debut AFL season? It was pretty good. In general, I think it was probably better than most people would expect. Im pretty hard on myself, [but] I try to take the ups and downs together and just make the best from it. Im definitely looking forward to next year and having a bit more of an impact and being a bit more consistent as far as games go. Toward the end of the season, I had a few injuries that split me out of the squad for a bit. Hopefully Ill be healthy the whole year and be able to give all I can to the team.You battled some injuries during the season. How is your health? My health is pretty good. I had hip surgery at the end of the year, pretty much the day after we were done. I cant really do a ton of running on it for another five or six weeks. So Ive been doing upper body [work]. For a guy who likes to go run and clear my mind, its a bit frustrating. Its a bit sore at times, but Ive just got to rest it until it heals completely. ... I [also] had shoulder surgery last year, and thats all healed up and feeling good, so hopefully by the time the season starts Ill be 100 percent again.What have you been advised to work on this offseason? Really just stay in shape. Obviously kick the footy around as much I can, although I cant do a ton of it with the hip. Just get more volume into it at this point to be able to get through a whole game and not be tired and [show up] to preseason well. We have skinnies, where we have to be under a certain fat percentage on the body. So just keep in shape and make sure thats low, so that when we start training and going at it Im ahead of the game.Do you think you will play forward next year or more time in the ruck? Dont really know. Wherever the coaches want to put me, Ill do it. Brodie Grundy had a fantastic year. Hes going to be a tough guy to knock out of the spot. I think Ill play both forward and ruck -- wherever the position is available and wherever they need me, Ill be more than happy to fill that role.What do you think about Collingwood bringing in free agents Chris Mayne and Daniel Wells? Im traveling and stuff, so you dont really even hear about it being in the States. Obviously, Ill meet them when I get back. But Im kind of removed from it all being overseas. I dont really deal with that kind of stuff. I dont really know all the details or all the stats. Ill leave that to the guys who make the big bucks behind the scenes. Im sure theyre making the right decisions.Do you think Collingwood can play finals next year? Yeah, of course. Theres no reason we wouldnt. At this point, its just getting wins and not getting a downfall to our season. Like, weve had a few games where we just kind of lostt it.dddddddddddd. Its frustrating to see, and its frustrating to be a part of when youre losing games. But at the end of the day, were a team that beat some of the best teams in the league. Weve got the talent. Weve got the ability. Its just getting it all together and showing our best every game. ... Weve shown plenty of promise this year. Weve played some of the best teams and come out with wins, so if they can make it to finals and make the Grand Final, why not us?What brings you to the USAFL nationals? I came over here at the last second. I found out my brother was playing here. I didnt tell anyone. I was going to surprise him, so I just kind of kept it under the rug. There are a lot of guys here who ran the combine when I first came into AFL, and it was great to see them again. Those guys had a big impact on where Im at now, and its great to catch up with them. Without those guys, I wouldnt be in the position Im in.Whats your impression of the level of play here? Its pretty good. A lot of these guys had never heard of AFL or ever played it in their lives [until recently]. A lot of the teams are run by Australians who come over here and play the sport they love and try to start their own clubs. Theyre just passionate about their sport. ... They get a group of guys together and teach them the game and just kind of get this community together. These guys go out and train every week and teach them all the skills of this game thats absolutely unheard of to them. Then to have something like the nationals, where everyone gets together and enjoys the game, is cool.Do you think footy has growth potential abroad? I think its going to get a bit more international now. There are a lot more [foreign] players, Americans, Irishmen and Sudanese guys are coming over and playing AFL. So I think the more international people that come through, then it gets a bit more media, and it proves that people can do it. I think the more people that go over there and give it a crack and do well, the more media gets behind it, and you never know where it will go. I think the more opportunities that come up and the more people that do it, the bigger the sport will become overseas and in Australia.Have any U.S. athletes approached you and asked about pursuing an AFL career? Ive talked to a few through the AFL and just kind of talked to them about where Ive been and what Ive gone through, what Ive learned, how tough it was, what to expect and things of that nature. Whenever the AFL gets in contact with them, Im always happy to help, walk them through it and give them an idea of what to expect. Ive been in the same position -- just trying to get your head around all of it. Its one big whirlwind.How do you like living in Australia? Are you picking up the accent? Im definitely picking up the accent. Its one of those things where if you talk with an American accent in Australia, everyone kind of asks you twice what you said. And you kind of get sick of repeating yourself, so you eventually just merge into it and give in. I love it over there. Melbourne is just crazy about footy, and its tough to describe it until you get there with the whole experience. ... Im actually trying to apply for citizenship there now and try to be a dual citizen of America and Australia. [If that goes through], whatever happens down the line, Ill have the option of staying there or coming back to the States. ' ' '