Richard Riakporhe


Richard Riakporhe is a British professional boxer who has held the British cruiserweight title since 2019.

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. 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.

Professional career

Riakporhe made his professional debut on 6 August 2018, scoring a four-round points decision victory over Jason Jones at the York Hall in London. Following a second win in 2016 – a technical knockout over Aaron Lacy in October – he scored three consecutive TKO victories in 2017; against Istvan Orsos in February; Milan Cechvala in May; and Jiri Svacina in October.
He began 2018 with a TKO victory over Adam Williams in March, followed by a win via corner retirement against Elvis Dube in July. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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, 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. 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.

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.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
11Win11–0 Jack Massey1219 Dec 2019Won vacant British cruiserweight title
10Win10–0 Chris Billam-Smith1020 Jul 2019O2 Arena, London, England.png" />Retained WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
9Win9–0 Tommy McCarthyTKO4, 2:452 Mar 2019
8Win8–0 Sam HydeTKO8, 2:4110 Nov 2018Manchester Arena, Manchester, England.png" />Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
7Win7–0 Elvis Dube2, 3:0028 Jul 2018
6Win6–0 Adam WilliamsTKO3, 2:3824 Mar 2018
5Win5–0 Jiri SvacinaTKO2, 0:4614 Oct 2017
4Win4–0 Milan CechvalaTKO1, 2:1527 May 2017
3Win3–0 Istvan OrsosTKO1, 2:5418 Feb 2017
2Win2–0 Aaron Lacy1, 2:141 Oct 2016
1Win1–0 Jason Jones46 Aug 2016