Dwight Ritchie, Australia’s Fighting Cowboy, Dead at Age 27

Dwight Ritchie, one of Australia’s most popular boxers, has died at age 27 in what is being described as a freak training incident. Ritchie was sparring with Michael Zerafa when he collapsed from a body shot. He could not be revived.

Ritchie, nicknamed the Fighting Cowboy, hailed from Shepparton in the state of Victoria, a community identified with sheepherding. In his last fight, on Aug. 14, he opposed rising contender Tim Tszyu, the undefeated son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu. Fighting on Tszyu’s turf in Sydney, Ritchie lost a 10-round decision, dipping his record to 19-2.

Tszyu vs. Ritchie, billed for the IBF Australasian super welterweight title, was a big deal in Australia, a pay-per-view event. Ritchie won three rounds on one of the cards and only two rounds on the other cards, but had the misfortune of having to fight the last seven frames with a wicked cut over his left eye. Ringside reporter Paul Johnson wrote that Ritchie “showed tremendous courage to push on” and take the bout to the scorecards.

Ritchie had a fight scheduled on Dec. 6 in Sydney against Australian veteran Tommy Browne, a former world title challenger. It would have been the main supporting bout to Tszyu’s match with Jack Brubaker, a Jeff Fenech disciple. Michael Zerafa, the boxer with whom Ritchie was sparring when he collapsed, rematches Manny Pacquiao-conqueror Jeff Horn in Brisbane on Dec. 18. Zerafa stopped Horn in the ninth round on Aug. 31 in one of the year’s bigger upsets.

About Ritchie’s pro record. It should read 23-2. He won his first four fights, but Australia’s national boxing commission erased them and BoxRec changed them to “no-contests” when it came out that he was only 17 years old at the time that he fought them. The legal age for a pro boxer in Australia is 18.

Dwight Ritchie overcame cancer as a baby. He leaves behind a wife and three young daughters. May he rest in peace.

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