In 1951 Randolph Turpin defeated Sugar Ray Robinson to win the World Middleweight Championship and temporarily became one of the most famous sportsmen in Britain. He had been champion for only 64 days when Robinson defeated him in a rematch. He was never able to regain the title and he gradually faded into bitter obscurity ending up, deeply in debt, running a failing transport cafe in Leamington Spa. The Last Night of the Leamington Licker is a fictionalised account of his final night.