by Marty Mulcahey
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Jimmy McLarnin 1907-2004
Jimmy McLarnin, one of the greatest welterweight champions of all-time, passed away on Thursday, October 28 in Washington state. He was 96. McLarnin (53-11-3, 20 KOs, 1 nd), a native of Hillsborough, Ireland, had two reigns as welterweight champ during the years from 1933 to 1935. He held wins over Barney Ross, Tony Canzoneri, Benny Leonard, and Lou Ambers, and was elected to the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. Click below for Martin Mulcahey's profile on the legendary McLarnin.
Jimmy McLarnin is a fighter all other boxers should emulate. How unique is McLarnin? In his last two fights McLarnin defeated Hall-of-Fame boxers Tony Canzoneri and Lou Ambers, then retired! Leaving the sport at age 29, he never looked back while building an equally successful career away from boxing. McLarnin's title reign only lasted two years, but his greatness spanned a decade. Over those 10 years Jimmy dueled 15 champions (beating 13), defeated five reigning world champions in non-title bouts and beat many noteworthy contenders. He also went undefeated in rematches.
50 years after his retirement The Ring magazine still rated McLarnin the fifth best welterweight of all time. An Irishman by birth (born in Belfast) McLarnin moved with his family to Mortlack, Saskatchewan, Canada at age three. He learned to box at the age of 12, for use in defense of his newspaper corner.
Jimmy owed much of his success to mentor/trainer Charles "Pop" Foster who remained a lifelong friend. Early in his career McLarnin was known for brawling and his solid right hand, later he incorporated considerable boxing skills. He would have to, his right hand was used less and less because of recurring injuries. Jimmy's blows were delivered with more hand speed and accuracy then any welterweight of his era. His chin was also world class, a lone stoppage loss was via cut. Turning pro at 16, McLarnin was a 4-foot-10 inch, 108-pound flyweight, soon acquiring the nickname "Babyface".
Fighting his first nine bouts in Canada, he gradually upgraded the competition by moving down the West Coast of America, fighting eight more times in 1924. Two of those bouts were against Olympic Gold Medal winner and future flyweight champion Fidel LaBarba. The first was a relatively easy four-round win for McLarnin, who backed up LaBarba throughout the contest. A rematch saw LaBarba manage a four-round draw. The third fight with LaBarba which was over 10 rounds rendered a final verdict on who the better boxer was. The early rounds were fought on even terms before McLarnin lured the smooth boxing LaBarba into a brawl during the late rounds. It earned McLarnin a deserved victory.
The year of 1925 saw McLarnin beat former champion Pancho Villa for the biggest win of his young career. He decisioned Villa over 10 fast -paced rounds. In the next six months McLarnin posted three wins over former and future champions.
It began with the 10 round win against Villa, Jimmy then knocked out future welterweight champ Jackie Fields before avenging a loss to future bantamweight champion Bud Taylor. The earlier loss to Taylor was the first in 32 fights for McLarnin. A 1928 victory over fellow contender Sid Terris in Detroit ended a two year run of fighting on the tough West Coast fight circuit with a shot at Sammy Mandell's lightweight title. Mandell proved a worthy champion, repelling the young challengers attacks with precise footwork. The loss proved the 21-year-old McLarnin had not learned all the tricks of the trade. Throughout the bout McLarnin swung, missed, ate three jabs in return. That's all that needs to be written about the bout.
Five years of boxing the best without a title shot followed. McLarnin showed he would learn from defeat, beating Mandell two times in non-title matches over the next two years. The era was ruled by ethnic matches and McLarnin was known for defeating the great Jewish boxers of the time. He rode roughshod over New York City lightweight and welterweight contenders like Sid Terry, Joe Glick, Ruby Goldstein and Al Singer. Highly rated lightweight Terry was knocked out in less than two minutes, Goldstein did not see the third round, Singer was knocked out in the third. McLarnin earned fame and attention by defeating a prime Billy Petrolle twice, whom McLarnin called his toughest foe.
Jimmy lost the first fight with Petrolle in vicious fashion, floored in the first round he never recovered fully. Petrolle went on to dish out a brutal beating over 10 rounds, it could have ended a lesser man's career.
Five months later McLarnin beat Petrolle in the rematch, then repeating the feat four months later. After the wins over Petrolle, McLarnin lost a fight to Lou Brouillard. It was a blessing indisguise. Legendary Benny Leonard saw the fight and made a match with McLarnin. It was a costly mistake for Leonard, the power of McLarnin got to the aging legend. Leonard could not elude a pursuing McLarnin, and finally in the sixth round Leonard wilted under the pressure. It was a big win for McLarnin, giving him much needed media backing to force a title shot.
Four months later McLarnin battled Young Corbett II for the welterweight title. Taking no chances or prisoners, McLarnin beat Young Corbett II in just two minutes and 37 seconds. A supremely confident McLarnin floored Corbett less than 20 seconds into the bout. Three follow-up left hooks sent Corbett down again. Two more punches ended the slaughter. After years of chasing the crown McLarnin avoided boxing politics, instead of making easy title defenses he took on the best available boxer in his very next fight. It would forever link McLarnin to Barney Ross and capture the nation's attention in a historic three fight series. It is one of the best rivalries in any era, or weight class.
Held successively, each contest was close and all went to the scorecards. Their first meeting took place on May 28, 1934 at the Madison Square Garden Bowl, before 45,000 fans. In an action bout of evenly matched men, round nine proved a classic as both fighters hit the canvas. Ross won a split decision on his higher work rate in addition to McLarnin fading in the late rounds. Around 26,000 fans attended the rematch four months later, McLarnin overcame Ross and a completely closed left eye from the 10th round on to win a unanimous decision.
Anyone who thought McLarnin a one-dimensional puncher was surely impressed by the display of boxing Jimmy put on that night. Throughout the fight McLarnin avoided the charges and flurries of Ross using great footwork. He also managed to split the nose of Ross with a well timed counter. Their last meeting was the best and most brutal of the three bout series. Held before 40,000 fans and refereed by Jack Dempsey the two champs went at each other with wild abandon. Ross again pulled away late, taking the last three rounds to win a unanimous decision. The fight was up for grabs in the last round, McLarnin still maintains he won the fight with his effort in round 15.
The Ring magazine reported: "For 15 rounds at the Polo Grounds last night McLarnin, once again the babyfaced bomber, threw every punch he had, executed every wile learned in years of fighting the best of 'em. But it wasn't enough." It described how the scrappy McLarnin won the 15th and final round: "with as gallant a last stand as any champion ever made. For full three minutes he stood toe to toe, chin to chin, with Barney, and fired his last round of ammunition. He didn't save a bullet. When the bell rang, he didn't have a left hook or an uppercut or a right cross left in his body. If he had to lose - and he did - he certainly chose the magnificent way. He went down swinging." Words that could describe many a McLarnin bout.
The fight drew controversy for referee Jack Dempsey (the former heavyweight champion) scoring seven of 15 rounds even. The three fight series will be remembered for 45 rounds o f action in which few rounds were dominated by either man. The verdict in the final fight left a bitter taste for McLarnin who had to be persuaded out of retirement. After the Ross bouts Jimmy fought three more times, and because of his huge popularity he earned a small fortune in each bout. McLarnin beat Tony Canzoneri (lost to him also) and Lou Ambers (lightweight champ at the time), two Hall of Famers in those three fights. In all, nine of McLarnin's last 10 bouts were against world champions.
At the age of 29 McLarnin had enough of boxing, his heart no longer in the game he retired a wealthy man on ring earnings and wise investments. Among the offers he turned down in retirement was a $50,000 purse to fight Henry Armstrong. McLarnin instead married his childhood sweetheart, opened a successful machine shop, tried his hand at acting, golfing and even lectured at Universities. Jimmy resides in Southern California now, the second oldest living champion behind Max Schmeling. McLarnin celebrates his 96th birthday on December 17th, raise a pint and remember a great champion on that day.
Jimmy McLarnin
Titles: Welterweight champion 1933-1934 and 1934-1935
Record: 63-11-3 (20 K.O's)
Born: December 17, 1905 in Belfast, Ireland
Years active: 1923-1936
Nickname: Baby Facee
footnote
A Moveable Feast: "Carefully without seeming to look at him, as you do when boxing." Coincidentally, Hemingway wrote that at a time when Jimmy McLarnin was the most brilliant boxer on Earth--a time when men like Hemingway and Clark Gable stood outside Jimmy's dressing room hoping to shake his powerful hand.