The underrated Jimmy Young

red cobra · Jan 8, 2020

My Jimmy Young Appreciation threads can come at any time, all of a sudden, like a thief in the night...

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

PhillyPhan69 said: ↑

Jimmy Young: A Career Worth Remembering
March 2, 2005
By Frank Lotierzo
Part I

Jimmy Young stood slightly over 6'1″ and weighed between 209 and 213 pounds during the prime fighting years of his career from 1974-77. His style was hard to interpret. Some considered him a boxer and others viewed him as a counterpuncher. He was known for being extremely hard to hit. Young actually went entire fights without being caught once with a solid punch. He frustrated the boxers and took the bullets out of the guns of the sluggers. He had good hand speed, but he was more sneaky than fast. His basics were sound, but he was more cunning than he was a great boxer. Young’s opponents were often frustrated by his unconventional tactics. His lack of one-punch knockout power led some to think he couldn't compete with the upper-tier heavyweights of his era, but he beat some of the greatest punchers in heavyweight history during his career.

Many of his fights were hard to score and his style wasn't considered crowd-pleasing by many purists, which may have been the reason he lost a few close decisions in some of the biggest bouts of his career. Jimmy Young fought in the 1970s, a time many historians believe was the best era in heavyweight history. His name is sometimes wrongly omitted from the lineage linking Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Quarry, Lyle and Shavers.

In January of 1969 Young turned pro and won a four round decision over Jimmy Gilmore. In his sixth bout he lost a four round decision to the 6'5″ 230-pound Roy “Tiger” Williams, who at the time had twice as much experience as Young. In my opinion that was the first mistake made by Young's management. Williams was too big and dangerous at the time for the inexperienced Young, and the upside of winning wasn’t worth the risk.

But the biggest injustice by his handlers came in his 11th bout when they matched him with rising knockout artist Earnie Shavers, who stopped him in the first round. This fight can only be rationalized by someone in the Young camp who was desperately in need of money, or due to total ineptness on the part of the person who had the final say. When Jimmy Young fought Earnie Shavers the first time, he only had 10 fights under his belt. Shavers was a former National AAU champion being managed by Don King. On top of that, Shavers was 42-2 in 44 pro fights, winning 41 by knockout. Young's management made a monumental mistake putting him in against Shavers in only his eleventh fight. It's remarkable his psyche wasn't shattered and he went on to beat the fighters he did after that.

A year and a half later Young (13-4-1) fought a rematch with Shavers (46-4). This time the fight went the scheduled 10 rounds. The fight was declared a draw and would later prove to be an omen for Young's career when it came to getting the call in close fights. I have only seen this fight on tape, but I scored it for Young. Over the years I've talked to more than a few fighters and trainers who were at the fight and saw it live. Everyone says the same thing. Young won it.

After his rematch with Shavers, Young fought another former National AAU champion and rising knockout artist named Ron Lyle (30-1-1). Prior to fighting Young, Lyle had defeated former champ Jimmy Ellis, as well as veteran contenders Buster Mathis, Oscar Bonavena and Larry Middleton. The only blemish on Lyle's record was his upset loss to Jerry Quarry two years earlier. Lyle, like Shavers, was a heavy favorite to defeat Young. Young fought one of the best fights of his career versus Lyle, winning by unanimous decision. With two impressive showings against ranked contenders Earnie Shavers and Ron Lyle, Young was right in the middle of the heavyweight title picture. Young posted two wins after Lyle and finished 1975 ranked ninth among The Ring’s top ten heavyweights in the world.

Young kicked off 1976 by defeating former title challenger Jose “King” Roman on February 20, raising his record to 17-4-2, while extending his unbeaten streak to 12. On April 30, 1976, seven years after turning pro, Jimmy Young fought undisputed heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali on ABC. At the time, Ali was bigger than boxing. Young would be the sixth fighter Ali defended his title against after regaining it from George Foreman in October of 1974. In Ali's last six fights before he fought Jimmy Young, he won five of them by stoppage. Among the fighters Ali stopped were George Foreman, Ron Lyle and Joe Frazier – and neither Foreman nor Lyle had ever been stopped before fighting Ali.

In the biggest fight of his career, Jimmy Young not only survived, but you could count the number of times he was hit cleanly by Ali. Young took Ali out of his game, causing him to miss more punches than any fighter Ali ever fought. Young forced Ali to fight as the aggressor the entire fight, and that wasn't Ali's forte. Young totally frustrated and bewildered Ali for 15 rounds. Ali tried everything against Young, but was unable to solve his style. At the end of the fifteenth round, Ali was no closer to figuring out how to fight Young than he was in the first round. In a fight that most thought he lost, Ali won a unanimous decision over Jimmy Young to retain his title.

Due to his terrific showing in his fight with Ali, Young remained in title contention with Foreman, Norton and Lyle, who were all vying for a rematch with Ali and a shot at the crown. Six weeks before fighting a rematch with Ron Lyle in November of 1976, Muhammad Ali won a unanimous decision over Ken Norton to again retain his title. Although some viewed Ali's victory over Norton as controversial, it wasn't controversial to the same degree as the decision verdict that went against Young. There were just as many who saw the fight for Ali as there were those who saw it for Norton. Everyone knew Young totally outclassed Ali and made him look like an amateur.

The Young-Lyle rematch was shown on ABC. Young outboxed Lyle, this time for 12 rounds instead of 10. Young won another unanimous decision over Lyle in a rematch that looked like a rerun of their first fight. Four months after beating Lyle, Young, as the third ranked heavyweight in the world, fought former heavyweight champion George Foreman. Foreman was the top ranked heavyweight in the world and in the midst of a five bout knockout streak since returning to the ring. With Ali having escaped Young and Norton in 1976, Foreman was next in line for a title shot. Foreman clamored for a rematch with Ali ever since losing the title in Zaire. Only Jimmy Young stood between Foreman and a rematch with Ali. For Foreman it was simple: beat Young and Ali will be forced to fight him again.

On March 17, 1977, George Foreman (45-1) fought Jimmy Young (20-5-2) in what was billed as a world heavyweight title elimination bout between the division’s first and third ranked contenders. The fight was held in the heat outside Roberto Clemente Coliseum in Puerto Rico. Young arrived in Puerto Rico a week before the bout fit and ready to go at 213 pounds. Foreman didn't show up until the day before the fight and weighed in at 229. By showing up the day before the fight, Foreman never had a chance to acclimate to the temperature.

For the first five rounds Foreman was content to follow Young around the ring as Young picked his spots to flurry. Sensing he was behind, Foreman picked it up in the sixth round. The seventh round is where the fight slipped away from Foreman. Foreman nailed Young with a left hook that literally sent him to the other side of the ring. Young remained on his feet but was in serious trouble, appearing to be a punch or two away from being stopped. But Young didn't panic and smartly concentrated on making sure Foreman didn't catch him clean with another big shot, instead of foolishly trying to fight him off. Foreman emptied the wagon in the last minute of round seven trying to get Young out, but was unable tag Young with another big shot to finish him.
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What if I started a thread called "The overrated Jimmy Young"???

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

red cobra said: ↑

My Jimmy Young Appreciation threads can come at any time, all of a sudden, like a thief in the night...
Click to expand...

Where's your Roy Harris Appreciation thread??? Huh? Where is it???

PhillyPhan69 · Jan 8, 2020

InMemoryofJakeLamotta said: ↑

What if I started a thread called "The overrated Jimmy Young"???
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2/3 guys in this thread would join in! Go for it

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

PhillyPhan69 said: ↑

2/3 guys in this thread would join in! Go for it
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I wasn't really going to do it. I was just trying to ruffle your feathers....

red cobra · Jan 8, 2020

InMemoryofJakeLamotta said: ↑

Where's your Roy Harris Appreciation thread??? Huh? Where is it???
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??? Irrelevant to the thread...I never had anything to do with a "Roy Harris Appreciation Thread"...

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

red cobra said: ↑

??? Irrelevant to the thread...I never had anything to do with a "Roy Harris Appreciation Thread"...
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You should make one!

PhillyPhan69 · Jan 8, 2020

InMemoryofJakeLamotta said: ↑

I wasn't really going to do it. I was just trying to ruffle your feathers....
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Lol, I’m not even a Jimmy Young fan. Just wanted to start looking at some boxers that I don’t look into a lot nor do I feel they get much discussion. Cheers

red cobra · Jan 8, 2020

InMemoryofJakeLamotta said: ↑

You should make one!
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Why?

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

red cobra said: ↑

Why?
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Because you are the master of appreciation threads

red cobra · Jan 8, 2020

InMemoryofJakeLamotta said: ↑

Because you are the master of appreciation threads
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Now, only when the boxer is in need of or deserves overdue appreciation. You wouldn't be equating Jimmy Young with Roy Harris, are you?

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

red cobra said: ↑

Now, only when the boxer is in need of or deserves overdue appreciation. You wouldn't be equating Jimmy Young with Roy Harris, are you?
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If the shoe fits...

red cobra · Jan 8, 2020

InMemoryofJakeLamotta said: ↑

If the shoe fits...
Click to expand...

It doesn't. But I'll make a deal with you, ...I'll consider a Roy Harris Appreciation thread when you do a Jean Pierra Coopman Appreciation thread.

joebeadg · Jan 8, 2020

"like a thief in the night" that's classic! Beautiful ! Was thinking, its not how many losses a guy has to inferior boxers, I think its more important how many wins or close fights a guy has with the best fighters that shows his talent.

InMemoryofJakeLamotta · Jan 8, 2020

red cobra said: ↑

It doesn't. But I'll make a deal with you, ...I'll consider a Roy Harris Appreciation thread when you do a Jean Pierra Coopman Appreciation thread.
Click to expand...

I'll have my people get with your people....

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The underrated Jimmy Young

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The underrated Jimmy Young

red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

PhillyPhan69 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

PhillyPhan69 Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member

red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

joebeadg Well-Known Member Full Member

InMemoryofJakeLamotta I have defeated the great Seamus Full Member