Can someone give me the lowdown on this guy? I have heard he wasnt bad but had a **** chin? :think One of the few guys of that HW era i know little about
Packed a good punch ,had good size,minimal skills,had some balls so that made up for the minimal skills,but his chin was so so
.................Big, blocklike guy with a square chin. Not much of a chin, I'm afraid. Related to Junior Seau, the linebacker.
Born in Samoa, Jimmy had some of his early fights in Australia (saw a few myself) before heading overseas. Could whack, and won 28 of his 49 fights by KO, including wins over Tubbs, Berbick & Witherspoon. Jimmy was a big capable heavyweight who occassionly got KOed himself(see picture below). This content is protected
You are talking about his "one and done" with Crawford Grimsley - one of my favorite KTFOs of ALL time. [YT]lXydu2gWVmc[/YT] The USA camera guys hadn't even panned out from their initial head shot of Grimsley when the shot landed. When I saw this live I was like "holy ****, did I just see what I just saw." In all my years of watching boxing, I can't remember a fight that ended SO quickly!
<---------------- Legend. Everything good and bad about heavyweight boxing rolled into one fighter. Anything could happen in a Jimmy Thunder fight!! Was in NZ when he was an amateur and then turned pro. Bit of interest in him as he could really bang, but could put his chin on a plate for the other guy too!! Was Jimmy Peau as an amateur. Love how Grimsley is still putting his guard up and throwing jabs about 30 seconds into being sparkoed. He was totally KTFO that night....
Big hitter, easy target, ponderous feet, and surprisingly glassy for a man his size. Much to his detriment, he would stand and trade with anyone though
His durability was all over the place. Sometimes he'd take monster shots and keep on plodding in, other times light hitters like Mike Hunter (A cruiserweight with 8 KO's in 26 wins) and as mentioned, Byrd, got him out of there. But a damned good fighter when it all clicked, which to be honest wasn't all the time. One of the biggest hot and cold heavyweights I can think of. 8 months into his career he took on a come backing Bernardo Mercado and sparked him in a minute something. Mercado had won eight straight including a one round knockout over a decent 10-0 regional fighter. Funny seeing as how Thunder was fat at 245 pounds when his prime weight was at least 20 pounds below that. Like I said, bit of an enigma.
Just for interest... Jack Rennie was looking to give Jimmy an more suitable name.. Peau didnt inspire.. sounded like a response to a 'fart'. In Essondon, at Rennies gym, during a storm.. the name "THUNDER" was appropriated. Mike 'Bounty' Hunter, for the sake of his bout with Jimmy claimed the name 'Lightening'... suggesting, lightening strikes before thunder. The best memory of Jimmy's carrer is the news that Jimmy was actualy earning good sums of money in 'The States'.. He is a legend for his people.
