Jimmy Carroll the 1870's, 1880's and 1890's lightweight

This guy met McAuliffe twice, "Iron Man" Mike Daly, Sam Blakelock, Andy Bowen and Billy Myer in that stacked lightweight division.

Carroll was an Englishman who fought numerous battles on home shores before embarking for America, and according to former American Lightweight champ Billy Edwards, he won them all (the closest thing I can find to a source on his battles at home). Arriving in America, he ran up agianst tougher opposition immediatly, fighting a tough draw with Billy Frazier in March of 1878. Over the next twenty years, Carroll would meet some of the best a stacked era had to offer. He was a force in the the early 1890's in spite of his activity and longevity. Here is a short account of his 1890 twenty-first round KO of Andy Bowen, who holds a win over Tommy Ryan and Billy Myer. This fight came about, in part, because Carroll was in the area to second for one Bob Fitzsimmons, in his fight with Upham.






"The ring was pitched on river-sand with a 30 foot square inclosure, within which was marked of as neat a 24-foot ring as was ever seen...Captain Barrett and the police insisted on 5-ounce gloves.

Round One: Carroll feinted and Bowen backed. Bowen landed a light left on Carroll's shoulder and followed it with a right to the jaw. Bowen seemed cool and at least to be even with the Londoner and Fransiscan."






Carroll seemed to love feinting. I've seen some RBR's where a punch isn't landed all round because he has tied his man up in knots with feints. He seemed to enjoy the advantage in space, and also seemed keen to set up traps later in the fight with excessive feinting early.


Bowen won round two with stalking pressure, but Carroll took round three, after counter-punching his way out of trouble and hurting his man. It's a livlier start than most Carroll contests seemed to be, typified by round four:






"Carroll feinted and hit Bowen some hard cracks on the neck. Carroll landed an awful blow on Bowen's chin, but a moment later got the same back, Bowen smashed Carroll square on the nose. It was Carroll's round by a small margin.

Round Five: Carroll landed a terrible upercut on Bowen's neck (!) and sent him reeling across the ring...[then] Bowen had Carroll groggy with stomach punches. Both men were groggy when time was called. Carroll got the best of this round.

Round Six: Bowen knocked Carroll down with a right hand smash, and then staggered him [when Carroll] got up...both seemed very tired."





This violent pattern continued through round 14 with Carroll leading and feinting to force leads and Bowen mainly targeting the gut and ribs of his man, Carroll generally winning rounds but some declared even.






"Round Fifteen: Bowen landed on Carroll's stomach, and Carroll knocked Bowen down with a right hand. Bowen was groggy, but Carroll was weak, and could not knock out his man. Bowen knocked Carroll down with a terrible right, Bowen took terrible punishment, reeling all over the ring.

Round Sixteen: Bowen was weak and Carroll came to finish him...Bowen held and punished Carroll's body, Carroll landed on Bowen's neck.

Round Seventeen: Bowen took a stomach punch and staggered. Bowen took a stomach punch and bled. Carroll was now on top.

Round Eighteen: Carroll crowded Bowen and hit him on the forehad. Bowen hit Carroll on the eye and opened it. Carroll landed a body blow and Carroll winced. Carroll hit Bowen on the neck with his forearm, and Bowen staggered, then on the nose and Bowen fell. Only time saved him.

Round Nineteen: Carroll hit Bowen on the chin but got it terrible on the nose. Bowen recieved a terrible butt on the eye, Carroll was merciless. He hit Bowen on the cheek and staggered him; Bowen smiled and seeed sick. He was weak but game.

Round Twenty: Bowen was game and delayed the knockout. A foul was claimed and Carroll apologised and they shock hands.

Round Twenty-One: Carroll forced Bowen to lead and he missed. Carroll landed a right and left and Bowen fell. He got up but fell again, and was counted out.






Sounds like some fight. KD's on both sides, a fast pace and some skill on show by the sounds. The KO reads like a picture perfect counter-knock out, although it's obviously hard to be certain. I think this RBR, which comes fro the St.Paul Daily Globe gives a very decent impression of the breadth of Carroll's skill. He is a dirty fighter but seems to have been a very fine general. He is a stalking fighter but a counter-puncher. He is durable and can hit. Most impressive, this is the man's third decade of ring war and he has the stamina and conditioning to pull this type of win out against a an who is clear as game as they come and also had mixed it at a high level. A very impressive win so late in a busy career. The St.Paul Daily Globe's summary:





"Bowen's gameness was applauded to the echo. Bowen was terribly punished but had no complaint to make. He did the best he could. He had a horrible right eye and his mouth was swollen and bleeding....Carroll was trained for the fight by the New Zealand wonder, Bob Fitzsimmons."





I'm reading loads about this guy just now so I will kick up more later, but I'm going to post this now because i've overtyped by about 800 words and don't want to lose it all in some mad internet accident. Carroll seems a bit of a wonder to me, massive longevity in an era that didn't tend to lend itself to such things, and some seriously good wins under his belt. He tended to fail at the very highest level, as we'll see, but I don't think there is any shame in the losses he receieved, and they are certainly outweighed by the many great wins and the draws with guys like McAuliffe, who really was a man apart.

Thoughts?

 

Here he is in all his badass glory:

This content is protected

Carroll was not younger than 36 for his fight with Bowen and was probably older than that.

 

Coverage, from the same newspaper, of Carroll's astonishing 47 round KO loss to Jack McAuliffe. Carroll had been boxing for 12 years plus (unlikely fewer than 15) at the time of this title tilt, many of them during the bare-knuckle era. Astonishing longevity. The headline tells it's own tale:





JACK MCAULIFFE BESTS HIS OPPONENT IN THE 47TH ROUND. UP TO THE NEAR FINISH CARROLL HAD THE BEST OF IT. HE SMASHED MAC RIGHT AND LEFT AND MADE HIM STAGGER. BUT HE LACKED A LONG REACH AND WAS KNOCKED OUT.

No pugilistic endevour seen [in San Fransisco] created more interest than McAuliffe-Carroll...Carroll had at first insisted that the fight be contested at 133lbs but McAuliffe declared that he could not get down to that weight without injury to himself, and it was finally agreed that each man would weigh in before the bout at 137lbs...McAuliffe came in at 135 and a half to Carroll's 134 and a half.

Round One: McAuliffe opened with a rush but Caroll escaped by dodging. McAuliffe, following him, reached him three times...The men clinched and the round ended.

Round Two: Carroll rushed McAuliffe and jabbed his jaw several times. McAuliffe returned with a hot right hand to Carroll's ribs...the men sparred cautiously until the end of the round.

Round Three: The men sparred cautiosly for a full minute and then Mac led off with his left catching him on the chin, following up with a repeat before Carroll recovered himself.

Round Four: McAuliffe reached Carroll's ear with a right and then gave him a vicious uppercut with the left. Mac made a half dozen terrific lunges all of which Carroll escaped by clean dodges...Just before the round closed [Carroll] recieved a rap on the ribs and quickly countered on Mac's jaw.







This pattern continued through twelve. McAuliffe did most of the leading, sometimes transferring his attack to Carroll's gut, but Carroll ditched a lot of Jack's punching with "clever dodging" and quick counters which seems to be his way of doing things - flat out reaction dodges, no joke for an old man! In round 8 and 9 then exchanged brutal punches in dominant rounds for first Mac and then Carroll. Carroll was the man boxing for the long haul, I think. In 12 things changed.






Round 12: ...a number of blows were exchanged. A clinch followed in which both men fell to the floor...they rose [and] there was some terrific slugging at close quarters followed until both men were very groggy. Carroll scored a clean knockdown.

Round 13: Both men fought hard for a knockout although both were tired...just before the round ended Carroll landed a blow which staggered Mac and nearly dropped him.






The fight then changed direction again, as McAuliffe seeked to use his reach advantage and boxed from the outside, landing well with a "long left which prevented Carroll getting near". This is the great generalship McAuliffe is known for. He's in his third phase for this fight, pressure-fighter turned slugger turned boxer. Seventeen saw the two slug it out again with "honours about even", but both guys were already very tired according to the report. Carroll had a great 18th, catching McAuliffe with a variety of blows, but failing to drop him. From here until the 25th the fight seems very quiet.







Round 25: Both men did considerable leading but the punches were light with the exception of a right hander of Carroll's which caught McAuliffe on the ear.

Round 26: This round was very tame

Round 27: McAuliffe punched Carroll around the neck and body until the later staggered under their weight.







27 sees McAuliffe change gears again and he goes onto dominate the next few rounds: "The next few rounds were generally in Mac's favour but both were showing much cleverness. Mac's blows seemed to have the greater affect at distance...Carroll could not get close...by the end of the 36th round both men were weaker but in reasonable condition.

Now the unsatisfactory ending. McAuliffe seems at this point to have punched himself out a little bit. Carroll was always in the fight for the long haul, and perhaps should have more down the stretch - or so it would seem coming into the endgame: "Mac was obviously dazed. He reached out weakly, but Carroll could easily dodge and then come back with the jab in McAullife's face. Carroll repeated this performance in the next round. The 38th, 39th, and 40th rounds were very quiet. McAuliffe recoverd a little, but in the 42nd Carroll gave him an ugly uppercut and then planted more freely on his nose and face causing blood to flow freely. In the 43rd round McAuliffe was plainly getting weaker and a number of punches to the jaw did not help his condition. McAuliffe won the fight in the 47th round."

According to Boxrec, Carroll was doing well in the 47th and then got caught with a counter-right which dropped him for four seconds. McAuliffe was able to follow up and stop Carroll whilst seemingly on his last ounce of energy. Awe-inspiring stuff from the great lightweight.

I think though that this was a great plan deployed by Carroll against a great tactical master, an energy preserving strategy that looks to drag McAuliffe into very deep water and drown him. Up until the sudden, desperate end it looked to be working. Despite his generalship and cleverness it seems like it is toughness and will to win that was the difference here - a difference which defined McAuliffe as the high-watermark fighter for pre-Gans lightweights, and a definition which could easily have gone to Carroll, had he been successful here, which he so nearly was.

Funny how a little digging can change your perspective. Although, once again, wondeful stuff from Jack M to pull it out at the very end, the mark of a true champion.


But Carroll; how often do you see a fighter in his third decade still fighting at this sort of level? He must have been a man of insane discipline.

 

By the way, I only have two confirmed losses for Carroll at this point, both to McAuliffe (the second when Jimmy was aged between 40 and 50). The Jimmy Dime loss (ko3) never took place, that was a Jimmy Carroll "of Buffalo, formerly New York where he is known as "Harlem Billy"", not Jimmy Carol of San Fransisco formerly of London. which this Jimmy Carroll was. I also have serious doubts about the loss to Joe Walcott - I don't think the two ever met.

One of his wins, also is erroneous, he didn't meet the Australian light-heavy Smith.

 

**** you all!

 

Ah, knowing that someone has read it makes me feel better! I'll probably let it slide now unless I dig up something else worth sharing.

 

Yeah, of course it can, I didn't exactly expect a flurry of interest - but I do think this guy deserves a bit better. As I was learning about him i realised that not only was his longevity outstanding, sprawling from the bare-knuckle era to the Gans-era but he was a hair's breadth away from being the defining lightweight of his era and a top man pound for pound...the counter-punch McAuliffe landed on him to stop him in their first fight reads like the type of one-in-the-million shot that only great champions can make happen.

 

You might see her yet GP.

 

No doubt.

I think the longer distance giving opportunity for a plan based partly around feinting a chance to pay off had something to do with it.