Turned pro at 18 or 19 and was out of the game at 23. Showed promise. Won the Transvaal heavyweight belt. Was he rushed a bit? Why did he quit? Did he ever train seriously? Anyone have any footage?
Abbot was an interesting clubfighter, one of the guys rated 15th through 25th worldwide. I never saw him fight. Can anyone describe Abbot's styel?
My memories on Abbott are vague, to be honest. I remember it was front page news here when he knocked out Knoetze in a round. It was considered a big deal here, although good old Knoetze was past what prime he had. I saw Jimmy in Jo'burg in 1990. I attended a college right next to a tailor called Big & Tall, where Jimmy shopped for his clothes. I was standing with a group of friends just outside the college, and I recognise Jimmy as he walked past. Huge ****er. Must have weighed close to 400 lbs.* Anyway, one of my buddies waits until there was a bit of distance between us and him, and he suddenly shouts out: "Lose some weight you fat ****!" Jimmy turns around with a face like thunder, and we just bolted out of there. I saw him another time too, and he managed to squeeze himself into a VW Golf (You guys in the States called it a Rabbit.) That poor car was hunkered down on the ground like you wouldn't believe. But only on his side. It was pretty hilarious. *Come to think of it, I think it was even more than that. That translates to 182 kgs, and he almost certainly weighed more than that, judging by the way he looked.