This guy is one of the least talked about fighters of all time, and for many years his grave had no headstone. What this fist did for boxing, against all odd's over a meat sandwich - makes Rocky, Raging Bull, Cinderella Man and the Fighter look like a kids picnic - infact if somebody turned this guy's story into a film, it would make all other film makers wake up and apologize for making such shite films. Forget what the boxing writers printed back then, the closest anyone has come to a decent narrative of Jimmy, was in Ring Magazine. It was put in my hands about fifteen years ago, by an old power lifter in the Gym, called Jeff. Jeff was originally from Hull, and his father was one of Jimmy's closest friends. This story is best told by the people that knew him. After losing his wife to cancer in 1998, Jeff needed a new direction in life. At 70 years old, the poor old bugger was lost, so we kinda looked after him. He liked to watch us train and we loved his stories. When Jeff opened my eyes to Jimmy I found a true hero, and this is his story... At 14 years old Jimmy was so small, the miners nick named him the mole. At just under five feet tall, he weighed about as much as one of my legs. But Jimmy's size never bothered him, because in his heart, he was a giant. Jimmy was useful in the mines, because he could get to places no one else could. While the rest of the lads were busy digging coal all day, Jimmy was off on adventures of the worst kind, sent into the darkest places with just a candle and a rope around his waist. So one day Jimmy gets crawling through a few cracks, then the mine collapsed. It took a while for them to get him out, but when he finally surfaced one of the lads has eaten his snap. Forget death, forget mines, forget 14 years old. You don't touch another mans sandwiches in Pitland!!! Jimmy fought two grown men that day, over a meat sandwich and won. He knocked out cold a sandwich thief twice his size, and almost broke the ribs of Dai Davies who tried to drag Jimmy off. Now for those of you who don't know who Dai was, let's just put it this way. Dai was 'El Capitan' back then. When it came to fighting - he was the meanest Mexican in Wales. He knew everything there was to know about boxing, and he also knew that Jimmy was a gift from the Gods. Dai could have retaliated at Jimmy's hook to the ribs, but for the first time in his life he didn't see that punch coming. When it landed, Dai said it was like 'the life got sucked out of him' and let's not forget Jimmy was just a kid! So that's where it all started, Dai and Jimmy shook hands. and Dai unloaded a mountain of knowledge to a monster built like a mouse. Jimmy was 16 years old when he first fought in the ring. Dai got him to fight at Jack Scarrotts boxing booth, well known for it's brutality and wealth. Good money to be had if you beat the man in the ring - 'your prize if you win is a Shilling!' Nobody had beaten Ray Owen in four years. Ray was a heavyweight prize fighter and he fought where the money was, and it was that simple. Rumor has it he killed a man when he was 21, with his bare hands over a bad deck of cards, and since then he fought for the highest bidder. How it worked back then was like this: you go out with your mates, end up at the boxing booth. and if you were pissed or brave enough, you could step into the ring with the champion. Have a good dust up to try and win a Shilling. When Jimmy entered the ring the referee at the time told him to go home. The crowed jeered and heckled him, making fun of his little pot belly and nobbly knees. Dai smiled at the ref, and reminded him that his sister still owed him a months rent, and the ref changed his tune, telling Dai that Jimmy's Blood was on his hands. Now what I would like to say is Jimmy fought a great fight and the crowd went crazy, but I'd be lying. When Jimmy Wilde knocked out Raymond Owen, in less than fifteen seconds, you could hear a pin drop in the audience. Jimmy hit that man so hard, his soul left his body before he hit the canvas. The crowed were in a state shock for the rest of the evening. That same night Jimmy Wilde knocked out 18 men - Heavyweights, Super heavyweights, Middle Weights, drunk, sober, how ever you wanted to fight. Jimmy was the only one left standing at the end of the night. Old man Skarrott put his best against Jimmy. He was so pissed off, but the bigger they got, the harder they fell. Unoffically the traveling community say Jimmy Wilde fought over 800 men before he turned pro, and he never lost a fight. Officially his family say it was more like 600. As a ranked professional boxer, Jimmy Wilde knocked out 100 men, and his record of 98 fights undefeated will probably last forever . At just over five feet tall and just over 7 stones, Jimmy Wilde had the world of boxing by the balls. It didn't matter to him if you were a heavyweight or a middleweight, because on the night if you were brave enough to get in the ring with him, he would knock you out cold and walk you to your corner when you woke up. He was the first Flyweight from the UK to be recognized in the USA, and there will never be another like him. Jimmy retired from boxing on the 18th of June 1923, and the few fights he lost were more down to life than boxing. I don't like to talk about loss when i talk about Jimmy, but this one I will never forget. In the summer of 1965, a 73 year old man was waiting for a train at Cardiff railway station, when he is approached by three lads. Unbelievably, a fight breaks out with this poor old sod and he knocks one of the lads lights out, with a big left hook. The other two lads beat Jimmy within an inch of his life, and he never recovered. William James AKA Jimmy, died on the 10th of March 1969. The lads who mugged him must have moved to Spain when they found out who he was - nobody knows where they are now, and nobody cares - everybody loved Jimmy. The crowd gave him a name on the night when he knocked out Ray Owen. They called him a Freak "The fabulous freak". Later on in life, somebody said Jimmy was more like watching a ghost, with a hammer in each hand. The Mighty Atom the rest of the world called him-and that name kinda stuck with boxing fans till the day he died. Jimmy we called him...Jimmy Wilde! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u2vslXWWgU&feature=plcp[/ame]
