Name: Jimmy Wilde
Date: 12 / 5 / 1892 - 10 / 3 / 1969
Weight: Flyweight
Height: 5′ 2½″/ 159cm
Reach: 66″ / 168cm
Official Boxing Record: 134 (100) - 4 (3) - 2 (Newspaper Decisions 4-1-0)



Born in Wales in 1892 to the son of a coal miner, Jimmy Wilde started boxing at the age of 16 in local fair grounds where he would challenge local hard men in order to make ends meet. The on looking crowd would gasp in amazement as the 5ft 2 inch Wilde took on all comers regardless of their size and weight, often knocking out men twice his size with his ferocious little fists.

According to official records, Wilde turned professional in December 1910, where the young Welshman fought a no contest with Les Williams in Pontypridd, Wales. This somewhat mediocre start was not, however, a sign of things to come as 'little Jimmy' embarked on a 103 unbeaten run, seeing him capture the British 7 stone championship with an eighth round KO of Billy Padden, a relative novice from Glasgow. The little wizard looked unbeatable, making his opponents look foolish by dodging and weaving onslaughts before popping out a jab with a smile on his face. Rarely blocking or clinching due to his incredible size disadvantage, Wilde’s style was unique in itself, often relying on his suburb reflexes to make his opponent miss. When Wilde wanted the fight to be over, he usually got his way as he stepped up the pressure before knocking his opponents out.

Wilde's impressive winning streak would come to an end, however, when he challenged Tancy Lee for the vacant European Flyweight Title. Wilde, outweighed officially by eleven pound on the day of the fight even though he was fully clothes during the weigh-in, was finally stopped in the 17th round (of twenty) after his corner called a halt to the action in what was a competitive affair. What is interesting to note, however, is that a week before the bout, Jimmy Wilde was diagnosed with influenza, and was physically sick moments before the fight. A brief clip of the fight can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKZdcBFE_7Q&feature=player_embedded

Wilde, seemingly aggravated by his first professional loss, then embarked on a brutal 16 fight KO winning streak, winning the British Flyweight title against Joe Symonds (58-9-5), stopping him in the twelfth round.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igryTKKR2Nw&feature=player_embedded

Just three fights later, Wilde would win the IBU 'World' Flyweight title, defeating Johnny Rosner in the 11th. (The IBU, while claiming to be a world organisation, was only recognised in Europe.) This run also saw Wilde stop Sid Smith, a veteran of almost 80 fights.

Feeling unbeatable, Wilde fought twice on the 13th May 1916, defeating both Joe Magnus and Darkie Saunders in less than five rounds apiece at the Woolwich Dockyard. On the 26th June of that year, a fully fit Wilde would avenge his only loss to date, stopping Trancy Lee in the 11th.

Later that year, 'The Mighty Atom' officially became the first World Flyweight Champion by stopping the colourfully named Young Zulu Kid in the 11th. The fight, scheduled for 20, saw Wilde start quickly as the American had no answer to the ‘Mighty Atom’s’ speed and power. The end came just after the half way mark after Wilde landed a crushing left to the jaw of 'the Kid', causing the American's corner to throw in the towel. Just three months later, Wilde would unify the World title with the British and European titles, stopping George Clark in four. During this impressive winning streak, Wilde would fight Joe Conn, a man Wilde claimed was Britain’s 9 stone champion in a catchweight fight. The Welshman claimed to weigh 6 stone 10 for this bout, but his opponent refused to get on the scales with newspaper observers estimating Conn to outweigh Wilde by almost 3 stone. Jimmy, nonetheless, stepped into the ring and completely destroyed Conn, knocking him down a total of 13 times on route to a 12 round KO victory.


Jimmy Wilde continued winning until the 12th December 1918, when he was defeated by the then Bantamweight World Champion Memphis Moore (54-6-13), an opponent who was again rumoured to outweigh Wilde by 14 pound on the night of the fight. Like his first defeat against Lee, Wilde would avenge the loss in the rematch, defeating the American on points over twenty gruelling rounds. After the Moore rematch, Wilde embarked on a tour of the United States and Canada, winning ten out of his eleven bouts, losing only to Jackie Sharkey, a fight in which he was sure he won. Later on, Wilde joked that ‘the Americans stood no chance. I knocked them all cold’, with victories of the great Frankie Mason (62-5-11), Battling Al Murray (26-4), a rematch with Young Zulu Kid and Patsy Wallace in a bout which drew the then largest crowd in Canadian boxing history.



Wilde's career was to end with disappointing back to back defeats. In 1921, after almost 140 official fights, the ‘Mighty Atom’ was knocked out by Pete Herman, whom again outweighed Wilde by ten pound, in the 17th round. After a two year retirement, Wilde would climb into the ring once more, this time against the great Pancho Vella (62-4-3) of the Philippians in what would be a career high payday. The 31 year old Wilde started at a ferocious pace, tagging one of Asia’s finest ever fighters with his trademark straight right and murderous hooks. The problem for the Welshman, however, was Vella, although being wobbled on more than one occasion, was taking the shots well, while returning with his own right hand. At the end of the second, the heavy punching Vella caught Wilde flush after the bell had sounded, a blow which left the Mighty Atom concussed for more than three weeks. Legendary trainer Ray Arcel who was at ringside felt the bout should have ended in disqualification. But Wilde refused to appeal to the referee, and the fight continued. The groggy Welshmen would go on to take a sustained beating from Vella who eventually knocked his man out in the 7th round, sending Wilde into retirement for the second and final time.

Jimmy Wilde's record, however, doesn't do him justice. While finishing with an official record of 137-4-2 with 100 knockouts, Wilde would later claim to have fought a total of 864 times, winning 675 by knockout. Wilde's knock out ratio suggests he was an all action slugger who threw bombs in an attempt to knock his opponent out. This wasn't the case however, as Wilde was a master of defence, often making opponents look foolish by weaving onslaughts with his hands held low befoe tagging his opponent seemingly at will leading experts to call him 'the ghost with a hammer in his hand'. Wilde's Boxrec records also do not do him justice. Many of his opponents, particularly in his early years, are shown to have very few fights. This again is misleading, as the lower weights at the time were very rarely covered during this period of British boxing.

In 1990, Wilde was elected into the Boxing Hall of Fame and, two years later, was voted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. A decade later, Ring Magazine voted Wilde as the 3rd greatest puncher of all time, behind the great Joe Louis and equally great Sam Langford.

Jimmy Wilde died as a result of injuries sustained in a mugging in 1969.

For me, Jimmy Wilde was not only the greatest Flyweight of all time and the greatest British boxer of all time, he was also pound for pound the hardest puncher the sport has ever known. A nice tribute to the Mighty Atom can been seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf2uTy9Os6c&feature=player_embedded