Ronnie James
Ronnie James | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ronnie James 8 October 1917 Swansea, Wales |
| Died | 12 June 1977 |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Lightweight |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 136 |
| Wins | 114 |
| Wins by KO | 61 |
| Losses | 17 |
| Draws | 5 |
| No contests | 0 |
Ronnie James (8 October 1917 – 12 June 1977) was a British
Boxing career
James' first recorded professional fight was on 21 January 1936 against local fighter Sid Williams. James then went on an unbeaten run of 52 contests[1] before being stopped by Dave Crowley at the Empire Pool on 12 January 1936. Although many of the matches in his early career were against fairly inexperienced fighters, several notable opponents were faced; including wins over Welsh champions Boyo Rees and Terence Morgan; a draw with Southern area champion Dick Corbett and a victory against future NBA World champion Jackie Wilson.
After the Crowley contest, James began to face more challenging contests on a regular basis. James fought and lost against Spaniard
James bounced back in 1938 with four straight wins, three by knockout, before being disqualified in a contest in front of his hometown against NBA ex-champion
James never defended his British title but before retiring he challenged American Ike Williams for the NBA World Lightweight title. The match brought the champion to Wales, the first time a boxing title had been held in the country, taking place at Ninian Park on 9 September 1946. James was knocked out in the ninth round after suffering six knockdowns during the bout. James retired from boxing in 1947 after being beaten by a 19-year-old Cliff Curvis at the Vetch Field in Swansea. James had failed to make the 9-stone-9-pound (61 kg; 135 lb) weight limit for the challenge against Curvis, for which he was stripped of his British title, and subsequently retired from boxing.[3]
See also
References
- ^ BoxRec profile of Ronnie James: page 2 BoxRec is not a difinitive or complete record of fighter records and there may be missing matches in this run.
- ^ Odd, Gilbert E. (ed.) (1946) Boxing News Annual 1946, War Facts Press, p. 53
- ISBN 978-0-7083-1915-4.
External links
- Boxing record for Ronnie James from BoxRec (registration required)
- Ike Williams v Ronnie James World title commentary BBC Sport