Jimmy Young R.I.P.

Former boxer Jimmy Young dead Jimmy Young, one of the most accomplished, stylish fighters ever to come out of Philadelphia, died early Sunday morning of heart failure following a 6-day stay at Hahnemann University Hospital. Young, who compiled a 35-18-3 record with 12 knockouts in a career that spanned from 1969 to 1990, was 56. By all accounts, Young was attempting to put his life back in order after an October court appearance in which his public defender, Geoff Kilroy, claimed the onetime conqueror of George Foreman had exhibited all the symptoms of a condition known as chronic traumatic brain injury. At the top of his form, the 6-1, 210-pound Young was among the leading luminaries in one of the golden eras of heavyweight boxing, a technician whose principal drawback was that he lacked power to go along with his technical artistry. Many boxing experts will tell you that Young deserved better than the loss he received in his only shot at a world title, on April 30, 1976, when he was outpointed by Muhammad Ali in Landover, Md. Young fought nearly all of the other top heavyweights in the 1970s. He outboxed and twice was awarded decisions over Ron Lyle, went 0-1-1 against Earnie Shavers, was stopped in four rounds by a young Gerry Cooney. But what should have been his greatest moment, a 12-round decision over Foreman in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 17, 1977, proved to be almost anticlimactic, even though it sent Big George into a 10-year retirement. "I didn't think anything would change for me just because I beat Foreman, and it didn't," Young said in 1988. "I figured everybody would make a big deal out of him losing instead of me winning." Young also shrugged off the disappointment of the near-miss against Ali -- "To beat Ali in those days," he said, "you really had to beat him bad, you know what I mean?" -- but he was devastated by the split decision that went to Norton on Nov. 5, 1977, in a WBC elimination bout in Las Vegas. "I got a lot of bad decisions," Young said. "The worst was the 15-rounder with Norton. They gave it to him and even he didn't think he won it. He was as surprised as I was when the decision was announced." Young went 10-11-1 in the aftermath of the loss to Norton, briefly retired and worked as a roofer. He launched an ill-advised comeback that ended predictably, despite the rosy optimism of his then-promoter, Rick "Elvis" Parker. "I see a happy scenario of Foreman and Jimmy fighting for big money on national television," Parker said in 1988. "If it ever happens, Jimmy would send George back into retirement again." Foreman, of course, made megamillions in the second phase of his boxing life and as a commercial spokesman for products ranging from mufflers to grills. Young was targeted by the IRS and faded into an obscurity he didn't deserve. "Jimmy Young was a star," boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar said. "Jimmy was stylish. He was brilliant. The problem is that he was in one of the best classes of heavyweights ever, and all the other stars had bigger punches. "People don't pay to see cute, clever heavyweights. They want 'Wham, bam, thank you, man.' " Young estimated that he earned a "little under" $2 million in purses, but he said he didn't receive nearly as much of that as he should have. "My managers took 50 percent and the government took half of what was left," Young said in 1988. "I supposedly got $1 million for my fight with Norton, but all I took home was $262,000. "About 2 years ago, some IRS guy came by my house and said they were going to subpoena my contracts with (promoter) Don King. I said, 'I never had any contracts with Don King.' Not always, at least. Sometimes he'd just give me some money after a fight and say, 'This is your share.' " Despite his problems, Young was remembered by his wife, Barbara, as "well-loved by his family" and a good man "who'll be missed by many." Jimmy Young is survived by his wife, five children and nine grandchildren.