Opinions of Jimmy Wilde

[boxingking500]

what are your opinions on Jimmy Wilde.....

[boxingking500]

anybody... is he really not that famous of a fighter... or is not well-known or something???

[crold1]

anybody... is he really not that famous of a fighter... or is not well-known or something???

Greatest Flyweight of All-Time.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=21528

1) Jimmy Wilde (1892-1969)
Record: 132-3-2, 100 KO (13 No Decisions)
World Champion 1916-23, 6 Defenses
Flyweight Titlists/Champions Faced - 5: (Tancy Lee, Joe Symonds, Sid Smith, Young Zulu Kid, Pancho Villa)

Wilde or Villa, almost a century after their clash, remains the question. Here the answer favors the Welsh titan. Standing 5’2 and weighing less than 100 lbs. for much of his career, to say Wilde was near unbeatable in his prime is an understatement if only because he was unbeatable before he even got there. While some note him fighting for coin years before, Wilde’s official professional debut is listed between 1910 and 1911 and he would contest 94 bouts before suffering his first defeat in 1915. Along the way, he collected various titles (the 98 lb. British crown, British and Welsh Paperweight crowns, and the European Flyweight crown) before suffering a 17th round knockout at the hands of Tancy Lee in London January 25, 1915 for a share of the World title. The Lee loss came after a decision over the excellent Joe Symonds and a knockout of Smith.

Defeat did not sit well with Wilde. In twenty starts between the first Lee fight and the June 26, 1916 rematch, Wilde averaged more than a fight a month. Stepping to scratch twenty times, he scored nineteen knockouts including two more over Smith and a 12th round stoppage of Symonds. Returning to the scene of the crime, Wilde entered the National Sporting Club a second time against Lee and exited with an eleventh round stoppage. Six months later, he secured universal recognition as the world champion by besting Young Zulu Kid and unifying his American share of the world title into all of Wilde’s other trophies. Wilde would spend the rest of his career bouncing between Flyweight battle and contesting against Bantamweights while giving up sometimes as much as fourteen pounds, even snaring a win against Bantamweight great Joe Lynch along the way.

Wilde’s reign of terror on the littlest men would come to an end in the early 1920s. Giving up almost ten pounds, he was stopped in 1921 by Bantamweight great Pete Herman in 17 rounds. Announcing his retirement after a win over Young Jennings later in the year, Wilde would elect to come back in 1923 to defend his rights to the Flyweight crown against Villa and it might have been better to stay away. Wilde could last only seven rounds before time, and the title, finally passed him by.

Why He’s Here: Given the number of fights he had, there are obviously lots of stiffs on Wilde’s record. There is also a representative class of much of the early history of the Flyweight division. It is not very often in sport that things are gotten right the first time, but in this case Wilde’s pioneering validation of the Flyweights is an exception. That two of his three losses took seventeen rounds to get done says all anyone need know of his toughness and, oh my, the power. That two of those losses came in his final three of some 150 bouts says even more.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call Wilde, relative to his size, the greatest puncher who ever lived. He’s certainly in the hunt if he isn’t in the top spot. Like John L. Sullivan at Heavyweight or “The Nonpareil” Jack Dempsey at Middleweight, Wilde is the break point where a modern era truly begins and, unlike those men, it is not hard to imagine him just as dominant today as he was in his own time. Given the multiple divisions and belts of this era, Wilde could easily have won titles in five weight divisions. An inaugural member of the IBHOF in 1990, Wilde remains the face of the Flyweights almost 100 years after his debut.

He was and is the greatest little man of them all.

[Obama]

He was actually smaller than a Strawweight (which didn't exist at the time) yet is still by far the greatest Flyweight of all time. He has the best pre-first-loss record in boxing history.

(93-0-2 [8 ND]) {95 bouts with an official decision rendered} Derailed by: Tancy Lee

[Tamis!]

Jimmy Wilde an ATG Flyweight. The toughest fighter Pancho Villa ever faced. Props to my man he knocked him down thrice.

[McGoorty]

what are your opinions on Jimmy Wilde.....

I rate him in the elite of the elite class, his record is awesome, probably hit harder than Darchinyan, unfortunately not much film, he reigned a long time until another great, Pancho Villa dealt out a savage beating, TOP 20 of all time or very close.