THE 100 GREATEST BOXERS OF ALL TIME #31: JIMMY MCLARNIN
“THE BELFAST SPIDER”
54 WINS (21 BY KO), 11 LOSSES, 3 DRAWS
World Welterweight Champion 1933–1934
International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee 1995
Irish Canadian Jimmy McLarnin literally grew up in the ring. Beginning his pro career as a 4’11”, 16-year-old flyweight and ending it as a 5’6”, 28-year-old welterweight, he fought some of the very best fighters to ever inhabit each division he went through, beating men of such quality that, as historian Bert Sugar once put it, his record was “enough to start his own Hall of Fame.”
In the beginning, he was a swift, defense-minded matador in the ring, but as he grew into his body and as he developed his skills, he slowly transformed into one of the hardest-hitting, two-fisted lightweights and welterweights to ever put on a glove, making him one of the most popular knockout artists of the Depression era.
As a teenage flyweight (112 pounds), McLarnin first came to the world’s attention when he sent Filipino sensation Pancho Villa into retirement in 1925. Moving to featherweight (126 pounds) in his next fight, he knocked out future Hall of Famer Jackie Fields inside two rounds. Between June 1925 and January 1926, still a teen, he fought five consecutive bouts against future Hall of Famers, winning three of them.
Still a growing boy, Jimmy was already a lightweight (135 pounds) by late 1926, and it was here that he really began to make his mark. He knocked out former featherweight champ Kid Kaplan in eight rounds and then flattened Sid Terris, considered the division’s uncrowned champion, in the opening round to earn a shot at the official champion, future Hall of Famer Sammy Mandell on May 21, 1928, at the Polo Grounds in New York. Mandell took the deserved decision, but McLarnin would avenge that loss twice in the coming years.
After winning two of three fights over popular and rugged Billy Petrolle (yet another future Hall of Famer) between 1930 and 1931, McLarnin then sent the living-legend Benny Leonard into retirement with a one-sided, sixth-round stoppage on October 7, 1932. It was the first time Leonard had been stopped in 20 years.
Taking his punching power with him into the welterweight (147 pounds) ranks, he challenged the outstanding Young Corbett III for the championship. The reigning champ, Corbett (Yes, another future Hall of Famer) had more than 100 victories to his name and had not been stopped since his fourth pro bout, but on May 29, 1933, McLarnin had reached his peak, and he fought as though possessed. Just a few seconds into the fight, he sent home a right hand that put Corbett down. The champ got up, but a series of three McLarnin lefts sent him tumbling back down. When the champ rose again, two more punches made sure he was the champion no longer. The referee didn’t bother counting and stopped the slaughter in the first round.
From then on, it was nothing but super-fights against some of the sport’s biggest stars for the most popular Irish fighter of the day. Spurred on by the ethnic implications of two popular ethnic talents — one Irish and one Jewish — fighting it out, a total of 60,000 fans packed New York’s outdoor Madison Square Garden Bowl on September 17, 1934, to watch the first of two legendary ring battles between McLarnin and lightweight champion Barney Ross for McLarnin’s championship. After a classic war, Ross emerged the split decision victor, but Jimmy regained the welterweight title less than four months later in an equally trying contest, despite suffering a badly swollen eye.
The inevitable third fight, before 40,000 fans at the outdoor Polo Grounds in New York, was the most brutal of all. Ross walked away with a hotly disputed decision, but some thought Jimmy deserved to win all three. Regardless, the trilogy would be remembered by all who witnessed it as one of the finest rivalries in the sport’s history.
McLarnin’s subsequent battles with future Hall of Famers Tony Canzoneri and Lou Ambers were also thrillers, but he never again won a world title. He retired in 1936 while still in his twenties and resisted the temptation to make any comebacks. Incredibly, 25 of his 67 professional bouts (37%) took place against world champs and/or Hall of Famers. Few boxers could ever claim such a consistently high level of competition.
Jimmy McClarnin’s Record vs. Hall of Famers & lineal world champions:
10/28/1924 — W 4 — Fidel LaBarba
11/11/1924 — D 4 — Fidel LaBarba
12/9/1924 — D 4 — Memphis Pal Moore
1/13/1925 — W 10 — Fidel LaBarba
6/2/1925 — L 10 — Bud Taylor
7/4/1925 — W 10 — Pancho Villa
6/2/1925 — W (KO) 2 — Jackie Fields
12/8/1925 — W (DQ) 2 — Bud Taylor
1/12/1926 — L 10 — Bud Taylor
10/18/1927 — W (KO) 8 — Kid Kaplan
5/21/1928 — L 15 — Sammy Mandell
11/4/1929 — W 10 — Sammy Mandell
3/1/1930 — W 10 — Sammy Mandell
3/28/1930 — W 10 — Jack Thompson
9/11/1930 — W (KO) 3 — Al Singer
11/21/1930 — L 10 — Billy Petrolle
5/27/1931 — W 10 — Billy Petrolle
8/20/1931 — W 10 — Billy Petrolle
8/4/1932 — L 10 — Lou Brouillard
10/7/1932 — W (TKO) 6 — Benny Leonard
5/29/1933 — W (TKO) 1 — Young Corbett III
5/28/1934 — L 15 — Barney Ross
9/17/1934 — W 15 — Barney Ross
5/28/1935 — L 15 — Barney Ross
5/8/1936 — L 10 — Tony Canzoneri
10/5/1936 — W 10 — Tony Canzoneri
11/20/1936 — W 10 — Lou Ambers
