James "Jimmy" Warnock was a southpaw boxer from the Shankill Road, Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.
.

Jimmy Warnock began his early boxing career at Belfast's Chapel Fields in prize fights organised by Clara Copley

Clara Copley

Clara Copley was an Irish woman who was born into a family of circus performers. Copley was the proprietor of organized boxing matches at Belfast Chapel Fields Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the 1930s. A number of men fought in her earlier boxing booth and her later arena matches for...

. In the 1930's he beat undisputed world flyweight

Flyweight

Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing less than 112 lb but above 108 lb .-Professional boxing:...

 champion Benny Lynch

Benny Lynch

Benny Lynch was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and Ring Magazine has described him as the greatest fighter that Scotland has ever produced...

 on points twice - on 2 March 1936 at the King's Hall, Belfast and again on 2 June 1937 in front of 16,000 people in torrential rain at Parkhead

Parkhead

Parkhead is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road and Westmuir Street. Duke Street and Springfield Road also meet there, to form a turreted Edwardian five-way junction at Parkhead Cross...

 stadium in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

.

He was one of three boxing brothers, including Billy Warnock.

External links

• Belfast Telegraph, Down Memory Lane
• The Fighting Life of the Warnocks (1936) Article.
• List of pre-war boxers in UK
• Belfast Cathedral Artists & Sculptors page - reference to Warnock's bust by Morris Harding
• article about John Thomas Whalley who fought Jimmy Warnock
• Article about the night the lights went out in the King's Hall, Belfast

Further reading

• Benny: The Life and Times of a Fighting Legend - by John Burrowes ISBN 978-1840186611