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Jimmy Young (boxer)
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Jimmy Young (November 16 1948 – February 20 2005) was a skilled Philadelphia heavyweight boxer who had his greatest success during the 1970s. His career record was 34-19-2 with 11 knockouts.
Early fights
In his 11th professionnal fight, Young was matched against contender Earnie Shavers, who had a 42-2 record at the time and suffered his first KO loss. After this Young went undefeated for three years which included a win over contender Ron Lyle and a draw in a re-match with Shavers.
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Encyclopedia
Jimmy Young (November 16 1948 – February 20 2005) was a skilled Philadelphia heavyweight boxer who had his greatest success during the 1970s. His career record was 34-19-2 with 11 knockouts.
Professional career
Early fights
In his 11th professionnal fight, Young was matched against contender Earnie Shavers, who had a 42-2 record at the time and suffered his first KO loss. After this Young went undefeated for three years which included a win over contender Ron Lyle and a draw in a re-match with Shavers. It would not be the last time Young lost a decision in a big fight. It was still enough to earn him a title fight with Heavyweight Champion of the World Muhammad Ali.
The Muhammed Ali fight
Young made his name when he fought Muhammad Ali in Landover, Maryland in April 1976 for the world heavyweight title. Ali weighed in at 230 pounds, the highest for any of his fights (he would weigh 236.25 pounds in his fight against Trevor Berbick), and was consequently slow and immobile by his standards throughout the bout. Six years younger and 25 pounds lighter, Young adopted a strategy of fighting aggressively from a distance, landing numerous light blows while dodging and parrying Ali's counterpunches, and using his signature "pit pat" body blows, which had little power behind them but were effective at scoring points. At close quarters, however, Ali's strength was dominant, Young would turn passive. He retreated whenever possible, and often kept his head ducked very low to avoid serious blows when Ali would fight from the inside (the notion is that boxers are not permitted to hit in the back of the head, and due to how low Jimmy ducked there was really no way for either fighter to hit the other until the ref would restart the fight, but at that point Ali wasn't on the inside anymore), and on several occasions when Ali was inside and young had his back to the ropes, young would intentionally put his head or upper body out of the ring to compel the referee to separate the fighters. To some, Young's was a brilliant strategy of neutralizing his opponent's strengths and forcing the bout to be fought on his own terms; to others, it was boring and unworthy of a championship bout, with some terming the last technique "the rope-a-dope".
The referee did at one point during the fight initiate a count due to Jimmy Young being outside the ropes. The fight went the full 15 rounds with a controversial one-sided unanimous decision going to Ali. Referee Tom Kelly scored it 72-65; judges Larry Barrett and Terry Moore had it 70-68 and 71-64, respectively.
Most viewers thought the fight was closer than the scorecard made it appear usually scoring the fight even (plus or minus one), Ken Norton (a rival of Ali) who was commentating at ringside had the fight even on his own scorecard. Some claimed that Young's performance should have earned him a rematch, however the boxing commission only saw a boring fight where no fighter was in danger and the final bell was a relief to everyone in attendance.
The Foreman Fight
In November 1976 Young beat top contender Ron Lyle for the second time, winning 11 of 12 rounds on one judge's card. Young then fought George Foreman who had begun a comeback after losing the title to Muhammad Ali in "The Rumble in the Jungle" going 5-0-0 including victories over Ron Lyle and Joe Frazier since the loss.
In March 1977, Young fought Foreman, the fight was somewhat lackluster until the sixth round when in the beginning Foreman started throwing more power in to his punches, not to be outdone, Young did the same showing his power in one of the few times in his career by stunning Foreman in that round, he even knocked Foreman down in the final round earning a win by 12-round decision. Ring Magazine named the Foreman-Young bout its 1977 "Fight of the Year."
Late-career
Young's next opponent was Norton - he had won five straight since his loss to Ali. In November 1977, Young lost a split decision in Las Vegas. The winner of the fight was later awarded a championship belt. Young struggled afterwords losing his next 3 fights.
Young began a comeback in the 1981, he went 5-0-0 including a TKO over previously unbeaten Gordon Racette, Young's comeback was cut short when he was defeated by future champion Greg Page. He became a "trial horse" for emerging contenders, dropping decisions to future champions Tony Tucker and Tony Tubbs. He continued fighting with mixed results until 1988.
Death
Young died on February 20, 2005 from heart failure. Like many former boxers, it was reported in his later years that he suffered from pugilistica dementia.
External links
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