Jimmy Carruthers

James William Carruthers (5 July 1929 – 15 August 1990) was an Australian boxer, who became world champion in the bantamweight division.

Jimmy Carruthers
Carruthers after defending World Bantamweight title against Gualt on 13 November 1953
Statistics
Real nameJames William Carruthers
Weight(s)Bantamweight
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Reach67 in (170 cm)
NationalityAustralian
Born(1929-07-05)5 July 1929
Paddington, New South Wales
Died15 August 1990(1990-08-15) (aged 61)
Sydney, New South Wales
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights25
Wins21
Wins by KO13
Losses4

Jimmy was the 2009 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Veterans category.

Amateur career

Carruthers's boxing career started as an Australian representative at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. In his first-round match of the bantamweight competition, he fought Fred Daigle of Canada and won on points. He defeated Arnoldo Parés of Argentina in his second match. However, he had sustained an eye injury during his bout with Parés, and had to withdraw from the quarter-final match with the eventual gold medalist Tibor Csík of Hungary.[1]

Professional career

Carruthers joined the professional ranks in 1950, and was an immediate success. By then, he was being managed by Dr. Jim McGirr, and trained by "Silent" Bill McConnell.

He won the Australian Bantamweight title in 1951 and then the British Commonwealth and Bantamweight Championship of the World the following year.[2] Carruthers became Australia's first universally recognised boxing World Champion.[1] Great Australians of the past—including Young Griffo, Mick King, and Les Darcy—had all won world titles, but they had not received international acceptance at the time of winning their respective crowns. After defending his newly won World bantamweight title against Vic Toweel in Johannesburg, and then against the American Henry "Pappy" Gault in Sydney, it was found that Carruthers was carrying a 30-foot-long tapeworm.[3]

He was matched for a world title bout against the New Zealand Bantamweight Champion Lyn Philp.[4] For unclear reasons the fight never went ahead.

After a non-title bout in Sydney, and a further title defence against Chamroen Songkitrat in Bangkok, Carruthers retired on 16 May 1954. Among the fighters he defeated were South African Vic Toweel (twice); Pappy Gault; Bobby Sinn and Chamroen Songkitrat. He made a brief comeback in Melbourne and Sydney in the early sixties in non-title fights, with his last fight in Wellington New Zealand in 1962 where he lost to Jimmy Cassidy.

Personal

He worked on the Sydney docks as a wharf labourer in the 1950s.

Carruthers was married to Myra (née Hamilton) until his death and is survived by four children - Boyd, Ginna, Dimiette and Lukas. During the 1950s he owned the colourful Bells Hotel in Sydney's Woolloomooloo. After that he had a number of businesses, including several vegetarian takeaway and juice bars in Sydney.

In his last years Carruthers suffered from lung cancer and Parkinson's disease. He died on 15 August 1990.[3] In 1995 he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record
25 fights 21 wins 4 losses
By knockout 13 1
By decision 8 2
By disqualification 0 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
25 Loss 21–4 New Zealand Jimmy Cassidy DQ 8 (10) Jun 18, 1962 New Zealand Town Hall, Wellington, New Zealand
24 Win 21–3 Australia Johnny Jarrett TKO 2 (12) Mar 29, 1962 Australia Woodville, South Australia, Australia
23 Win 20–3 Australia Louis Magnifico KO 2 (12) Mar 9, 1962 Australia Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
22 Loss 19–3 United States Don Johnson TKO 5 (12) Dec 15, 1961 Australia Festival Hall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
21 Loss 19–2 Australia Wally Taylor PTS 12 Nov 20, 1961 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
20 Loss 19–1 Italy Aldo Pravisani PTS 12 Sep 11, 1961 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
19 Win 19–0 Thailand Chamroen Songkitrat PTS 12 May 2, 1954 Thailand National Stadium Gymnasium, Bangkok, Thailand Retained NBA, NYSAC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
18 Win 18–0 Australia Bobby Sinn PTS 12 Mar 29, 1954 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
17 Win 17–0 United States Pappy Gault UD 15 Nov 13, 1953 Australia Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Retained NBA, NYSAC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
16 Win 16–0 Union of South Africa Vic Toweel KO 10 (15) Mar 21, 1953 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Retained NBA, NYSAC, Commonwealth British Empire, and The Ring bantamweight titles
15 Win 15–0 Union of South Africa Vic Toweel KO 1 (15) Nov 15, 1952 Union of South Africa Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Won NBA, NYSAC, Commonwealth British Empire, and The Ring bantamweight titles
14 Win 14–0 United States Johnny O'Brien PTS 12 May 12, 1952 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
13 Win 13–0 Australia Ray Coleman PTS 12 Apr 7, 1952 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
12 Win 12–0 Australia Taffy Sammy Hancock TKO 7 (12) Mar 13, 1952 Australia Leichhardt Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
11 Win 11–0 Mexico Luis Castillo PTS 12 Nov 26, 1951 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
10 Win 10–0 United States Enrique Morales TKO 7 (12) Aug 27, 1951 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
9 Win 9–0 Australia Elley Bennett PTS 15 May 14, 1951 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Won vacant Australian bantamweight title
8 Win 8–0 United States Billy Herbert TKO 10 (12) Apr 2, 1951 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
7 Win 7–0 French protectorate of Tunisia Bobby Scrivano KO 1 (12) Mar 5, 1951 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
6 Win 6–0 Australia Bluey Wilkins PTS 12 Jan 22, 1951 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
5 Win 5–0 Australia Jim McFadden TKO 9 (12) Dec 11, 1950 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
4 Win 4–0 Australia Keith Francis TKO 10 (12) Nov 20, 1950 Australia Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
3 Win 3–0 Australia Fred Kay TKO 12 (12) Oct 19, 1950 Australia Leichhardt Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2 Win 2–0 Australia Ron Wilson TKO 5 (12) Oct 13, 1950 Australia West Melbourne Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1 Win 1–0 Australia Ted Fitzgerald TKO 3 (12) Aug 15, 1950 Australia Leichhardt Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jimmy Carruthers.
  1. Jimmy Carruthers Archived 2015-10-01 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
  2. "Jimmy Carruthers - Lineal Bantamweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
  3. Carruthers, James William (Jimmy) (1929–1990). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  4. "The Mercury Newspaper". Mercury. Thursday, 15 January 1953. 15 January 1953.
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