Most people know of Eddie Thomas, Howard Winstone and Johnny Owen, but how many of you know anything about Jimmy Wilde?
Jimmy Wilde, or “The Mighty Atom,” “Ghost with the Hammer in his Hand” and “The Tylorstown Terror” as he was nicknamed, was born on 15 May 1892 in Quakers Yard, but by the time he was 12, Jimmy’s family had moved to Tylorstown in the Rhondda. The son of a miner, Jimmy followed his father into the colliery, and being so small, he was able to crawl through gullies impassable to most of his colleagues, which undoubtedly helped develop his renowned strength.
He started boxing at the age of 16 in fairground boxing booths, where crowds were amazed by his toughness and ability to knock down much larger opponents, most of which were local toughmen weighing around 200 lbs. He left Tylorstown Colliery in 1913, and in 1916, Wilde joined the British Army and was sent to Aldershot as a PT instructor.
The record books often show that Wilde started boxing professionally in 1911, but it is widely assumed (and later confirmed by boxing analysts), that he had been fighting professionally for at least four years before that, and his officially listed debut was on 26 December 1910, when he fought Les Williams to a no-decision in three rounds. His first win came on 1 January 1911, when he knocked out Ted Roberts in the third round.
Managed by Teddy Lewis, reserve captain of Pontypridd RFC, Wilde went undefeated in 103 bouts, all of which were held in Britain, and on 14 February 1916, he won the British flyweight title by beating Joe Symonds by a knockout in round twelve at the National Sporting Club in London. On 24 April 1916, Wilde beat Johnny Rosner by a knockout in the eleventh round at Liverpool Stadium to win the IBU World Flyweight title. In December of that year Wilde became recognised as the first World Flyweight Champion (the IBU title was only recognised in Europe) when he defeated Young Zulu Kid of the United States whose corner threw in the towel during the eleventh round of their bout at the Holborn Stadium.
During the First World War, Jimmy Wilde served as a Sergeant Instructor, fighting professionally only twice in 1917, and three times in 1918. Following the War, Wilde went to America in 1919; he toured the States beating an assortment of mainly much heavier opponents. The Americans grew to love Wilde and to this day he is revered by American boxing fans.
By 1921, Jimmy Wilde was 28 years old, had fought in hundreds of contests (possibly up to a thousand including booth fights) against bigger men and had held his world title for four years. Now he was to suffer only his third defeat (in 128 fights) when matched in a non-title fight against Pete Herman, who weighed in at 121 pounds to Jimmy’s 108 pounds. Wilde returned to the ring out of a sense of obligation to defend his title against Pancho Villa on 18 June 1923. After losing by a knockout, Wilde announced his retirement.
Jimmy Wilde lived the last few years of his life in the Cadoxton district of Barry, South Wales. With his final boxing winnings, Wilde entered into several business schemes, including a Welsh cinema chain and partnership in a cafe at Barry Island that was named ‘The Mighty Atom’ cafe. None was successful and he spent his final years in poverty. In 1965, Wilde suffered a serious mugging at a train station in Cardiff, from which he never recovered. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1967, and two years later Wilde died in a hospital in Whitchurch. He was buried in Barry Cemetery.
Wilde had a record of 139 wins, 3 losses, 1 draws and 5 no-contests, with 99 wins by knockout, which makes him one of the most prolific knockout winners of all time. Ring Magazine, a publication which named him the 3rd greatest puncher of all time in 2003, has twice named him the greatest flyweight of all time (March 1975 and May 1994). In 1990, Wilde was elected into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame as a member of that institution’s inaugural class, a distinction shared with all-time greats such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Harry Greb, Benny Leonard and Henry Armstrong. In 1992 he was also inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame and one of his prize winning belts is part of the organisation’s display. Wilde was ranked as the number 1 flyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2006.
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