24 Facts About Jimmy Wilde

William James Wilde was a Welsh professional boxer who competed from 1911 to 1923.

Jimmy Wilde simultaneously held the National Sporting Clubs British flyweight title and the World Flyweight championship from 1916 to 1923.

Jimmy Wilde's father was a coal miner and Jimmy later worked in the pits himself, being small enough to crawl through gullies impassable to most of his colleagues.

Jimmy Wilde 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 whom were local men weighing around 200 lbs.

In 1910, Jimmy Wilde married his wife Elizabeth and was a father the same year.

The record books often show that Jimmy Wilde started boxing professionally in 1911, but it is widely assumed that he had been fighting professionally for at least four years before that.

Jimmy Wilde's officially listed debut was on 26 December 1910, when he fought Les Williams to a no-decision in three rounds.

Jimmy Wilde finally lost his undefeated record when he challenged Tancy Lee for the vacant British and Europe Flyweight Championship on 15 January 1915 in London.

In 1915, Jimmy Wilde was hospitalized, requiring an operation for "an internal complaint".

In late December 1916, after being rejected on two previous occasions due to an old leg problem from a colliery accident and for being underweight, Jimmy Wilde was accepted into the British Army and while never seeing active service, became a physical training instructor at Aldershot.

Jimmy Wilde kept fighting and winning, and in 1919, he beat American bantamweight Joe Lynch who would later win the World bantamweight title.

Jimmy Wilde travelled to the United States for a series of fights and on 6 December 1919, lost to "Little" Jackie Sharkey in a controversial ten-round newspaper decision.

Sharkey's win was at least a minor upset as Jimmy Wilde led in the early betting 2 to 1.

In 1920, Jimmy Wilde went undefeated in 10 fights, but lost by a knockout in 17 rounds to former World Bantamweight Champion Pete Herman, who outweighed him by more than a stone, in 1921.

On 18 June 1923 at the Polo Grounds in New York, Jimmy Wilde was knocked out in the seventh round by his younger opponent.

Jimmy Wilde announced his retirement before returning to England, confirming his decision on 1 January 1924.

In 1927, at the age of 35, Jimmy Wilde was reportedly considering making a comeback, but after consulting a specialist in head trauma, never returned to competitive boxing.

Jimmy Wilde published a ghost-written autobiography in 1938 entitled Fighting Was My Business.

Jimmy Wilde gave up boxing to run a hairdressers in north London.

Jimmy Wilde became a boxing referee, including in 1936 refereeing every bout of a boxing tournament at the Hastings Pier Pavilion.

In 1960, Jimmy Wilde suffered facial injuries after being mugged at a train station in Cardiff.

Jimmy Wilde was buried alongside his wife in Barry Cemetery.

Jimmy Wilde had a record of 139 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw and 5 no-contests, with an impressive 99 wins by knockout.

Jimmy Wilde was ranked as the top flyweight of all-time by the International Boxing Research Organization in 2006.