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By
Joe Rein
An afterthought -- just a few lines -- a filler
below
Miscellaneous
on the back page of the sports section: “Jimmy
McLarnin, dead at 96.”
Five
words…hardly fitting for the man who filled Madison
Square Garden the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium and
Wrigley Field, was two times welterweight champion
-- when there was only one title -- and the hex for
every Jewish great and prospect in the 1920’s and
30’s.
 The
ruins of Benny Leonard, Barney Ross, Sid Terris, Joe
Glick, Ruby Goldstein, Sammy Mandell, Al Singer, and
Louis “Kid” Kaplan litter his resume.
When two or three names define a fighter’s legacy
now; and squabbling goes on for an eternity before a
fringe contender steps in with the current Hula
Hoop, McLarnin beat future and past champions Fidel
La Barba, Jackie Fields, Pancho Villa and Bud
Taylor.
 McLarnin
had the coloring of Freddie Roach and the look of
his native British Columbia, fresh faced and
aquiline – a striking contrast with all his urban
foes – a little like an intramural fighter in the
Ivy League. He was called “Baby Face,” but I’m sure
that’s not what Tony Canzonari and Lou Ambers called
him when his hand was raised.
He was an orthodox stand-up boxer/puncher – only
5’6” -- with trigger-quick reactions and a thudding
straight right to match. His arms appeared much
longer than they were; he got full extension on
every punch. He was that rare amalgam: an
aggressive counter puncher, drawing leads with foot
feints -- broad-shouldered and strong, rarely out
muscled. In the vernacular of the day: He gave no
quarter.
He turned pro when he was 16 and hung’em up when he
was 29 – never tempted to make a comeback. He’d
been wisely guided by “Pop” Foster, and retired
comfortably on investments until he passed away in
Washington last week as quietly as he’d lived.
 When
the greats are mentioned, McLarnin is rarely thrown
in, but he was a cracking good fighter, and would
have been that in any era. He finished 53-11-3, 20
KO’s. Scan his record; one champion after another
jumps out.
Donnie Lalonde, the former WBC Light Heavyweight
champ, remarked to me once: “People say there are no
good Canadian fighters…There are!…They’re just
all hockey players.” Jimmy McLarnin was no
hockey player.
To quote a line from DEATH OF A SALESMAN: “Respect
should be paid this man!”
Feedback:
joerein@earthlink.net
McLarnin vs Leonard picture available for purchase:
antekprizering@earthlink.net
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