In the world of heavyweights I always thought him one of the best
Muhammad Ali speaking on James ‘Jimmy’ Ellis
James “Jimmy” Ellis was born February 24, 1940, in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised a Christian along with his 9 brothers and sisters. As a teenager, he watched his close friend lose to Cassius Clay in “Tomorrow’s Champions,” a 1957 amateur tournament, believing he could do better than his friend. Ellis joined his local boxing club owned by Joe Martin, a white Southern police officer who had introduced a 12-year-old Clay to boxing. Martin had an eye for talent. Clay and Ellis were his star pupils. The two split a couple of fights and formed a friendship that would last a lifetime. Ellis got into some street fights triggered by racial tensions that gave him the reputation as a hoodlum. He wasn’t looking for trouble, but as soon as it started, he would end it.
Campaigning as a middleweight, Ellis won 59 of his 66 Amateur Fights, narrowly missing out on the 1960 Olympic Games. So, he turned professional that same year. He stopped Arley Seifer at Freedom Hall in Louisville in his first fight, going on to win his next four fights in succession before dropping a decision to veteran journeyman Holly Mims. Ellis defeated Mims in a rematch six months later; however, his professional career began to stall with just 15 fights and 5 losses. Ellis knew a decision had to be made: either quit boxing and go back to his regular job as a cement finisher or carry on fighting on a path to nowhere.
Spurred on by his wife to continue boxing, coupled with the sight of seeing his close friend Clay, now Muhammad Ali, sitting on top of the heavyweight world, Ellis dropped trainer Bud Burner and reached out to Angelo Dundee for help and guidance. Intrigued by his plea, Dundee invited Ellis to Miami and the Famous 5th St. Gym but demanded that Ellis gain weight.
Under the guidance of Dundee and valuable sparring time with Ali, Ellis stepped into the ring on the Ali vs. Liston 2 undercard, easily dispatching Joe Blackwood. He wouldn’t lose another fight for five years. “I just fine-tuned him,” Dundee would say. “Jimmy has lots of talent.”
Now fighting at Light Heavyweight and buoyed by his winning streak, Ellis wanted to compete at Heavyweight and step out of the shadow of being known as Ali’s sparring partner. Dundee wasn’t so sure, but acquiesced after Ellis knocked out Heavyweight Jimmy Persol in the opening round.
When the World Boxing Association gleefully stripped Ali of his heavyweight crown for refusing to be inducted into the U.S. Army, Ellis joined fellow contenders Floyd Patterson, Oscar Bonavena, Ernie Terrell, George Chuvalo, Karl Mildenberger, Thad Spencer, Jerry Quarry, and Leotis Martin to take part in the Knockout Tournament to find a new Champion.
As the tournament’s underdog, Ellis set out on a path to ultimate glory. Matched against Leotis Martin and given no chance, Ellis battered Martin to a bloody mess, forcing a referee stoppage in round 9. The ringside critics and media, who saw Ellis as nothing more than a blown-up Middleweight, were stunned and sat up to take notice.
In the next round of the tournament, Ellis found himself once again the underdog, matched against the fearsome, much heavier Oscar Bonavena. Bullish and crude, Bonavena was expected to brush aside any challenge, but Ellis had other ideas, dropping Bonavena in round 3 and ultimately finishing off the Argentine in round 10. Ellis was now one fight away from becoming the WBA Heavyweight Champion.
Jerry Quarry had lost once in 27 fights when he faced Ellis in 1968. Quarry was a very talented fighter but was often marred by lackluster performances and, on occasions, could be very erratic. However, this didn’t stop the pundits from making him the overwhelming favorite to be the next world champion. Ellis again would throw the form books out of the window by totally outboxing his opponent in a superb display of speed and guile, becoming the WBA Heavyweight Champion on a Unanimous 15-round points win. Considered By Many a Paper Champion, Jimmy Ellis would lose his title in 1970 to Smokin Joe Frazier in brutal fashion, floored twice before Dundee called a halt to the fight in round 5.
Ellis and Ali’s paths crossed many times during their careers, culminating in the two of them finally meeting in the ring in 1971. Ali, needing a big win after his loss to Joe Frazier in the ‘Fight of the Century,’ and Ellis, eager to step out of Ali’s Shadow, needed the win for another crack at the title. However, Ali would go on to win by 12th round stoppage.
After several more fights, a freak sparring accident ended Jimmy Ellis’s boxing career. A thumb to the eye would see him go partially blind, forcing him into retirement. During which Ellis worked as a trainer within the community, his Christian Faith and big family filling the void left by boxing, a sport that was not kind to Ellis in his later years he developed Pugilist Dementia and total blindness in one eye.
Jimmy Ellis’s achievements in the heavyweight division, dominated by its stars Ali, Frazier, and Foreman, should not be overlooked. He is vastly underrated, filled with desire, faith, and the courage he took on the best the division had to offer and very nearly beat them all.
