Jimmy Carter

James Walter Carter (December 15, 1923 in Aiken, SC – September 21, 1994) was an American world lightweight boxing champion three times between 1951 and 1955. His managers included Jimmy Roche and Willie Ketchum. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000. Carter's loss to Lauro Salas in 1952 and his loss to Paddy DeMarco in 1954 were each named Ring Magazine upset of the year. His professional record was 80-31-9 with 32 knockouts. Early life James Walter Carter was born on December 15, 1923 in Aiken, South Carolina, but his family moved to New York when he was nine. Carter began to use his fists defending himself on the streets of Harlem, but later received training at a Catholic Boys Club, making his amateur debut at the age of fourteen. Beginning as a professional fighter in New York in 1946, he won 22 of his first 26 fights. First taking the World Lightweight Championship, May 1951 On May 25, 1951, Carter took the World Lightweight Championship from reigning champion Ike Williams in a fourteenth-round TKO at Madison Square Garden. Williams was down in the fifth, tenth, and fourteenth rounds. Carter knocked Williams to the mat a total of four times, and was leading the scorecards of all three officials before the bout was stopped. In the fifth round, Williams was dropped to the canvas for a five count, and never was the same. Surprisingly, Carter was not at all well known at the time of the bout, and his victory was considered an upset.