Jim Watt MBE (born 18 July 1948) is a Scottish former boxer and commentator who became world champion in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division when

Roberto Durán Roberto Carlos Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held quadruple champion, world championships in four weight classes: Lightweight, welterweight, light middleweigh ...

left the title vacant in 1979 and the WBC had him fight Alfredo Pitalua. Watt knocked out Pitalua in twelve rounds.

Boxing career

Raised in the Bridgeton and Possilpark neighbourhoods of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Watt trained at Cardowan Amateur Boxing Club in the city's

Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

district. His father died when Jim was five years old. He came to prominence in 1968 by beating John H. Stracey to the ABA Championships; he turned professional immediately afterwards, declining the chance to compete as an amateur at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Watt beat such notables as future world champion Sean O'Grady, former world champion Perico Fernandez, Charlie Nash and Howard Davis Jr. The fight with O'Grady was particularly controversial: Watt won by a knockout in round twelve when the referee stopped the fight because of a cut suffered by O'Grady. According to the book, '' The Ring: Boxing The 20th Century'', the cut was produced by a head-butt, in which case the judges' scorecards would have been checked, and whoever was ahead given the win by a technical decision, Watt was ahead on all the scorecards. The referee, however, declared that O' Grady's cut had been produced by a punch and Watt officially won the fight by technical knockout. Watt had also fought, and lost to,

Ken Buchanan Ken Buchanan (28 June 1945 – 1 April 2023) was a Scottish professional boxer who competed between 1965 and 1982. He held multiple championships at lightweight; the World Boxing Association (WBA) and ''Ring'' magazine titles from 1970 to 197 ...

after 15 rounds in 1973. On 20 June 1981, he fought his last fight, when losing the WBC world Lightweight title to Alexis Argüello by a 15-round decision in London. The three judges' scores were 147–143, 147–143 and 147–137. Watt retired with a record of 38 wins (27 by knockout) and 8 losses (3 by knockout).

After boxing

Watt was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours for services to boxing. He was long-term co-commentator with Reg Gutteridge on ITV's '' The Big Fight Live'' and moved with Gutteridge to

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

in 1996 when ITV withdrew from boxing coverage. During 2016, Watt announced his retirement as a boxing commentator. Watt made a special guest appearance on the BBC's ''

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...

'' sitcom in August 2007, as well as television adverts for Kelvin Timber (a Scottish home and building supplies stores company) in the 1980s. He and his family settled in the town of

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; ; ) is a town and a Burgh of Barony (The Baron of Kirkintilloch) in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. Historically ...

to the north of Glasgow.

Personal life

In June 2015, Watt's 38-year-old daughter Michelle Watt took her own life after suffering chronic headaches caused by a spinal operation. She appeared in various programmes as a television hostess, including '' 60 Minute Makeover''. Watt's 17-year-old son James died in a car crash in 1995.

Professional boxing record

References

External links