| Jim Watt | |
| Realname: | James Park Watt |
| Weight: | Lightweight |
| Nationality: | Scottish |
| Birth Date: | 18 July 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Style: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 46 |
| Wins: | 38 |
| Ko: | 27 |
| Losses: | 8 |
Jim Watt MBE (born 18 July 1948) is a Scottish former boxer and commentator who became world champion in the lightweight division when Roberto Durán left the title vacant in 1979 and the WBC had him fight Alfredo Pitalua. Watt knocked out Pitalua in twelve rounds.
Raised in the Bridgeton and Possilpark[1] neighbourhoods of Glasgow, Watt trained at Cardowan Amateur Boxing Club in the city's Maryhill district.[2] 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.[2]
Watt beat such notables as future world champion Sean O'Grady, former world champion Perico Fernandez, Charlie Nash and Howard Davis Jr.[2] 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 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 after 15 rounds in 1973.[2] 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).
Watt was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours for services to boxing.[3] He was long-term co-commentator with Reg Gutteridge on ITV's The Big Fight Live and moved with Gutteridge to Sky Sports in 1996 when ITV withdrew from boxing coverage. During 2016, Watt announced his retirement as a boxing commentator.[4]
Watt made a special guest appearance on the BBC's Still Game 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 to the north of Glasgow.
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.[5] [6]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round(s), time | Date | Age | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Loss | 38–8 | Alexis Argüello | UD | 15 | Jun 20, 1981 | |||
| 45 | Win | 38–7 | Sean O'Grady | TKO | 12 (15), | Nov 1, 1980 | |||
| 44 | Win | 37–7 | Howard Davis Jr. | UD | 15 | Jun 7, 1980 | |||
| 43 | Win | 36–7 | Charlie Nash | TKO | 4 (15), | Mar 14, 1980 | |||
| 42 | Win | 35–7 | Robert Vasquez | TKO | 9 (15) | Nov 3, 1979 | |||
| 41 | Win | 34–7 | Alfredo Pitalua | TKO | 12 (15) | Apr 17, 1979 | |||
| 40 | Win | 33–7 | Antonio Guinaldo | RTD | 5 (15) | Oct 18, 1978 | |||
| 39 | Win | 32–7 | Billy Vivian | PTS | 8 | Jun 12, 1978 | |||
| 38 | Win | 31–7 | Perico Fernández | UD | 15 | Feb 17, 1978 | |||
| 37 | Win | 30–7 | Jeronimo Lucas | TKO | 10 (15) | Nov 16, 1977 | |||
| 36 | Win | 29–7 | Andre Holyk | TKO | 1 (15), | Aug 5, 1977 | |||
| 35 | Win | 28–7 | Johnny Claydon | TKO | 10 (15), | Feb 21, 1977 | |||
| 34 | Win | 27–7 | Franco Diana | TKO | 6 (8), | Oct 12, 1976 | |||
| 33 | Loss | 26–7 | Johnny Claydon | TKO | 3 (8), | Jun 22, 1976 | |||
| 32 | Win | 26–6 | Hector Diaz | TKO | 4 (10), | May 10, 1976 | |||
| 31 | Win | 25–6 | Jimmy Revie | TKO | 7 (10), | Mar 30, 1976 | |||
| 30 | Win | 24–6 | George Turpin | KO | 4 (10), | Mar 2, 1976 | |||
| 29 | Loss | 23–6 | Andre Holyk | PTS | 12 | Oct 31, 1975 | |||
| 28 | Loss | 23–5 | Jonathan Dele | PTS | 15 | May 3, 1975 | |||
| 27 | Win | 23–4 | Billy Waith | PTS | 10 | Mar 19, 1975 | |||
| 26 | Win | 22–4 | John Cheshire | TKO | 7 (15), | Jan 27, 1975 | |||
| 25 | Loss | 21–4 | Anthony Morodi | PTS | 10 | Oct 26, 1974 | |||
| 24 | Win | 21–3 | Billy Waith | PTS | 12 | Jun 19, 1974 | |||
| 23 | Win | 20–3 | Kokkie Olivier | PTS | 10 | Mar 2, 1974 | |||
| 22 | Win | 19–3 | Andries Steyn | TKO | 7 (10) | Feb 16, 1974 | |||
| 21 | Win | 18–3 | Angus McMillan | PTS | 8 | Oct 5, 1973 | |||
| 20 | Win | 17–3 | Noel McIvor | TKO | 4 (8) | Jun 7, 1973 | |||
| 19 | Win | 16–3 | John Cheshire | PTS | 8 | May 9, 1973 | |||
| 18 | Loss | 15–3 | Ken Buchanan | PTS | 15 | Jan 29, 1973 | |||
| 17 | Win | 15–2 | Noel McIvor | TKO | 3 (10) | Dec 11, 1972 | |||
| 16 | Win | 14–2 | Tony Riley | TKO | 12 (15) | May 3, 1972 | |||
| 15 | Loss | 13–2 | Willie Reilly | TKO | 10 (15) | Feb 1, 1972 | |||
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Leonard Tavarez | TKO | 9 (10) | Nov 1, 1971 | |||
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Willie Reilly | TKO | 7 (12) | Sep 27, 1971 | |||
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Henri Nesi | TKO | 6 (10) | Mar 22, 1971 | |||
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | David Pesenti | PTS | 8 | Jan 11, 1971 | |||
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | Ronnie Clifford | RTD | 4 (8) | Dec 1, 1970 | |||
| 9 | Win | 8–1 | Sammy Lockhart | KO | 2 (8) | Oct 20, 1970 | |||
| 8 | Win | 7–1 | Bryn Lewis | TKO | 6 (8) | Jun 15, 1970 | |||
| 7 | Win | 6–1 | Victor Paul | TKO | 5 (8) | Jun 1, 1970 | |||
| 6 | Loss | 5–1 | Victor Paul | TKO | 6 (8) | Feb 16, 1970 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Tommy Tiger | PTS | 8 | Nov 24, 1969 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Winston Thomas | TKO | 4 (8), | Sep 15, 1969 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Victor Paul | PTS | 8 | Apr 10, 1969 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Alex Gibson | TKO | 2 (6), | Dec 11, 1968 | |||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Santos Martins | KO | 4 (6) | Oct 30, 1968 | |||
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