Jimmy Batten, the former British junior middleweight champion who once went the distance with Roberto Duran, has died at the age of 70.
Batten, one of the sport’s great characters, had been battling Parkinson’s disease and the effects of brain damage for many years. Yet, until his poor health became too much to bear in recent months, he did so with good humor.
Batten, who started boxing at the age of six, was a member of Terry Lawless’ famous London gym that could also boast talent like John H. Stracey, Maurice Hope, Charlie Magri, Kirkland Laing, Jim Watt, and Mark Kaylor.
“So sad to hear about my dear friend Jimmy Batten passing away,” Stracey said on social media. “My great stablemate and sparring partner of many, many years… God bless you, my friend.”
An outstanding amateur – in the vest, Batten enjoyed an unbeaten spell that stretched five-and-a-half years – he went on to claim the Lonsdale Belt outright as a fine British professional, beating Albert Hillman, Larry Paul, and Tony Poole along the way.
That thrilling scrap with Poole was gruelling in the extreme as Batten survived some hellacious blows to outlast his man and win in the 13th. The three-round loss to France’s Gilbert Cohen in a bid for the European title came just 10 weeks later. Batten would always claim it came far too soon and he entered the ring against Cohen with a broken nose.
Though past his best by the time he based himself in America in the early 1980s, it is the final bout he had there for which he is best known. Thrown in with Roberto Duran in November 1982 – only six months after being stopped in the opening round by Mario Maldonado – there was genuine concern for Batten’s well-being heading in.
That Batten lasted the full 10 rounds, eventually losing via unanimous decision after giving it everything he had, perhaps created the illusion that it was a job well done. And it was if courage is the lone barometer. He came out of the contest with broken ribs after sustaining prolonged punishment.
His last fight came 12 months later, stopped in six by Prince Rodney, in a bid for his old 154lbs title. Already there were concerns that boxing had taken too much from him.
His record will forever read 40-9 (20 KOs).
In retirement he had some success as an actor but by the turn of the century, it was clear that a hangover from his long boxing career had set in.
He would, however, only speak about the sport in glowing terms, insisting he would not change a thing about the career that led to him struggling for so long, and so bravely, later in life.
“Why would I change anything?” he told me. “I loved every minute of it. I’m just sad that I can’t do it anymore.
“There’s not many people who can say they were British champion and went the distance with Duran, is there?”
A keen supporter of Ringside Charitable Trust, and wonderful company at Ex-Boxers’ meetings, Batten – an old-school fighting man – will be sorely missed.
