Ike Williams vs Ronnie James

Ike Williams retained the National Boxing Association version of the world lightweight championship by knocking out Ronnie James in the ninth round of their scheduled 15-round contest at Ninian Park, Cardiff, on September 4, 1946. The American champion administered a severe beating, sending James to the canvas repeatedly before a final body punch left the Welshman unable to beat the count. It was the first world championship fight staged in Wales and one of the largest boxing promotions held in Britain during the first year of peace.

The open-air contest was promoted by Jack Solomons and attracted exceptional interest throughout South Wales. James, a Swansea man and the reigning British lightweight champion, carried the hopes of a public that had followed him since the middle 1930s. Estimates of the attendance vary considerably. Later stadium histories commonly placed the crowd at about 45,000, while Solomons subsequently gave a figure nearer 26,000 after prolonged rain affected the sale and use of tickets. For almost a fortnight the weather had threatened the promotion, and workmen were required to make the outdoor arrangements serviceable. The rain stopped on the morning of the fight, allowing the programme to proceed amid a strongly partisan atmosphere.

Williams was the recognised NBA champion, having taken the title from Juan Zurita with a second-round knockout in Mexico City in April 1945. The New York State Athletic Commission still recognised Bob Montgomery, so the lightweight championship remained divided, but Williams had already established himself as an exceptionally dangerous holder. He had defended his title against Enrique Bolanos in Los Angeles four months before travelling to Britain and arrived with more than 70 professional victories behind him. James was the older and more experienced man, with well over 100 wins, including a tenth-round stoppage of Eric Boon for the British title at Cardiff Arms Park in August 1944. He was durable, well conditioned and expected to give a good account of himself, though Williams started a clear favourite.

Reports from the training camps had encouraged the Welsh support. James was said to have prepared thoroughly, while Williams had appeared sluggish in some of his public work and was still reducing towards the lightweight limit shortly before the contest. Once the bell sounded, however, the champion showed no corresponding weakness. He was quicker in hand and foot, judged the range more accurately and placed his punches with a precision that James could not match. Rather than depend immediately upon the powerful right hand for which he was already known, Williams worked systematically, using short combinations to the head and then bringing his attack down to the body.

James attempted to box with him during the early rounds, keeping his guard high and trying to answer when Williams stepped inside. The challenger’s courage was plain, but he was made to miss and was struck cleanly in return. Williams did not waste movement or throw himself off balance. He remained close enough to punish James after each unsuccessful lead and gradually forced the Welshman to give ground. The champion’s speed enabled him to finish his combinations before James could set himself to counter.

As the contest developed, Williams concentrated increasingly upon the ribs and stomach. His short hooks and rising body blows drained James’s strength and limited his movement. The Welshman was driven to the ropes, where he covered as well as he could but was unable to prevent the champion from finding openings around his elbows. James continued to answer and tried to rally whenever Williams paused, yet his punches lacked the American’s sharpness and did little to discourage him. There were no significant fouls and no serious dispute over the conduct of the contest; the difference lay in speed, timing and punching power.

The knockdowns accumulated as Williams increased the pressure. Standard accounts generally record James as having been floored six times during the fight, though some later reports have given the total as seven. Whatever the precise number, he was repeatedly hurt and repeatedly rose. His recoveries brought loud encouragement from the crowd, but they did not alter the direction of the fight. Each time James regained his feet, Williams returned to the body instead of attacking wildly at the head. The challenger’s resistance was stubborn, though in the later rounds his movements slowed and his defence became increasingly dependent on covering and endurance.

In the ninth round Williams brought the contest to its conclusion with the punch most closely associated with the fight, a rising, sweeping blow into the ribcage described by contemporary listeners as a bolo punch. James went down in pain and could not rise before the count was completed. The finish was conclusive, and Williams retained his NBA lightweight title after a performance in which he had been superior from the opening exchanges. James had lasted longer than several of the champion’s recent opponents, but he had never succeeded in imposing his own boxing upon the match.

The defeat ended James’s only challenge for a world championship. He boxed again in 1947 but retired after losing to the young Cliff Curvis, having also surrendered his British title when he could no longer make the nine-stone limit. Williams returned to the United States and, in August 1947, knocked out Bob Montgomery in six rounds to unite the principal claims to the lightweight championship. His victory over James at Ninian Park remained an important stage in that progress: a decisive defence abroad, achieved before a large and hopeful Welsh crowd against a challenger whose courage prolonged the contest but could not make it competitive.

In my opinion, Ike Williams was one of the finest lightweights ever, and Ronnie James found out exactly why at Ninian Park. James was no manufactured challenger. He had won well over 100 fights, held the British title and carried the hopes of a huge Welsh crowd. But courage was never going to bridge the class gap.

Williams was quicker, punched harder and understood how to dismantle a man properly. He worked James’s body, took away his legs and put him down repeatedly before finishing him with that vicious rising blow to the ribs in the ninth. James kept getting up, but he was being systematically beaten.

This was Wales’s first world-title fight, so James’s popularity made it a major occasion. The result was painful but entirely fair. Williams later unified the championship against Bob Montgomery, confirming what Cardiff had already witnessed: an outstanding fighter operating several levels above a very brave British champion.