JIMMY CLARK
Jamestown, New York
Middleweight
1936-1944

James G. "Jimmy" Clark born ,in Norfolk, Va., before settling in Jamestown, New York, was better known as the Cooper Express and the Jimtown Express.

Jimmy Clark was on the boxing team representing the United States in the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany and confronted the theory of Aryan supremacy by carving out an Olympic record that still stands by knocking out five straight opponents in the preliminaries. Clark did not earn a medal, however, as he lost a controversial decision to a Polish fighter in the quarterfinals.

U.S. officials and the media both cried foul about the loss by a black fighter, during the Olympics supposedly controlled by Hitler. "It just wasn't to be" Clark said in a 1956 interview. "They robbed me in the Olympics and the records prove it, and I was rushed too fast as a pro"

"A complete job of jobbing by the boxing officials" a Detroit newspaper wrote at the time.

During those 1936 Games - forever made famous when sprinter Jessie Owens spoiled Hitler's Olympics with four gold medals - Clark decided he wanted to greet Hitler. As he made his way toward Hitler's viewing stand atop the stadium, his presence didn't go unnoticed. He got within a less than comfortable distance for Hitler, when Jimmy was surrounded by what he described as "Brown Shirts", who quickly escorted him back to where the other American athletes were seated.

As an amateur, Clark piled up many titles, (23 to be exact) successfully defending his Golden Gloves title eight times and winning tournaments in Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Paris.

Jimmy turned pro after the Olympics, and was managed by Marshall Miles, whom also managed Joe Louis. Clark was a clever boxer, who relied on bobbing and weaving and powerful left and right hooks. But never fulfilled the promise of his youth, as he failed to win the world middleweight championship. Among his victims was eventual middleweight champion Tony Zale, whom he knocked out in 1938. He also-fought great fighters such as Billy Soose, Ken Overlin, Ralph DeJohn and Teddy Yarosz.

Jimmy Clark died on Sept 12,1994 at the age of 80, after a lengthy and debilitating illness.
His legacy on the fight game was not forgotten. In 1983, he was inducted into the Chautauqua County Sports Hall of Fame.