HIS MOTHER’S VOICE
“MY real name is James Walter McGirt. Rather than “Buddy”, my son calls me JW and my brother called me JW. My mother, though, started it. They picked it up from her. When I was a kid and she said “JW” it meant I was about to get my ass kicked.
My first pro fight, back in 1982, ended in a draw. I was still in high school and even went to school that day. My manager picked me up and took me to the show. When I got in the ring, the referee touched me to see if I was wearing a cup but all I had on was a little jockstrap. He said, “This is the pros. You can’t wear that.”
I had to go in the back and get a cup off somebody. I then got back in the ring and looked across the ring and when this guy took off his robe I was like: Damn! He was huge. That’s not the guy I saw at the weigh-in yesterday. I said to myself, “Buddy, you’ve got to go for broke.” And that’s what I did. There was no boxing. No slick and move. We went to war for four rounds and I was happy with the draw and the 200 bucks I got for it.
My first pro loss and first big lesson came four years later against Frankie Warren.
