Moon, Jimmy

Jimmy Moon – (1981)

 

JIMMY MOON
Inducted April 29, 1981

Although standing a mere 5′ 5″ and weighing only 118 pounds, he excelled in football, baseball, track and basketball, but his greatest achievements came in the boxing ring where he fought his way to a National Golden Gloves championship.

Despite his diminutive stature, the hard-nosed athlete earned a varsity football award for his gutsy performance as a linebacker on the 1958 Lorain High grid squad. At the tender age of 15, the eager youngster discovered the sport of boxing, and—with the expert assistance of Trainers Jimmy Alu and Mike Bulzomi—rapidly learned the art of pugilism.

In 1959 he won a unanimous decision over Elyria’s tough Joe Gentile, then took the Golden Gloves 112-pound novice championship with a second-round knockout of Emerson Jones. He kayoed Cleveland’s Nick Musserra in 38 seconds of the second round, decisioned Gus Gurrerri, and knocked out Willie Perry of Cleveland.

Now nicknamed “Moondog,” he shocked Cleveland’s National A.A.U. runner-up, Jim Dean, then won the 112-pound open crown with a third-round TKO of Gentile. Fighting in Cincinnati in 1962, he captured a unanimous verdict against highly-touted James Tyman, and knocked out Jay Waters. The stage was set for his incredible rise to a national title.

The long, hard road to Chicago in 1962 was paved with many of his victims, including Carl Mansfield, Larry Young, Bernie Moore, Bobby Sandella, James Reaski, Emanuel Stewart, and Armand DesRosiers. He won a rough semi-final match against rugged Ken Youpp, and less than two hours later climbed back into the ring for the title bout against Carroll Yeubanks, the undefeated slugger from Wichita, Kansas.

A roaring crowd of 12,000 fight fans at Chicago Stadium expected a close match in the Bantamweight (118 pounds) Final of the 35th National Golden Gloves Tournament, but “Moondog” had other ideas. In the first round, he dropped Yeubanks twice with sharp left hooks from his southpaw stance. The Wichita champion moved in aggressively at the start of Round Two, but suddenly it happened: a vicious right landed flush on Yeubanks’ jaw, and he crashed to the canvas. Counted out at 1:20 of the second round, Yeubanks was still unconscious five minutes after the fight ended, and Lorain owned its first national boxing crown.

Mr. Moon suffered severe injuries in a car accident in 1964, and retired from boxing. Active in the community, he has coached the Youth Center Class G baseball team and has worked with Father Bruce Ward of Sacred Heart Chapel in the church’s boxing program.