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Buddy McGirtBoxing trainer
Country:
 USA |
Content:
Biography of Buddy McGirt
Professional Boxing CareerBuddy McGirt's desire to become a professional boxer existed from a young age. "They said I was too small," McGirt says now. "They said I couldn't do it. I said I could. I said I would become the first world champion from Long Island, so the guy who they said couldn't do it, did it." Fulfilling his childhood dream, he turned professional in 1983 after graduating from Brentwood High School.
In 1988, McGirt defeated Frankie Warren, avenging his only loss at the time and winning the IBF junior welterweight title. In his second defense, he lost the title to Meldrick Taylor. In November 1991, he defeated Simon Brown and won the lineal and WBC titles in the welterweight division.
Buddy was a clumsy but talented fighter who had an outstanding career in the ring. He defeated notable opponents such as Simon Brown, Livingston Bramble, Saul Mambi, Edwin Curet, Howard Davis Jr., Frankie Warren, Tony Baltazar, Gennaro Leon, Patrizio Oliva, Gary Jacobs, Tommy Ayers, Willie Rodriguez, Ralph Twinning, Buck Smith, Kevin Pompey, Rafael Williams, John Senegal, Eric Martin, Joe Manley, Tyrone Moore, Nick Rupa, Joe Gatti, and George Heckley. By early 1993, McGirt was the best welterweight boxer in the world, one of the best fighters in his weight class. However, in the first week of the year, he injured his left shoulder during a training session. Without his money punch, the left hook, he had to fight with practically one arm, totaling 24 rounds in two championship fights. He won the first bout but lost the title in the second. McGirt lost the title to Pernell Whitaker in 1993. The following year, he lost to Whitaker again in an attempt to regain the title.
In 1997, he retired from boxing with a record of 73-6-1 (48 KOs). McGirt was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the boxing category for the class of 1992. He was also inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019.
Coaching Career
After leaving the ring, McGirt became a coach. His first champion was Byron Mitchell, who he started training just six days before Mitchell's victory over Manny Siaca for the WBA super middleweight title. McGirt dedicated himself fully to coaching and devoted his time to preparing other fighters for their ring appearances. "Anyone can train, but not many people can teach," McGirt said. "And that's what boxing is missing now - teachers. There aren't that many old-school trainers left." McGirt won the "Trainer of the Year" award from the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2002.
McGirt's son, James McGirt Jr., is also a professional boxer. McGirt has also trained Kurt Pellegrino in his first MMA experience and heavyweight boxer Taishan Dong.
McGirt was mentored and managed by Al Certo and Stuart Weiner. McGirt and some of the fighters he trained are described in the book "Bring It on the Ring: The Year in Boxing & Inspirational Message to Today's Youth." The book was released in 2005.
In 2018, Buddy gave an interview to Darren Carter as part of the Pocket Party podcast, which is available on iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, and Anchor.
McGirt also started training Sergey Kovalev for his rematch against Eleider Alvarez (who knocked out Kovalev in the 7th round in their first fight) and led him to victory by unanimous decision with scores of 116-112 on 2 cards and 120-108 on the 3rd.
