Davy Larmour (boxer)

David "Davy" Larmour (born 2 April 1949 is a former boxer from Northern Ireland who as an amateur won a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1974 and competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and as a professional won the British bantamweight title in 1983.

Davy Larmour
Statistics
Weight(s)Flyweight, bantamweight
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
NationalityBritish/Irish
BornDavid Larmour
(1952-04-02) 2 April 1952
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Boxing record
Total fights18
Wins11
Wins by KO3
Losses7
Medal record
1970 Commonwealth Games(flyweight)
1974 Commonwealth Games(flyweight)

Amateur career

Born in Belfast and based in Shankill Road, Larmour boxed out of the Albert Foundry Boxing Club.[1] He won a bronze medal at flyweight at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.[2] After being beaten in the National Senior final in both 1971 and 1972 by Neil McLaughlin, he won the 1973 Irish flyweight championship with a win over Brendan Dunne.[1] He went on to represent Ireland in November 1973 against Romania.[1] In August 1974 he represented Ireland at the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Havana, Cuba, losing in the first round to eventual bronze medalist Constantin Gruiescu.[1][3]

Larmour represented Northern Ireland at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, beating Chandra Narayanan of India in the flyweight final to take the gold medal.[2][3] He represented Ireland at the 1975 European Championships in Poland, reaching the flyweight quarter-final where he lost to Charlie Magri of Great Britain.[3]

Larmour beat Tony Noonan in the Irish National Senior flyweight final in 1976, earning a place at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[1] With many African countries boycotting the games, Larmour got byes in the first two rounds, losing controversially in the quarter final to eventual gold medalist Leo Randolph of the USA.[3]

Professional career

After the Olympics, Larmour made the decision to turn professional, making his pro debut in July 1977 with a first-round knockout of Jimmy Bott. He was stopped in his next two fights (by John Feeney and George Sutton) before beating Alan Oag (via disqualification) in May 1978. In June he was stopped in the seventh round by Johnny Owen.[4]

In October 1978 he successfully challenged for Neil McLaughlin's BBBofC Northern Ireland Area bantamweight title, beating the defending champion on points. He won his next five fights before losing to Steve Sims on points in September 1980.[5]

In March 1981 he faced Dave Smith in a final eliminator for the British title, but lost by a single point.[4] After beating Ivor Jones in April 1982 he faced Hugh Russell in October in another British title final eliminator, with the Northern Ireland Area title and the Irish title also at stake. Larmour again lost by a single point over the twelve rounds.[1]

Russell went on to take the British title from Feeney, and in March 1983 his first defence was against Larmour; This time, having put Russell down in the fifth round, Larmour took the decision to become British and Northern Ireland Area bantamweight champion.[1] Larmour made one defence of the title, losing it to Feeney in November 1983. He subsequently retired from boxing.[4]

Legacy

Larmour has participated in talks to schoolchildren in Northern Ireland, discussing his career and how boxing can help break down sectarian divisions.[6] He is commemorated, along with Jimmy Warnock and Tommy Armour, on the 'Shankill Road Boxing' mural on Hopewell Crescent in his native Belfast.[7]

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References
  1. Flynn, Barry (2015) The Little Book of Irish Boxing, The History Press, ISBN 978-1845888763
  2. "NI's Golden Trio of Christchurch '74", BBC, 18 July 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2016
  3. McGoldrick, Sean (2015) Punching Above their Weight: The Irish Olympic Boxing Story, The O'Brien Press, ISBN 978-1847176868
  4. "Reuniuted and it Feels Great", Boxing News, 17 December 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2016
  5. Vann. Mickey with Coomber, Richard (2003) Give Me a Ring: The Autobiography of Star Referee Mickey Vann, Mainstream Publishing, ISBN 978-1840186901
  6. "Breaking Down Barriers – Ardoyne Library staged Boxing Event", librariesni.org.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2016
  7. "Before and after: Lower Shankill murals redesigns", The Guardian, 22 June 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2016
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