About Jimmy Slattery

Born James Patrick Slattery on August 25, 1904 in the First Ward of Buffalo, NY. Today, Jimmy Slattery is known for being a famous boxer. Slattery’s father, John Slattery, was a fireman at firehouse Engine 22. Jimmy Slattery was also often given the nickname “Shamus”.

Accidentally Coming Across Boxing

When Slattery was growing up in Buffalo, a bully named Harp Griffin saw Slattery standing at the corner of Elk and Louisiana Streets with a box of chocolates for his mom for Valentine’s Day. Griffin wanted the chocolates for himself, so he took the chocolates from Slattery. Slattery didn’t back down and fought him for the 30 minutes outside of Gene Murphy’s gas station and won.

Slattery’s father recognized the gift that his son had and held boxing matches in his backyard and took him to the First Ward Athletic Club.

Slattery’s Rise to Fame

Slattery started his career when he was just 16 years old. He started with 35 straight wins against many boxers who were bigger than him. He started getting noticed by more people after he had won against Jack Delaney at Madison Square Garden.

After some time, Slattery was in contention for the National Boxing Association title. On August 30, 1927, Slattery defeated Maxie Rosenbloom and won the World Light Heavyweight Championship.

In 1992, Boxing Illustrated ranked Slattery the seventh slickest boxer of all time. He also was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

His Fame Led to Some Struggles

As Slattery became more and more popular, he started to chase the life of alcohol and women. Alcohol ultimately led to his downfall. Slattery was also known for being charitable and donated a lot of his money to charities. By 1931, he was broke and his slow descent began.

Many believed that if Slattery had stayed away from alcohol, he could’ve become a legend for a very long time. Slattery tried to make a comeback in 1930 in the fight to keep his title as New York State Worldwide Light Heavyweight. In the fight, he took a punch to the left throat that left him hoarse for the rest of his life.

His struggle with alcohol continued to persist and he continued to try and fight to keep his titles, but lost them. Slattery retired from boxing in 1934 and his struggle with alcohol worsened. In 1942, Slattery was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis which was the same disease that had killed his father and brother.

Remembering Jimmy Slattery

One night in August of 1960, Slattery collapsed at House O’Quinn and was taken to his flat close by. The next morning, he had passed and his body was on the floor of his boarding house on Franklin Street. Slattery was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery with an unmarked grave.

Today, Jimmy Slattery will always be known as Buffalo’s first authentic athletic celebrity.