Carter, Salas, Carruthers & Songkitrat (diary entry)

09.02.2022 Wednesday’s second lesson was “Learn from the Fight”, where we look at combat sport fight footage and analyse the contest. Today we returned to the underrated and often forgotten Jimmy Carter as he attempted to take back the crown he lost to Lauro Salas. We also continued with Jimmy Carruthers and jumped forward a year to 1954 as he defended his title against a nak muay in Thailand. Jimmy Carter versus Lauro Salas World Lightweight Championship 15.10.1952   Five months after his defeat and title loss to Lauro Salas, Jimmy Carter was back for their rubber match, this time fighting at the Chicago Stadium. Salas had fought two non-title bouts in the interim, knocking out Harold Dade and Raymond Yung. Carter came out on the front foot pushing the swarmer back. His shots were immediately landing in the first round and he was quick to break attempted clinches. As before, Salas sought to duck under Carter’s effective jab, but this time Carter was ready with his right uppercut/left hook combination. Moving the fight to the centre of the ring, Salas stood his ground and began leading in with his left hook. Salas began to force the fight to close range, but Carter looked in control. He punished his opponent as he pushed him away and kept busy with his right on the clinch. Salas landed a reasonable upward angled left hook and closed the distance. He switched from an over-hook to a collar that he hung off at one point towards the end of the round. Carter angled off with his foot work and two finished the first round giving little ground either way at the centre of the ring. We re-joined the fight in round six where Salas. The previous rounds had been fairly close with Carter probably just edging it if the first round was anything to go by, but now we saw Salas attempt to push matters in his favour. Carter began again on the front foot pushing Salas back who came back with his own onslaught. Carter shoulder bumped and controlled the forward pressure. At this point of the fight, a cut above Salas’s right eye was quite evident. In the previous bout Californian state law had enabled him to wear patches above both eyes. As the swarmer closed in the challenger landed two hard angled punches from each hand. The sixth round ended with Carter now back-peddling and using outside angling as Salas turned onto his more familiar front foot. It would appear that Salas gained some momentum and took the unseen round seven. However, Carter returned to form in rounds 8 to 11.  At the beginning of round he was controlling the long range pumping out textbook double jabs. Salas moved in and attempted to swarm, forcing the in-fight. He then began pushing the offensive by moving in with sharp combinations at mid-range before moving back to the long range. Salas took a few before clinching and hanging on. The referee separated the two. Salas attempted a renewed assault but Carter met him with more force, sending the tired-looking champion backwards. Carter eventually moved back, using his deft footwork and allowing Salas to pursue and miss. Carter took the unseen rounds 13 and 14, leaving the very tired Salas, now sporting cuts above both eyes, little choice but to go all out to get the knockout. Unfortunately for him, he had little energy left due to the way Carter had been running the bout. The round began with Salas on the front foot but Carter also not letting up on the aggressive combinations. Salas pursued and Carter circled and angled off with shots. He eventually hurt Salas with a right hook but the champion kept pushing on. The two traded blows before the final bell, but Carter clearly had the lead. Jimmy Carter avenged his loss and regained the World Lightweight Championship.  

Jimmy Carruthers vs Chamroen Songkitrat World Bantamweight Championship 02.04.1954 After defeating Pappy Gault in Sydney, Jimmy Carruthers was first matched with Lyn Philp of New Zealand. For reasons that have yet to disclosed, the fight did not go ahead and Carruthers faced off against fellow Australian, Bobby Sinn in a non-title bout instead. He won the points victory before heading off to Thailand to defend his title. Born Samroeng Srimadi on 20th October 1928 in the Nong Khai province, Thailand, Chamroen Songkitrat was first trained as a nak muay and competed in over 50 bouts before he switched to western boxing. His regular job was as a police officer. His debut fight was against Mok Kai Khoon in the Happy World Arena, Singapore on 30th December 1949, resulting in a draw. He fought eight more times before facing Carruthers. All but one of these fights was fought in Thailand. The exception was his first loss against Larry Bataan in Manila, Philippines.  Two of his victories – Jimmy Pearce and Kevin James – were knockouts. He also beat Pappy Gault. Thailand has had a strong boxing tradition since the early part of the 20th century via their education system that influenced the native martial art of muay Thai, giving it rounds, a ring and gloves. The fight took place at the Charusathian Stadium, where more than 60,000 spectators attended. The spectators included King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit of Thailand.  Songkitrat, being a police lieutenant, had the event sponsored partly by the Royal Thai Police Department. Chamroen Songkitrat stood at 5’4” and had a 61” reach. The press describe Songkitrat as the Thai champion, but this appears to be a reference to his Muay Thai status. For the first recorded time in the history of a world championship bout, both boxers had to fight barefoot. The venue was open roofed and it was during monsoon season. Some of the trappings of Muay Thai were present in the form of pre-fight rituals. Carruthers was warned about magic being used and Songkitrat apparently could shatter a concrete wall with a punch. In response, Carruthers said he wasn’t superstitious and he didn’t believe in magic. He also had confidence that his more fluid footwork would have the advantage over the more plodding footwork usually employed in Muay Thai. The bout was fought in torrential rain and both fighters had to avoid falling light globes that had exploded from gusts of wind. Carruthers didn’t appear to have accounted for the bad weather and might have been unfamiliar with fighting much in bare feet, as his normal footwork seems absent. Most of the fight occurred in the middle of the ring and the positioning needed to be more subtle. Nevertheless, he did well to use his jab as Songkitrat tried to eat up the distance with hooks and uppercuts. Round 9: Songkitrat cut Carruthers eye, bloodied his nose and split his lip during some mid-round exchanges. Carruthers almost closed Songkitrat’s left eye with jabs. Round 12: Began with Carruthers bleeding apparently under control and landing two hard lefts to his opponent’s jaw. However, he began to bleed again from the mouth after a last minute rally by Sonkitrat. The referee, Hannerberry, seemed to be the sole adjudicator of the match and gave the decision to Carruthers.