James Walter "Buddy" McGirt (born January 17, 1964) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1997, and has since worked as a boxing trainer. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior welterweight title in 1988, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight titles from 1991 to 1993.

As a trainer he has worked with multiple world champions, including Arturo Gatti, Antonio Tarver, Hasim Rahman, Paulie Malignaggi, and Sergey Kovalev. McGirt was named Trainer of the Year for 2002 by the Boxing Writers Association of America. He is currently coaching WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Professional boxing career

McGirt's aspirations of becoming a professional boxer existed at 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'd be the first world champion from Long Island - so the guy they said couldn't do it is the one who did it." Fulfilling this childhood dream, he did so with a vengeance, turning professional in the year 1983, the year he graduated from Brentwood High School.

In 1988, McGirt defeated Frankie Warren, avenging what was at that time his only defeat, to win the IBF light welterweight title. In his second defense, he lost the title to Meldrick Taylor.

In November 1991, he defeated Simon Brown to win the Lineal and WBC welterweight titles.Big Win For Little Mac, Sports Illustrated, December 9, 1991

At the beginning of 1993, McGirt was the world's top-ranked 147-pound boxer, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world; but in the first week starting off the year he tore up his left shoulder while training. Without his money punch, the left hook, he had to box virtually one-handed for a total of 24 rounds in two championship fights. He won the first fight, but he lost his title in the second. McGirt lost the title to Pernell Whitaker in 1993., Newsday, September 7, 1993 The following year, he again lost to Whitaker in an attempt to regain the title.

In 1997, he retired with a record of 73–6–1 (48 KO).

McGirt was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Boxing Category with the Class of 1992. He was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998 and inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019.

Training career Following his retirement from the ring, McGirt worked as a trainer. His first champion was Byron Mitchell, who he started training six days before beating Manny Siaca for the WBA super middleweight title. McGirt would take up training full-time and became committed to the challenge of preparing other boxers to step into the ring. "Anybody can train but not many people can teach," McGirt said. "And that's what boxing is missing now—teachers. There are not many old-school trainers around." McGirt won the Boxing Writers' Association of America Trainer of the Year Award for 2002.

McGirt's son, James McGirt Jr., is also a professional boxer. McGirt also trained Kurt Pellegrino's boxing, his first venture into MMA, and trained heavyweight boxer Taishan Dong.

Buddy was trained and managed by Al Certo and Stuart Weiner. McGirt, and some of the fighters he trained are documented in the book "Bring it to the Ring: A Boxing Yearbook and Inspirational Message to Today's Youths." The book was published in 2005.

Buddy was interviewed in 2018 by Darren Carter on the "Pocket Party Podcast" that is available on iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher, and Anchor.

McGirt also began training Sergey Kovalev for his rematch against Eleider Alvarez (who knocked out Kovalev in 7th round in the 1st fight) and led him to a unanimous decision win with 116–112 on 2 cards and 120–108 on the 3rd.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes80LossDarren MaciunskiUD10Jan 21, 199779Win73–5–1Jerry SmithPTS10Dec 16, 199678Win72–5–1Kevin TillmanUD12Oct 25, 199677Win71–5–1Earl JacksonKO3Sep 26, 199676Win70–5–1George HeckleyUD10Aug 12, 199675Win69–5–1Allen WattsSD10Jun 12, 199674Win68–5–1Israel FigueroaTKO3 (8)May 10, 199673Loss67–5–1Andrew CouncilTKO9 (10), Sep 30, 199572Win66–4–1John StewartTKO5 (10)Jul 18, 199571Win66–4–1Joe GattiTKO5 (10), May 7, 199570Win65–4–1Buck SmithUD10Jan 10, 199569Loss64–4–1Pernell WhitakerUD12Oct 1, 199468Win64–3–1Kevin Pompey10Aug 7, 199467Win63–3–1Kevin PompeyUD10Jun 28, 199466Win62–3–1Livingstone BrambleUD12Apr 9, 199465Win61–3–1James HughesUD10Jan 4, 199464Win60–3–1Nick RupaUD10Nov 2, 199363Loss59–3–1Pernell WhitakerUD12Mar 6, 199362Win59–2–1Genaro LéonUD12Jan 12, 199361Win58–2–1Oscar PonceUD10Aug 14, 199260Win57–2–1Patrizio OlivaUD12Jun 25, 199259Win56–2–1Delfino MarinTKO7 (10), May 2, 199258Win55–2–1Simon BrownUD12Nov 29, 199157Win54–2–1Alfredo RamirezTKO5 (10), Oct 4, 199156Win53–2–1Tyrone MooreTKO7 (10), Jun 15, 199155Win52–2–1Frank MontgomeryTKO9 (10)Mar 22, 199154Win51–2–1Joseph AlexanderTKO9 (10), Jan 19, 199153Win50–2–1Jose Leonard BermudezUD10Jul 22, 199052Win49–2–1Charles BaezTKO2 (10), May 25, 199051Win48–2–1Tommy AyersTKO2 (10)Mar 31, 199050Win47–2–1Miguel SantanaTKO2 (10)Jan 26, 199049Win46–2–1Rafael WilliamsUD10Dec 7, 198948Win45–2–1Joe ManleyTKO9 (10), Nov 10, 198947Win44–2–1Gary JacobsUD10Aug 27, 198946Win43–2–1Tony BaltazarUD10Jul 9, 198945Win42–2–1Orlando OrozcoKO5 (10), May 25, 198944Win41–2–1Edwin CuretUD10Mar 16, 198943Win40–2–1Willie TaylorUD10Feb 17, 198942Win39–2–1Manuel De LeonTKO6 (10), Jan 12, 198941Loss38–2–1Meldrick TaylorTKO12 (12), Sep 3, 198840Win38–1–1Howard Davis Jr.KO1 (15), Jul 31, 198839Win37–1–1Frankie WarrenTKO12 (15), Feb 14, 198838Win36–1–1John SinegalTKO1 (10), Dec 17, 198737Win35–1–1Eduardo LugoKO3 (10)Oct 1, 198736Win34–1–1Roger BrownKO5 (10), Aug 6, 198735Win33–1–1Sergio AguirreKO2 (10), Jun 18, 198734Win32–1–1Vincent RelefordTKO12 (12), Apr 24, 198733Win31–1–1Eric MartinUD10Jan 29, 198732Win30–1–1Joe EdensTKO8 (10), Jan 6, 198731Win29–1–1Saoul MambyUD10Sep 25, 198630Loss28–1–1Frankie WarrenUD10Jul 20, 198629Win28–0–1Rudy FuentesTKO8 (10), Jun 23, 198628Win27–0–1Ricky YoungTKO10 (10), May 20, 198627Win26–0–1Kelly KobleTKO4 (10)Apr 11, 198626Win25–0–1Dave OdemTKO1 (10), Mar 10, 198625Win24–0–1Joey FerrellUD10Feb 21, 198624Win23–0–1Sugar Boy NandoTKO5 (12)Dec 21, 198523Win22–0–1Jose Luis AlejandroTKO7 (10), Oct 4, 198522Win21–0–1Willie RodriguezTKO7 (10), Aug 29, 198521Win20–0–1Ralph TwinningTKO1 (10), Jul 11, 198520Win19–0–1Allen Braswell10May 24, 198519Win18–0–1Mike BluntKO1Mar 8, 198518Win17–0–1Felix NanceTKO9 (10), Dec 14, 198417Win16–0–1Manuel ToribioKO3 (10), Jul 12, 198416Win15–0–1Pete PadillaTKO10 (10), May 25, 198415Win14–0–1Jake TorranceTKO6 (10), Mar 30, 198414Win13–0–1Felix NanceTKO2 (10), Feb 17, 198413Win12–0–1Chi Chi HernandezTKO2 (10), Dec 9, 198312Win11–0–1Larry FlemingTKO3 (10), Sep 30, 198311Win10–0–1Leslie ToneyTKO1 (10)Sep 6, 198310Win9–0–1Darnell SmithTKO1May 26, 19839Win8–0–1Tom DietzTKO3Apr 21, 19838Win7–0–1Cesar Guzman6Feb 16, 19837Win6–0–1Dave BoldenKO5Dec 30, 19826Win5–0–1Michael ClarkTKO1Nov 7, 19825Win4–0–1Ramon RiveraKO1 (4)Sep 30, 19824Win3–0–1Michael EvansKO1Sep 21, 19823Win2–0–1Michael Palms2 (4)Aug 7, 19822Win1–0–1Michael Palms3 (4)Mar 22, 19821Draw0–0–1Lamont Haithcoach4Mar 2, 1982

See also List of light-welterweight boxing champions List of welterweight boxing champions List of WBC world champions Notable boxing families

References

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