Jim Rock
Encyclopedia
Jim Rock, nicknamed the Pink Panther, (born 12 March 1972 in Dublin, Ireland
) is an Irish
professional boxer
and current IBC
middleweight
and Irish
super middleweight
champion.
Although a natural middleweight
, Rock holds a record of being the only boxer to ever hold the Irish professional
title at four different weights - light middleweight
, middleweight
, super middleweight
and light heavyweight
.
area of west Dublin. Rock is a brother of Irish hip-hop artist Ste V Roc
and a cousin of former Irish welterweight
champion Robbie Murray. Rock is now married with a young family.
and runs a car dealership in Dublin, dealing in high class motor vehicles such as Mercedes
, Ferrari
and BMW
. Rock has said that fights for the love of the sport and not the money and has been known to donate the earnings from his fights to charity.
Matthew McConaughey
in preparation for his role in the film Reign of Fire. In return, McConaughey worked Rock's corner during victory over Jason Collins.
In March 2007, Rock fought a five-round exhibition fight in Dublin against former Olympic champion Michael Carruth
.
Rock, along with Mick Dowling, co-presents boxing broadcasts for the Irish national television broadcaster, RTÉ
.
Rock boxed as an amateur
prior to turning professional in November 1995. He won his first fight at the Point Depot in Dublin, beating the previously unbeaten Craig Lynch the undercard of a bill that included fellow Irish boxers Steve Collins
and Eamonn Magee
.
Rock is a veteran of the Dublin professional fight scene; however, he fights out of the Breen Gym in Belfast
. Rock is a former WAA Inter-Continental European Super Middleweight
Title, IBC Middleweight
Title, WBF Continental European Light Middleweight
Title, Irish Light Middleweight Title and Irish Super Middleweight Title holder and current Irish Middleweight Title holder. However, arguably his biggest fight to date was against Margate based Iranian, Mehrdud "Takaloo" Takalobigashi for the WBU Light Middleweight Title which took place in Belfast's Odyssey Arena in February 2003. Rock lost this keenly contested fight to an explosive overhand right knock out defeat in the ninth round.
station RTÉ
and is unbeaten since 2003. Derry
fighter John Duddy
has displayed interest in taking on Dubliner for the Irish middleweight title. Duddy's management attended Rock's 3 June 2006 fight against Kevin Phelan in Dublin, a seventh round TKO victory for Rock. The fight was initially scheduled for 29 September 2006 at Madison Square Garden
, but has then postponed, for a November 2006 bout in Dublin, Ireland which again did not materialise.
The speculation of a potential superfight against John Duddy continued into 2007 and a bill including a Duddy/Rock match up and a Bernard Dunne
title defence was planned for late summer 2007.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
) is an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
professional boxer
Professional Boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...
and current IBC
International Boxing Council
The International Boxing Council is a boxing organization. The IBC titles are often the beginning for professional boxers who progress to high prestigious titles....
middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
and Irish
Bui
Bui may refer to:*Bui, a department of Northwest Province in Cameroon*Bùi, a common Vietnamese surname*An enemy character in the anime/manga YuYu HakushoThe acronym BUI may refer to:*Baptist Union of Ireland*Boating Under the Influence...
super middleweight
Super middleweight
Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
champion.
Although a natural middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
, Rock holds a record of being the only boxer to ever hold the Irish professional
Bui
Bui may refer to:*Bui, a department of Northwest Province in Cameroon*Bùi, a common Vietnamese surname*An enemy character in the anime/manga YuYu HakushoThe acronym BUI may refer to:*Baptist Union of Ireland*Boating Under the Influence...
title at four different weights - light middleweight
Light middleweight
Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....
, middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
, super middleweight
Super middleweight
Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
and light heavyweight
Light heavyweight
In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...
.
Family
Rock was born into a large family in the BlanchardstownBlanchardstown
Blanchardstown is a large suburb of Dublin in the district of Fingal, Ireland. It is within the historical barony of Castleknock. It is located 10 km north-west of the city centre. The suburb is in the Dublin 15 postal area, the Dublin West electoral constituency, and Fingal County...
area of west Dublin. Rock is a brother of Irish hip-hop artist Ste V Roc
Ste V Roc
Ste-V-Roc aka Steve Rock is a hip-hop artist and MC. Roc's lyrics reflect modern-day urban Irish culture and deal with social injustice....
and a cousin of former Irish welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
champion Robbie Murray. Rock is now married with a young family.
Business
Out of the ring, Rock is a successful businessman and entrepreneurEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and runs a car dealership in Dublin, dealing in high class motor vehicles such as Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
and BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
. Rock has said that fights for the love of the sport and not the money and has been known to donate the earnings from his fights to charity.
TV and film
In 2003, Rock trained Irish-American actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...
in preparation for his role in the film Reign of Fire. In return, McConaughey worked Rock's corner during victory over Jason Collins.
In March 2007, Rock fought a five-round exhibition fight in Dublin against former Olympic champion Michael Carruth
Michael Carruth
Michael Carruth is a southpaw Irish Olympic boxer from Dublin who won the welterweight gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Carruth has just finished a stint as expert boxing analyst for RTEs Olympic coverage...
.
Rock, along with Mick Dowling, co-presents boxing broadcasts for the Irish national television broadcaster, RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
.
Boxing career
Amateur boxing
Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...
prior to turning professional in November 1995. He won his first fight at the Point Depot in Dublin, beating the previously unbeaten Craig Lynch the undercard of a bill that included fellow Irish boxers Steve Collins
Steve Collins
Stephen Collins, more commonly known as Steve Collins, is a former professional boxer. Known as the "The Celtic Warrior", Collins is the former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion....
and Eamonn Magee
Eamonn Magee
Eamonn Magee nicknamed the Terminator is a former boxer who is now a trainer with the Breen Team in Belfast...
.
Rock is a veteran of the Dublin professional fight scene; however, he fights out of the Breen Gym in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Rock is a former WAA Inter-Continental European Super Middleweight
Super middleweight
Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...
Title, IBC Middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
Title, WBF Continental European Light Middleweight
Light middleweight
Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....
Title, Irish Light Middleweight Title and Irish Super Middleweight Title holder and current Irish Middleweight Title holder. However, arguably his biggest fight to date was against Margate based Iranian, Mehrdud "Takaloo" Takalobigashi for the WBU Light Middleweight Title which took place in Belfast's Odyssey Arena in February 2003. Rock lost this keenly contested fight to an explosive overhand right knock out defeat in the ninth round.
Brian Peters
Rock currently fights on Brian Peters promotions which are broadcast on IrishIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
station RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
and is unbeaten since 2003. Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
fighter John Duddy
John Duddy
John Francis Duddy is a retired middleweight professional boxer, from Derry, Northern Ireland. Duddy fought under the moniker of "Ireland's John Duddy" or "The Derry Destroyer"....
has displayed interest in taking on Dubliner for the Irish middleweight title. Duddy's management attended Rock's 3 June 2006 fight against Kevin Phelan in Dublin, a seventh round TKO victory for Rock. The fight was initially scheduled for 29 September 2006 at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, but has then postponed, for a November 2006 bout in Dublin, Ireland which again did not materialise.
The speculation of a potential superfight against John Duddy continued into 2007 and a bill including a Duddy/Rock match up and a Bernard Dunne
Bernard Dunne
Bernard Dunne is a retired Irish professional boxer and a former WBA, and European super bantamweight champion.On Saturday 21 March 2009, Dunne waged the war that he would be best remembered for and defeated Ricardo Cordoba in the 11th round to become the WBA super bantamweight champion in a fight...
title defence was planned for late summer 2007.