JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – UNDATED: Landscape of Jimmy Abbott boxer in Johannesburg in South Africa (Photo by Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images)
RIP | Former SA heavyweight champion Jimmy Abbott dies at 61
Former South African heavyweight champion Jimmy Abbott has died of heart failure.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – UNDATED: Landscape of Jimmy Abbott boxer in Johannesburg in South Africa (Photo by Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images)
Former South African heavyweight champion Jimmy Abbott has died of heart failure.
He was 61.
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According to Netwerk24, Jimmy Abbott had “difficulty breathing” on Sunday evening and died at 20:40 at his home in Heidelberg.
Medical help was summoned but was unable to save the boxing legend.
At one stage in the 1980s Abbott was South Africa’s youngest heavyweight champion and ranked No 9 in the world at his peak.
He also weighed around 900 pounds (400kg) after his retirement, but shed as many as 230kg over the last decade.
He retired with a professional record of 19 wins, five defeats and two draws.
