BoxRec

I'm doing research on Jim Smith who became famous in the 1930's when his arm was vomited up by a shark in the Coogee aquarium in 1935. The arm was identified as his by a tattoo on the forearm of two boxers in a fighting stance. He was said to be an amateur boxer in Sydney somewhere between 1918 and 1930, but in going through newspapers of the period, I'm unable to come up with any record of him having fought. He was supposed to have been an amateur and fought at Hattie's Arcade in Newtown and around the inner west where he lived. Does anyone have any info on Jim Smith (James Smith) or an idea on how I could track him down through old records? There was a Jim Smith who died after a bout in 1929, but it obviously can't be him. As Smith was such a common name, maybe he fought under another name. Stumped - I need a miracle!

There are numerous Australian based "Jim" or "James" Smiths in the BoxRec prior to 1935, and there is one with identifier: http://boxrec.com/boxer/477571 who fits at least some of the criteria.

This "Jim Smith" was only a little bloke in stature, but he did fight around the corner from the "Jim Smith" in question's home in Balmain at the old Leichardt Stadium.

If the actual "Jim Smith's" date of birth of birth and an estimate of his weight are known, this could narrow the search further.

Smith was certainly a seedy character, being a bankrupt builder, a former SP bookmaker, police informer, and a small-time criminal with a record of minor convictions, who had drifted around the edges of the underworld in Sydney at that time.

As a footnote, my father as a young boy grew up in Coogee and saw the tiger shark on exhibition in the pool at the now long gone Coogee Aquarium.