Jimmy Peau, who boxed as Jimmy Thunder, dead at 54

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Samoa-born Jimmy Peau, who as Jimmy Thunder recorded one of the fastest knockouts in the history of professional boxing with a first-punch victory over American Crawford Grimley, has died. He was 54.

Peau, who was born Ti’a James Senio Peau in Apia, Samoa and grew up in New Zealand had recently undergone surgery in Auckland for a brain tumor friends said.

His career was one of boxing’s great rags to riches to rags stories.

As an amateur he won the gold medal in the super-heavyweight class at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. in the United States.

Peau turned professional in 1989, changing his name to Jimmy Thunder and later to Jimmy “The Thunder” Peau. He won a host of minor titles, including the WBC international heavyweight and the IBO and WBF heavyweight titles and was the Australian and Australasian heavyweight champion before moving to the United States in 1994.

Although he compiled a respectable record of 35 wins, including 28 by knockout in 49 professional fights and had wins over Tony Tubbs, Trevor Berbick and Tim Witherspoon, his career gradually declined and fought for the last time in 2002.

Peau may always be remembered for his win over Grimley at Flint, Michigan in 1997. He flawed Grimley with his first punch, in 1.5 seconds; with the count the entire fight lasted 13 seconds.

“I was hungry,” Peau said at the time. “I missed out on my lunch and I missed out on dinner and I was getting ready for the fight and I walked past the buffet and I said ‘damn man, I wanna go eat’.”

When his career ended, Peau remained in the United States but fell out of the public eye. A New Zealand reporter sought him out in 2010 and found at times he had been living rough on the street in Las Vegas.

He married his second wife, American Iris Whitemagpie, in 2008.

Current New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Park was among those who paid tributes to Peau on Thursday.

“Thank you for your service to our countries, both Samoa and New Zealand,” Parker said in a social media post. “You, along with many other greats, some passed and some who are still with us today, paved the way for us up and coming fighters to be seen an heard on an international scale.”