Jim Murphy was the outstanding Irish boxer at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, reaching the semi-final of the men’s light-heavyweight division in performances that drew universal admiration – notably a quarter-final victory over John Miler of the USA, the Detroit boxer who was among the pre-tournament favourites having beaten Joe Louis in 1932.

A native of Kilmichael, County Cork, Murphy joined An Garda Siochana in 1924 where he discovered boxing and rose to win the Irish light-heavyweight title in 1927, 1929 and 1930. His greatest domestic success came in 1930 when he won the British ABA light-heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of the German Buchard Flakowski in the final.

In Los Angeles, Murphy delivered what his teammate Paddy Hughes described as ‘an object lesson in body punching’ against Miler, who had previously beaten the future world heavyweight champion Joe Louis.

A cut eye sustained in the Miler bout recurred in the semi-final against Gino Rossi of Italy, forcing Murphy to retire at the end of round one, and the injury also prevented him from contesting the bronze medal box-off.