Larmour represented Northern Ireland at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, beating Chandra Narayanan of India in the flyweight final to take the gold medal.[2][3] He represented Ireland at the 1975 European Championships in Poland, reaching the flyweight quarter-final where he lost to Charlie Magri of Great Britain.[3]
Larmour beat Tony Noonan in the Irish National Senior flyweight final in 1976, earning a place at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[1] With many African countries boycotting the games, Larmour got byes in the first two rounds, losing in the quarter final to eventual gold medalist Leo Randolph of the USA.[3]
Professional career
After the Montreal Olympics, Larmour made the decision to turn professional, making his pro debut in July 1977 with a first-round knockout of Jimmy Bott. He was stopped in his next two fights (by John Feeney and George Sutton) before beating Alan Oag (via disqualification) in May 1978. In June he was stopped in the seventh round by Johnny Owen.[4]
In October 1978 he successfully challenged for Neil McLaughlin's BBBofC Northern Ireland Area bantamweight title, beating the defending champion on points. He won his next five fights before losing to Steve Sims on points in September 1980.[5]
In March 1981 he faced Dave Smith in a final eliminator for the British title, but lost by a single point.[4] After beating Ivor Jones in April 1982 he faced Hugh Russell in October in another British title final eliminator, with the Northern Ireland Area title and the Irish title also at stake. Larmour again lost by a single point over the twelve rounds.[1]
After Russell had taken the British title from Feeney, in March 1983 his first defence was against Larmour. This time, having put Russell down in the fifth round, Larmour took the decision to become British and Northern Ireland Area bantamweight champion.[1] Larmour made one defence of the title, losing it to Feeney in November 1983. He subsequently retired from boxing.[4]
Legacy
Larmour has participated in talks to schoolchildren in Northern Ireland, discussing his career and how boxing can help break down sectarian divisions.[6] He is commemorated, along with Jimmy Warnock and Tommy Armour, on the 'Shankill Road Boxing' mural on Hopewell Crescent in his native area of Belfast.[7]
