COLIN JONES British, Commonwealth & European Welterweight Champion Born: 21st March 1959 Abertawe - Swansea Fights 30 Won 26 Lost 3 Draw 1 Early Days Having previously guided Howard Winstone and Ken Buchanan to World titles, Eddie Thomas almost succeeded in achieving a hat-trick when he took Colin Jones to three World title attempts. Colin was renowned for his big hitting, most notably his left hook, although he could render an opponent senseless with one punch from either hand. Not surprising then that 23 of his 26 wins was by the short route; an exceptional ratio. Mike Copp was the first, of so many, to feel Jones power in Colins first pro fight back in October 1977. The fight lasted 5 rounds. Three more wins by knockout followed, two in the first round, before Colin had to go the full eight round distance when defeating Tony Martey, at Aberavon, in March 1978. The two fights succeeding the Martey bout also went the distance, against Frankie Decaestecker and Horace McKenzie. These three successive full distance wins were the last time that Colin Jones would go the distance to beat an opponent. Throughout 1979 Colin defeated all 4 opponents by KO, before beginning 1980 in the same fashion with a 6 round KO of Cardiff boxer, Billy Waith. Undefeated in 13 fights the greatest challenge to date was on the horizon. A British title challenge to the present champion, Kirkland Laing. British Title To this day Kirkland Laing is one of the best boxers to have ever graced a boxing ring; he had it all. Dazzling footwork, lightening hand speed, amazing reflexes and a fast, solid combination puncher who could hit hard enough to stop any opponent. Although he was prone to showboating and dropping his hands, usually his skills were more than adequate to avoid any trouble. The stage was set for a classic boxer v big hitter fight. For eight rounds Colin ceaselessly stalked Laing around the ring with his hands held high just soaking up punishment. Laing was at his dazzling best employing all his skills to stay away from Jones devastating punches while landing his own wide variety of shots almost at will. It was inevitable that sooner or later Jones would connect with a big un; then we would see if Laing could stand up to Jones power. The ninth round proceeded as the previous eight until...... wham ! Seemingly from nowhere Colin unleashed a tremendous right hand to the champions jaw. As Kirkland held hopelessly onto the top rope, in a desperate attempt to remain upright, Colin unmercifully battered him with both hands. With the champion now totally defenceless the referee stepped in to halt the fight. Colin Jones was going home to Wales as the new British Welterweight Champion. Commonwealth Title The Commonwealth Welterweight title was won by defeating Mark Harris, of Ghana, in 9 rounds before a return bout with Kirkland Laing in 1981. Amazingly the return fight was a carbon copy of the first. It was all Laing until in the ninth ....wham ! all over !!! First Defeat Colins first defeat came against the American, Curtis Ramsey in a controversial decision. In the third round with Ramsey hurt from Jones hooks to his body, he sank to the floor. The fight seemed to be over for Ramsey, but as he hit the canvas Colin landed a light punch to the side of his head. The referee Welshman, Adrian Morgan, signalled the end of the fight. Without question that final punch was insignificant, however, Colin had hit his opponent while he was down. The referee was in no doubt that the rules had to be applied and showing no favouritism toward his countryman disqualified Colin for hitting his opponent while on the canvas. European Title success Colin recovered from his first defeat with 2 KO wins before a bout of appendicitis put him out of action for 10 months. On his return to the ring he KOd Sakaraia Ve in two rounds then took the European Welterweight Title when Hans Henrik-Palm was dispatched also, in two rounds. With three titles to his name the next goal was the vacant W.B.C. Welterweight Championship. World Title To decide who was to succeed Sugar Ray Leonard as World Welterweight Champion, Colin was matched with the unbeaten Colin JonesAmerican, Milton McCrory aka The Iceman. Starting the fight as an overwhelming underdog Colin took the fight to his opponent. McCrory threw a lot of what to Jones seemed insignificant punches, as Colin continuously moved forward looking for the chance to unload his bombs. When Colin did connect he landed by far the most telling punches of the fight, hurting McCrory each time. But his successes were not frequent enough. Colin had started slowly, as he usually did, allowing McCrory to build up a points lead. In the latter stages Colin was forcing the fight with McCrory looking ever more tired. Unfortunately, Colin couldnt catch McCrory with a clean knockout punch. After twelve rounds, with McCrory exhausted and Colin still going forward, the decision was a draw. Rematch The rematch was an equally compelling affair. Five months later, in Las Vegas, Jones and McCrory again came face to face for the WBC title. Colin could not have got off to a worse start. McCrory landed with a left uppercut and Jones went down in the very first round. Spurred on by his early success McCrory took the first 3 rounds before Colin began to get into the fight. As with the first fight Colin stalked his opponent throughout but landing with more punches this time causing McCrory to wobble on several occasions. Each time McCrory would come back with a flurry of solid punches but again it was Jones who was landing the most telling blows. The fight once more went the full distance of 12 rounds. In a split decision the World title was awarded to Milton McCrory. Final attempt In 1985, after two knockout wins against Allan Braswell and Billy Parks, Colin challenged Don Curry for the W.B.A. welterweight title, in what was to turn out to be Colins last fight. Currys hand speed coupled with hard accurate punches was causing Jones considerable trouble, although Colin was connecting with solid punches of his own. The fourth round signalled the end when Colin sustained an extremely nasty gash across the bridge of his nose. The deep cut was sufficiently bad for the referee to intervene, thereby ending Colin Jones third World title attempt. Colin announced his retirement shortly afterwards. Colin Jones was one of a rare breed. He could knock out opponents with either hand, had a terrific resilience to punishment and provided immense excitement with every fight.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 15:59:45 +0000
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