Colin Raymond Jones (born 21 March 1959 in

Gorseinon Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century, when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is around north west of Swansea Ci ...

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

) is a Welsh former boxer, who became British, Commonwealth and European

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

champion. Before turning professional, he represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Canada. Colin had a trainer by the name of Gareth Bevan, who was also helped out by his son John Bevan.

Boxing career

In 1976 Jones was the youngest

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

boxer to qualify for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

until Amir Khan appeared at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Jones won the 1976 and 1977 Amateur Boxing Association British welterweight title, when boxing out of the Penyrheol ABC. He was one of the hardest punching welterweights of his generation and his ability to knock fighters out with a single shot (with either hand) allowed him the luxury of being a notoriously slow starter. A second round stoppage of Danish fighter Hans Henrik Palm (in Copenhagen) won him the European crown and confirmed his arrival as a world class fighter. He lost three times, one by disqualification (Curtis Ramsey), one by split decision ( Milton McCrory) and once when he was stopped in four rounds (cuts) by

Donald Curry Donald Curry (born September 7, 1961), is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1991, and in 1997. He held the WBA world welterweight title from 1983 to 1986, the undisputed world welterweight title from 1985 to 1986 ...

. The latter two losses came in challenges for the world title after he had drawn with McCrory in his first attempt to claim it. Despite these setbacks at world level (both fights against McCrory were in America and could have gone either way), he was dominant at domestic level with his two "come from behind" knockout victories against the gifted Kirkland Laing particular highlights. A modest and well-respected fighter, Jones, still regarded as boxing royalty in his native Wales, won the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year in 1983. Jones was assistant to National Coach Tony Williams for the Welsh Boxing team at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

. Jones was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to boxing in Wales.

References

External links

BBC Sport list of top Welsh boxers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Colin 1959 births Living people Welsh male boxers Olympic boxers for Great Britain Boxers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Boxers from Swansea Welterweight boxers People educated at Penyrheol Comprehensive School Sportspeople from Gorseinon Members of the Order of the British Empire

Boxing career

See also

References

External links