Percy Jones (26 December 1892 – 25 December 1922) was a Welsh professional boxing world champion who competed from 1911 to 1916. He became the first Welshman to win a World championship when he took the IBU

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

title from Bill Ladbury in 1914. The IBU later became the EBU and that is why the achievement was taken into context when comparing fighters of the same era. Jones also took the

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 ...

and European flyweight titles from Ladbury in the same match. He has been voted number 6 in a

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poll of Welsh boxing greats.

History

Born in Porth and raised in a

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family, Jones made his name at a local level, fighting in boxing booths.Haines, Chris (2008)
Boxing: Percy Jones was a real knockout
, Wales Online, 10 July 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2017Prior, Neil (2014)
Percy Jones' 1914 title began century of Wales' boxing wins
,

, 25 January 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2017 His first significant professional fight was a win (via disqualification) over Joe Symonds in March 1913. He beat Symonds twice more later that year, and in November stopped Sam Kellar in the fifteenth round in a final eliminator for the vacant British flyweight title. This led to a challenge in January 1914 for Bill Ladbury's title, Jones winning on points to be recognised as champion of Britain, Europe, and the World. He lost to Eugene Criqui in his next (non-title) fight, but beat the Frenchman on points in April in a defence of his European title. In his next non-title bout, he was knocked out Symonds in the eighteenth round of twenty. He was forced to relinquish the British and World titles after failing to make the weight in two title fights. He lost to Tancy Lee in October 1914 in what should have been a British title fight, prompting a move up to

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

. His last professional contest was a fifth-round KO of Ladbury in October 1915, although he competed in an army contest the following year. Jones was a

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. He relied upon mountain walking for his exercise.

Army service

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

interrupted his boxing career with Jones enlisting in the Glamorgan Bantam Battalion of the Welsh Army Service Corps on 2 January 1915. He was serving as a

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at the Somme in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers when he was badly wounded in the leg in 1916. After almost 30 operations to save the leg it was eventually amputated in 1918. Jones was also badly affected by

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal concentration) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious ...

. His weight dropped to a little over 4 stone, and he died of trench fever in 1922 on Christmas Day, one day short of his 30th birthday.

Fight record

Jones is recorded on Boxrec.com as having 56 professional fights, with 50 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws.

Professional boxing record

References

Sources

*
johnnyowen.com

External links

* Retrieved on 13 January 2010 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Percy 1892 births 1922 deaths British Army personnel of World War I European Boxing Union champions Flyweight boxers Military personnel from Rhondda Cynon Taf Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers Sportspeople from Porth Welsh amputees Welsh male boxers World boxing champions