Colin Jones became British, Commonwealth and European welterweight champion and three times fought for the World title. Before turning professional under the tutelage of Eddie Thomas he boxed for Great Britain at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. When he went to the Olympics he was the youngest boxer to ever represent Team GB at the Games, being just 17.
One of the hardest punching welterweights of his generation, he stopped Kirkland Laing in the ninth round at Wembley Conference Centre to claim the British title in April, 1980. Laing was way ahead on points until Jones caught him with a devastating right hand. Their rematch at the Royal Albert Hall the next year followed a near-identical pattern, Jones’ finishing with a left handed punch in the ninth round that proved even more devastating. In between he had added the Commonwealth title to his collection by Mark Harris.
His ability to knock-out fighters out with a single punch allowed him the luxury of being a notoriously slow starter. A second round stoppage of Danish fighter Hans Henrik Palm in Copenhagen earned him the European title and confirmed his arrival no the world stage.
In a professional career that lasted eight years he won 23 of his 30 fights by KO, lost three times, one of which was a disqualification against Curtis Ramsey, and drew once. His other two defeats and a draw all came in world title fights against top rated Americans.
He twice fought Milton McCrory in America for the WBC World Welterweight title by Sugar Ray Leonard, drawing the first time and then losing a by a split decision in the other. His final fight was against Don Curry in Birmingham for the WBC and IBF World Welterweight belts. Curry was at the peak of his powers at the time and stopped Jones in the fourth round on cuts.
Jones won the then Western Mail Welsh Sports Personality of the Year award in 1983 and went on to become a highly respected amateur coach, working with both the Welsh Commonwealth Games teams and the British Olympic squad.
Colin Jones (Boxer) Born in Swansea 21 March, 1959
