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 situated in the north west of Sw ...

, Swansea) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

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 northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, Canada. Colin had a trainer by the name of Gareth Bevan, 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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

boxer to qualify for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

until Amir Khan appeared at the 2004 Summer Olympics. 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 Hans Henrik Palm (born 19 July 1956 in Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark) is a retired Danish boxer, who became European welterweight champion in 1982. Before turning professional he represented Denmark at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canad ...

(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 Milton McCrory (born February 7, 1962 in Detroit, MI) is a former professional boxer who was a world champion in the welterweight (147 lb) division. Amateur Milton had a reported amateur record of 105-15. He lost in the 1979 National AAU fin ...

) 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 a ...

. 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 Kirkland Laing (20 June 1954 – 9 June 2021) was a Jamaican-born, British welterweight boxer nicknamed ''The Gifted One''. Laing fought 56 times in a twenty-year career, the highlight of which was a shock split decision win over Roberto Dur� ...

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 The BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year is a televised sporting competition, broadcast on BBC Two every year; and the most prestigious annual Sport in Wales, sport award in Wales. It was first awarded in 1954, and is currently organise ...

in 1983. Jones was assistant to National Coach Tony Williams for the Welsh Boxing team at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

. 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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established 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 People from Gorseinon Members of the Order of the British Empire

Boxing career

See also

References

External links