Pat Thomas (born 5 May 1950) was a

Light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, originally from Saint Kitts and Nevis, who took British citizenship and won two British boxing titles in the 1970s and 80s. After leaving Saint Kitts, Thomas settled in Cardiff in Wales, and is recognised as a Welsh fighter taking the Welsh light middleweight Championship in 1977.

Boxing career

Thomas' first professional bout was at welterweight, fought in Manchester against Ray Farell, himself a fairly novice boxer with only two professional matches to his name. Thomas won by knockout in the second round, and this started a nine match unbeaten run, though none of his seven wins after Farell coming through knockout. His first defeat was a points decision to Alan Reid at the end of 1971, a fighter who he had faced and beaten six months earlier. Thomas' next bout was in 1972, against Jimmy Fairweather in Walworth, saw Thomas now fighting in eight-round matches. A win over Fairweather was followed by victories over Mickey Flynn and Phil Dykes, before being disqualified in an encounter with Charlie Cooper. At the start of 1973, he beat

Des Rea Desmond Rea (8 January 1944 – 21 July 2016) was a Northern Irish boxer who was the first holder of the British junior welterweight title and went on to fight for the European title before moving up to welterweight at which he won the Irish tit ...

, the Irish Welterweight Champion by a points decision; this was followed by two more wins before he faced Rea again, this time beating him by technical knockout in the fourth round. 1973 ended just like the previous two years, with a defeat, a narrow points loss to Trevor Francis at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The next year saw Thomas begin one of the most successful periods of his career, going on a twelve match unbeaten run. On 15 December 1975, Thomas faced Pat MacCormack for the vacant British Welterweight title. He knocked MacCormack down twice, before winning by knockout in the thirteenth and in the process became the first immigrant fighter to win the British Welterweight title. After a win over Jim Devanny in February 1976, Thomas fought Italian Marco Scano in Cagliari, for the vacant European Welterweight title. Thomas was outclassed losing by knockout in the second round. This was followed by Thomas' second overseas match, facing Jørgen Hansen in Denmark; Thomas lost by technical knockout in the third. Back in Britain, Thomas successfully defended his welterweight title against Trevor Francis, but then lost the belt when he was knocked out by Henry Rhiney in Luton. After losing the welterweight title, Thomas went up a weight division, now fighting at light-middleweight. He began in the new division by taking the Welsh Light-middleweight title from Dave Davies, who had beaten Thomas three times in the amateurs, in early 1977. Despite the encounter being for a Welsh title, the match took place at The Stadium in Liverpool, the fight being part of the undercard for John Conteh's WBC World Championship bout with Len Hutchins. Thomas' light-middleweight career was far more chequered than his time as a welterweight, losing to

Larry Paul Larry Paul (19 April 1952 – 9 October 2017) was a British boxer who was the first to hold the British light middleweight title, holding it between September 1973 and November 1974. Career Born in Liverpool in 1952 to a White Irish Mother and Tr ...

, before beating Rhiney and then drawing with

Tony Sibson Tony Sibson (born 9 April 1958, in Leicester, England) is a former professional boxer. Boxing career Tony Sibson was Commonwealth and European champion and a 3-time world title challenger. His speed coupled with rugged power enabled him to be rank ...

. In 1978 Thomas spent much of his time fighting outside Britain, but with little success. He fought twice in Netherlands, a win and a loss, which were followed by three straight loses, against former Olympic Lightweight Champion Chris Clarke in Canada, then French Champion

Claude Martin Major-General Claude Martin (5 January 1735 – 13 September 1800) was a French army officer who served in the French and later British East India companies in colonial India. Martin rose to the rank of major-general in the British East India C ...

and finally Spanish fighter Andoni Amana in Bilbao. His fortunes changed on British soil, with wins over Salvo Nucifero and Robbie Davies, before losing to Kenny Bristol in a fight for the vacant British Empire Light-middleweight title by a unanimous points decision. The very next fight was another title decider, this time for the British Light-middleweight belt on 11 September 1979. In that encounter he beat

Jimmy Batten Jimmy Batten (born 7 November 1955) is a British former Boxing, boxer who was British light middleweight champion for over two and a half years between 1977 and 1979. Career Born in Millwall, London in 1955, Batten started boxing at the age of 6 ...

in the ninth round to take his second British title; though Batten later stated that he felt he had given the title away as he wasn't in the correct frame of mind due to personal problems.Jimmy Batten
boxingnewsonline.net Thomas defended his title successfully twice, knocking out Dave Proud in the seventh and then stopping Steve Hopkin in the final round with a badly cut eye. His third defence ended in defeat, losing to Hensol Graham by points. This was the start of a six-round losing streak that only ended with his retirement from boxing in 1984.

Professional boxing record

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South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

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Cardiff, Wales Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

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Herol Graham Herol Graham (born 13 September 1959) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1978 to 1998. A three-time world title challenger, he is generally acknowledged as one of the best British boxers of the post-war era to have never w ...

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Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

Kensington, London Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Gar ...

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Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

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Wolverhampton Civic Hall The Halls Wolverhampton, formally known as Wolverhampton Civic Halls is a music venue in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It has been one of the most notable live music venues in the county for several decades. It is part of a complex als ...

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, DQ , 5 , 27 May 1977 , align=left, Digbeth Institute, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, "Boxing" Dave Davies , TKO , 8 , 5 Mar 1977 , align=left, Liverpool Stadium,

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Mayfair, London Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

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National Sporting Club The National Sporting Club was a club founded in London in 1891, which did more to establish the sport of boxing in Great Britain than any other organisation. Origins The club was founded on 5 March 1891 as a private club. Its premises were at ...

Piccadilly, London Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

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Jim Montague Jim Montague (born 11 June 1950) is an Irish boxer. He competed in the men's light welterweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich ...

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, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Mickey Flynn , PTS , 8 , 22 Apr 1974 , align=left,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, "Scottish" John Smith , PTS , 8 , 18 Mar 1974 , align=left,

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, TKO , 4 , 27 Feb 1974 , align=left, Sophia Gardens,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Les Pearson , KO , 1 , 21 Jan 1974 , align=left,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, "Boxing" Trevor Francis , PTS , 8 , 21 Nov 1973 , align=left, Sophia Gardens,

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, TKO , 4 , 5 Oct 1973 , align=left, Sophia Gardens,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Les Pearson , PTS , 8 , 26 Sep 1973 , align=left, Midland Sporting Club,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Amos Talbot , PTS , 8 , 12 Mar 1973 , align=left, Anglo-Welsh Sporting Club,

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, PTS , 8 , 15 Jan 1973 , align=left, Double Diamond Club,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, Charlie Cooper , DQ , 7 , 22 Nov 1972 , align=left, Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Phil Dykes , TKO , 3 , 19 Sep 1972 , align=left, King's Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Mickey Flynn , PTS , 8 , 15 May 1972 , align=left, Mayfair Sporting Club,

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Jimmy Fairweather , PTS , 8 , 20 Apr 1972 , align=left,

, Walworth, London, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Loss , , align=left, "Boxing" Alan Reid , PTS , 6 , 11 Oct 1971 , align=left, Manchester, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Johnny Shields , PTS , 6 , 17 May 1971 , align=left, Hotel Piccadilly, Manchester, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Tony Bagshaw , PTS , 6 , 3 May 1971 , align=left, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Draw , , align=left, Mohammed Ellah , PTS , 6 , 20 Apr 1971 , align=left, Newport, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, "Boxing" Alan Reid , PTS , 6 , 29 Mar 1971 , align=left, Manchester, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Tony Burnett , DQ , 4 , 23 Mar 1971 , align=left, Newport, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , No Contest , , align=left, Tony Bagshaw , NC , 4 , 22 Feb 1971 , align=left, Manchester, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Mohammed Ellah , PTS , 6 , 9 Feb 1971 , align=left, Newport, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, "Boxing" Keith White , PTS , 6 , 12 Jan 1971 , align=left,

Shoreditch Town Hall Shoreditch Town Hall is a municipal building in Shoreditch, London. It is a Grade II listed building. History In the mid-20th century, the vestry board decided to procure a vestry hall for the Parish of St. Leonard's; the site they selected ha ...

Shoreditch, London Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

, United Kingdom , align=left, , - , Win , , align=left, Ray "The Dart" Farrell , KO , 2 , 14 Dec 1970 , align=left, Manchester, United Kingdom , align=left,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Pat Welsh male boxers Saint Kitts and Nevis male boxers Light-middleweight boxers Welterweight boxers 1950 births Living people Saint Kitts and Nevis emigrants to the United Kingdom

Boxing career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links