Paul "Silky" Jones (born 19 November 1966 in Sheffield, England), is former World Boxing Champion, known as Silky for his quickness, truly unpredictable skills and defensive prowess. He has a professional record of 31-12-1(15 KOs) in the

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 the ...

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 ...

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

, and

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

divisions. He defeated rugged American

Verno Phillips Verno Jeremias Phillips (born November 29, 1969) is a Belizean former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He is a three-time junior middleweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 1993 to 1995, and the IBF title twice ...

for the Light Middleweight World Championship on 22 November 1995 and was stripped of the title in February 1996, Philips would go on to achieve World Championship status another three times.

Early years

Jones turned pro in 1986, aged 20 winning his first professional bout against Paul Gillings. Paul then had 4 more fights before moving to Toronto (Canada) to gain some top experience where he had 3 winning bouts including a stunning 3rd-round KO at the hands of Tony Collier. Paul then returned to the UK and had 8 more fights against respectable fighters before winning his first title against Jason Rowe. After the fight Jones was quoted as being happy for winning the title but said he wound never defend it as he was going on to bigger and better things. On 14 April Jones won the WBO's Intercontinental title against

Damien Denny Damien Denny (born 20 April 1966 in Lisburn, County Antrim) is a Northern Irish light middleweight boxer. Born in Lisburn, but raised in Belfast, Denny stands 5 ft 9 in (175 cm). His record is 18 wins (11 knockouts) and 4 losses. He collabor ...

, winning him the "KO of the year award". This then placed Jones as number 2 in the WBO rankings. Jones then defended this title twice. Jones was in the form of his life and was unbeaten for more the 3 years.

Capturing the Light Middleweight title

Next up was what he had been waiting for; a shot at the champion. Jones went into the fight the heavy underdog but surprised the boxing world by dominated the fight capturing the WBO Light Middleweight title in 1995 with a majority decision win over Future IBF Light Middle Weight Champ and future

IBHOF The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The IB ...

Champion

. With the win, Jones became the first British-born Light Middleweight World Champion. "Freddie King" (Paul's trainer) said after the fight he "Showed glimpses of absolute greatness and produced a great fight". Jones joined close friend and boxer Naseem Hamed as Sheffield's second world champion at the time and who was also ringside for the fight he said "Silkys's done the business tonight what a fight I knew he would win but not so easily". Jones had become one of four world champions, from no one wanting to fight him to being world champion in the space of 6 months. Many Great fighters wanted to fight him especially Winky Wright (who later picked up Jones' title on the way to becoming Undisputed Light Middleweight World Champion) The plan was for Jones to defend his WBO title against Bronco Banyon McKart of Bob Arum's Top Rank promotions. Both parties had a verbal agreement for the bout to be staged either in the UK or America. Many did say Jones's style would have been perfect for this big fight but unfortunately this did not materialise however Jones did go on to win the WBC Super Middle Weight International World Title. Jones' last fight was a points decision over the future

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...

–EE Super Middleweight champion

Kreshnik Qato Kreshnik Nick Qato (born 13 August 1978) is an Albanian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He held multiple regional titles at super-middleweight, including the WBA Inter-Continental title in 2004 and the European Externa ...

. Jones retired in 2002 with a record of 31-12-1.

WBO controversy

In late 2014 it came to light via social media that Paul Silky Jones had never received his actual title belt from the World Boxing Organisation. Boxing fans began a trending campaign on Twitter with the hash tag #GetSilkyHisBelt. A very surprised Paul 'Silky' Jones was finally awarded his belt in Doncaster at a non-existent event staged by former trainer Ian Allcock and John Sheppard on 10 July 2015, after 20 years of fighting against the WBO and

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

who denied his existence, retracted statements, and tried to charge him for the belt on more than one occasion. The belt arrived in England while Paul was on social media Tweeting support for world-famous

Floyd Mayweather Floyd may refer to: As a name * Floyd (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Floyd (surname), a list of people and fictional characters Places in the United States * Floyd, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Floyd, Iow ...

after his recent rift with the WBO.fightnetwork.com/news/58242:paul-silky-jones-crowned-world-champ-after-20-year-wait/
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Junior middleweight

Championships and accomplishments

* World Boxing Organization :*WBO Light Middleweight Championship :*WBO Inter-Continental Light Middleweight Championship :* 1995 World Boxing Organization Fighter of the Year :* 1995 World Boxing Organization KO of the year. *

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

:*WBC International Super Middleweight Championship *

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

:*Commonwealth Middleweight Championship * World records set in 2011- first ever boxer to commentate on a live boxing fight via YouTube

References

External links

Career boxing record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Paul 1966 births English male boxers Living people World Boxing Organization champions Welterweight boxers Sportspeople from Sheffield People educated at King Ecgbert School