Carson Jones officially retires from boxing

By Gavin Duthie - 08/18/2014 - Comments

jones23By Gav Duthie: In a somewhat ironic turn the man who arguably came closest to beating new IBF champion Kell Brook has retired just shy of his 28th birthday. Carson Jones 35-10-3 (25) turns just 28 tommorow but has decided to call it a day in boxing. 

Jones said on facebook

“Sad day for me, but today I am officially retiring from boxing. Had some ups and downs, but I’m done”.

Legacy

I have posted before about some of the unsung heroes in boxing and Jones is definitely one of those. He is tough, durable, hard hitting and despite his limitations in talent he never accepted defeat. This is the type of fighter that will never make huge amounts from boxing nor win any world titles but he has exposed several wannabe prospects and played a big part in helping Kell Brook win the IBF welterweight title on Saturday. 

Achievements

We should all remember American 2000 Olympic silver medalist Ricardo Williams Jnr, who then (19-2) fought Jones in December 2011 for the USBA Welterweight title. Williams had been a major disappointment since being given $1 million to turn pro by Lou Di Bella. He had been lax in training and in trouble with the law which lead to two decision defeats at the hands of journeyman fighters. Williams had since won 10 in a row though going into the Jones fight. There was no controversial decision this time. Jones knocked him down 3 times on route to a 4th round stoppage. 

Two years earlier he fought record breaking American knockout artist Tyrone Brunson. Brunson had not only amassed an impressive 19-0 (19) record he had defeated all his opponents inside the first round. Before Jones he had drawn a fight though and won a decision so his invincibility was there to be tested against the renowned tough man. Jones stopped Brunson in 3 rounds destroying another fragile prospects career. 

Kell Brook

The man from Sheffield almost fell into the same trap as the previous two. After a fairly standard first opening 6 rounds with Brook controlling the action Jones turned the screw. He upped the tempo considerably and backed Brook onto the ropes landing a series of punches. Kell certainly learned lessons from this when facing Porter as he kept the centre of the ring and tied Porter up when he was jumping in with his hooks. 

Retirement

It is a shame that he has decided to retire. He was a real tough fighter and a great challenger for anyone in a crossroads between domestic and world level. He probably felt he could win a world title at some point and realised after the rematch loss to Brook he was just short of that level. I wish him all the best and thank him for entertaining us. 



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