Brickies mate Barber set for a pro career

Jon Barber….super-light being guided by Adam Harper. Pic: LJ Visuals

HE’S the brickies’ Rocky laying the foundations for a pro fighting career.

Brummie Jon Barber, a building site hod carrier by day, aims to make his paid debut later this year, if the Board of Control approves and medicals are passed.

He’ll be managed by Tewkesbury’s former English champ Adam Harper.

“It’s a dream come true just to have the label ‘professional boxer’,” Barber, from Acocks Green, said.

He is, however, entering the profession to win things at super-lightweight, not merely pocket a few bob as a journeyman: he’s coming with ambition. “If I could get a Midlands title or push for the English, I’d be ecstatic. If I could win a Midlands title I’d be the happiest man alive,” he said.

Barber’s journey has not been a conventional one. At 31, he’s turned over late. He and partner Chelsea Leatherbarrow have four children aged between five and 11, he therefore has to mix the back-breaking work of carrying bricks up and down ladders with the hard slog of boxing. That’s going to take some stamina.

“I just believe anything in life worth having is hard work,” Barber said. “If you work and box and have a family, it can put a strain on a relationship, but my partner has been supportive from the start.”

Barber trained at an amateur gym as a teenager, walked away from the sport, then was again bitten by the boxing bug in his mid 20s. He joined the unlicenced scene and peeled off 11 straight wins.

I don’t place a great deal of value on “white collar” results when assessing a fighter’s pro potential, but there’s some decent names on Barber’s record. Luke Grainger is now on the professional circuit in Spain and Italy, Jordan Ward is making waves on the bare-knuckle circuit.

And, in a belated amateur career at Harper’s “Harper’s Boxing” gym, Barber won all four bouts.

“I didn’t have my first bout until my late 20s, but I was always around a boxing gym. I just needed to live the life – in my teens I smoked and drank,” he said.

“Adam (Harper) has a good amateur called Silas, he reached out for some sparring and I did five or six rounds. After that, he asked if I’d like to join the gym. As far as going pro, I knew at my age it was now or never.”

So what can fans expect? “I’m a bit of a pressure fighter,” Barber said. “I can box when I need to, but I’ve been told I fight a bit too much.

“I’m tough – there’s no quit in me - and I’m always willing to learn. I’m a student of the game, I study the history of the sport. I watch the greats like Willie Pep and Sugar Ray Robinson. I’m always willing to learn, I’m quite critical of myself – I think you have to be in this game. I feel I can crack a bit, I believe in my power and if I catch people right with those small gloves, I’ll hurt them.

“I’ve  had a lot of good support from the start and feel people will come out to see me, I’ll sell a few tickets.”

Barber added: “I have a good few years ahead. I just want to compete at the highest level I can compete at.”