Newcomer Jones: I’ll be the British champ

Ryan Jones…lightweight has second fight in Stoke on September 12

RYAN Jones, roofer by day, believes the sky’s the limit when it comes to his pro career.

Ryan Jones, with one bout under his belt, is a young man not lacking in confidence. “One hundred per cent, I have the skills to compete on the world stage,” he told me. “Not being big headed, I’m like a little Canelo, I know for a fact I can win a British title.”

He has the whole package, he says: “Explosive, dominating and pure skill as well.”

I’ve heard all the claims before from many boxers, but Ryan’s are backed by some very knowledgeable fight figures: Tewkesbury’s former English light-middle champ Adam Harper has been beating the drum about Jones for months. Many other insiders tipped me off that the Worcester lightweight is something special.

He can certainly bang. Jones, managed by Scott Lawton and signed to Tyson Fury’s promoters Gold Star, won his April debut at Kings Hall, Stoke, in two rounds: “I didn’t have one nerve at all, not one nerve. I don’t have a clue why, maybe because I’ve been in there so many times it’s second nature.”

He’s back at the venue again on Saturday, September 12, with Cardiff’s Rashid Omar in the opposite corner.

That’s a decent test and a measure of the belief those backing Jones have in his ability: the Welshman is no serial loser who comes to survive, having won eight of 16. I congratulate Lawton for providing his fighter with a very early competitive bout.

But, then, Jones has the amateur pedigree to inspire confidence. During long service with Worcester ABC, the 21-year-old had 80 bouts, lost less than 20 and stopped over 20 opponents: wearing big gloves and over short distances, that’s a very decent KO per centage. “Right hand over the top used to be my trademark,” Jones said, “then I popped my shoulder. Now jab and left hook is my best shot.”

He was named tournament’s best boxer at last year’s Haringey Box Cup, reached the ABA senior elite semi-finals, has collected 10 Midlands titles, was part of the England development squad and at Sweden’s major King of the Rings tournament handily beat the host nation’s number one who represented his country in the Olympics.

That’s an impressive CV, but Jones believes he should’ve achieved much more. “As an amateur, I was a bit lazy,” he admitted. “I was probably number three in the country at 60 kilos and I think my fitness was not the best – that done me. That’s what I need to improve this time round.

“I’ve always been more suited to the pros - in the amateurs, everyone’s on the back-foot. I’m good at variations between the body and head. I’ve been sparring Gully Powar (top British featherweight title contender) and done good, although the levels between us in the pro game is totally different.”

Pro boxing-wise, things are certainly livening-up in Worcester, with former English welterweight champ and British title challenger Owen Cooper leading the revival.

He and fellow former Worcester ABC squad member Cooper are friends – “he goes to my fights, I go to his,” Ryan said – and share the same aggressive style, same appetite for destruction. There must be something in the Worcester water.

If the experts are right, soon they’ll share the same status as major titleholders.