Paul "Silky" Jones is a British former professional boxer who has a record of 31-12-1(15 KOs) in the welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

, light-middleweight, middleweight

Middleweight

Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

, and super middleweight

Super middleweight

Super Middleweight is a boxing and Muay Thai weight division that has a weight limit of 168 pounds .- 1960s–1983 :There was interest in a division between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in the late 1960s, the mid-1970s, and the early 1980s...

 divisions. Jones will be remembered for being the first British-born Light Middleweight World Champion.

Professional career

Known as "Silky", because of his truly unpredictability, quickness and silky skills. Jones had a Thomas Hearn like figure and the boxing skills to match, and therefore was able to fight and win titles from 154 lb all the way up to 168 lb.

Early years

Jones turned pro in 1986, aged 20 winning his first profesional bout against Paul Gillings. Paul then had 4 more fights before moving to Toronto (Canada) to gain some top experience where he hade 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 Interconternental title against Damien Denny

Damien Denny

Damien Denny is a Northern Irish light middleweight boxer.Born in Lisburn, but raised in Belfast, Denny stands 5'9". His record is 18 wins and 4 losses....

, 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 Champion Verno Phillips

Verno Phillips

Verno Jeremias Phillips , is a professional boxer in the Light Middleweight division.- Career :Phillips turned pro in 1988 and captured the Vacant WBO Light Middleweight Title in 1993 with a win over Lupe Aquino...

. 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

Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed is an English former professional boxer.He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, & Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion....

 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 new he would win but not so easily".

Jones had become 1 of 4 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

Winky Wright

Ronald Lamont "Winky" Wright is an American boxer, the former undisputed world light middleweight champion and a current middleweight contender....

 (who later picked up Jones' title on the way to becoming Undisputed Light Middleweight World Champion) and many inside the boxing world thought Jones would have given a run for his money. The plan was for Jones to defend his WBO title against Bronco Banyon McKart of American Bob Arum's Top Rank promotions. Apparently 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 fight 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-EE (European External European Union) Super Middleweight champion Kreshnick Qato. Jones retired in 2002 with a record of 31-12-1.

Retirement

Jones makes regular appearances in after dinner speaking alongside with many other former champs such as Steve Collins

Steve Collins

Stephen Collins, more commonly known as Steve Collins, is a former professional boxer. Known as the "The Celtic Warrior", Collins is the former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion....

, Frank Bruno

Frank Bruno

Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...

 and still keeps a small involvement in boxing.

Junior middleweight

Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
John David Jackson John David Jackson (boxer) John David Jackson , is a former professional boxer who held world titles in the light middleweight and middleweight divisions, and later became a boxing trainer after his career ended.-Professional Career:...	8 December 1988	Detroit, Michigan Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...	6
Title vacated	1993
Verno Phillips Verno Phillips Verno Jeremias Phillips , is a professional boxer in the Light Middleweight division.- Career :Phillips turned pro in 1988 and captured the Vacant WBO Light Middleweight Title in 1993 with a win over Lupe Aquino...	30 October 1993	Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...	4
Paul Jones	22 November 1995	Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	0
Title vacated	February 1996
Ronald "Winky" Wright Winky Wright Ronald Lamont "Winky" Wright is an American boxer, the former undisputed world light middleweight champion and a current middleweight contender....	17 May 1996	Monroe, Michigan Monroe, Michigan Monroe is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,733 at the 2010 census. It is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but both are politically independent. The city is located approximately 14 miles ...	3
Harry Simon Harry Simon (boxer) Harry Simon is a professional boxer in the super welterweight division.- Amateur Highlights :As an amateur Simon represented Namibia as a welterweight at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain...	August 22, 1998	Temba, South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...	4
Title vacated	July 2001
Daniel Santos Daniel Santos (boxer) Daniel Santos is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur Santos represented Puerto Rico in international events, including the 1990 and 1992 Junior World Championships, Pan American Boxing Tournament, Goodwill Games, 1995 Pan American Games and the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he won a...	16 March 2002	Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...	4
Sergiy Dzindziruk Sergiy Dzindziruk Sergiy "Razor" Dzinziruk is a Ukrainian professional boxer in the junior middleweight division. He is the current WBO Super Welterweight Champion.- Amateur :...	3 December 2005	Magdeburg Magdeburg Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe.... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	4

Championships and accomplishments

• Commonwealth
  Commonwealth
  Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
  
  
• Commonwealth Middle Championship
• World Boxing Organization
  World Boxing Organization
  The World Boxing Organization is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. The organization is recognized as one of the four major world championship groups by the IBHOF alongside the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Council and the...
  
  
• WBO light Middle Championship
• WBO Inter-Continental light middleweight Championship
• World Boxing Council
  World Boxing Council
  The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
  
  
• WBC International Super Middle Championship

External links

• Career boxing record