Colin Raymond Jones MBE (born 21 March 1959 in Gorseinon, Swansea) is a Welsh former boxer, who became British, Commonwealth and European welterweight champion. Before turning professional, he represented Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Colin had a trainer by the name of Gareth Bevan, who was also helped out by his son John Bevan.

Boxing career

In 1976 Jones was the youngest British boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games until Amir Khan appeared at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Jones won the 1976 and 1977 Amateur Boxing Association British welterweight title, when boxing out of the Penyrheol ABC.^[1]

He was one of the hardest punching welterweights of his generation and his ability to knock fighters out with a single shot (with either hand) allowed him the luxury of being a notoriously slow starter. A second round stoppage of Danish fighter Hans Henrik Palm (in Copenhagen) won him the European crown and confirmed his arrival as a world class fighter.

He lost three times, one by disqualification (Curtis Ramsey), one by split decision (Milton McCrory) and once when he was stopped in four rounds (cuts) by Donald Curry. The latter two losses came in challenges for the world title after he had drawn with McCrory in his first attempt to claim it.

Despite these setbacks at world level (both fights against McCrory were in America and could have gone either way), he was dominant at domestic level with his two "come from behind" knockout victories against the gifted Kirkland Laing particular highlights.

A modest and well-respected fighter, Jones, still regarded as boxing royalty in his native Wales, won the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year in 1983.^[2]

Jones was assistant to National Coach Tony Williams for the Welsh Boxing team at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Jones was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to boxing in Wales.^[3]