Boxing
Welsh dragon Barrie Jones has once again breathed fire into his fighting career
This weekend the soft-spoken, left-handed Welshman will attempt to tame the excitable and brutal American.
Sound familiar?
In 2006, Joe Calzaghe was the underrated Welshman, Jeff Lacy the overrated American – and on one of the greatest nights in British boxing history, Calzaghe delivered a brutal boxing lesson.
On Saturday night, Barrie Jones will be the left-handed, unassuming Welshman and Lorawnt T Nelson will be the big-name American who will be battling it out in what has been billed as “the greatest fight in bare-knuckle boxing history.”
The event will take place at the Vale Arena in Cardiff.
Jones boxed with gloves and fought three times on Calzaghe’s card, including at the Principality Stadium where Calzaghe fought Peter Manfredo and Mikkel Kessler.
“I was a huge fan of Joe’s growing up,” Jones said, “and being in the locker room with him was awesome.
“He was always tranquil and tranquil, willing to talk.”
Jones is a similarly confident figure, but at 39, he’s still struggling.
He was 32and and the final fight of his professional glove career in 2015, in which he defeated James Lilley to retain his Welsh super welterweight title.
“Then I had a couple of fights canceled,” Jones recalled. “I was supposed to fight Bradley Pryce, but it didn’t happen twice. He was nearing the end of his career, but he was still a huge name, and beating him would have led to a bigger fight.”
Pryce did not come, and Jones came back to life.
“I never thought I’d fight again,” he said. “I stayed energetic, playing football and lifting weights, so I was in good shape. I never drank.”
Jones (right) is days away from the “biggest fight in bare-knuckle boxing” when he takes on Lorawnt T Nelson (not pictured)
Jones says bare-knuckle fighting has allowed him to “see a bit of the world.”
One of the places Jones saw was Miami.
He fought Luiz Melo there in December 2021 and defeated him in 15 seconds.
“Before the fight they were raving about how tough he was and saying it would be a good fight,” he said.
“The plan was to look at him and then blow his head off. But he came out and started waving, and there wasn’t a lot of room, so I thought I’d put my feet up and let them go.
“There are more knockouts in bare-knuckle boxing, but they are not as bad as in a multi-round glove fight.”
Jones competed at the highest level in both sports.
In June 2008, he fought seven rounds with future welterweight world champion Kell Brook.
“I only had 12 days’ notice,” he recalled, “and I went in there thinking I’d save myself for the later rounds. I knew he hadn’t done 12 rounds either. I should have done that and then backed out if I started to lose strength.”
More arduous to bear was the eight-round points defeat to Soulemane M’Baye six months later at the ExCel Arena.
The Frenchman was coming off a world title loss, and Sky Sports commentators – and most other viewers – were predicting a clear win for Jones.
After eight rounds the verdict was in favour of M’Baye, with a one-point advantage.
“Then he fought for the European and world titles,” Jones said, “and I lost a bit of interest.”
Until he discovered bare-knuckle boxing.
“There were some boxers who came in thinking it would be simple and then realized they didn’t like it,” Jones said.
“It’s harder than they thought.
“People think I beat guys who didn’t box, but there are tough guys in there who fought MMA, and Sweeney could do well with gloves.”
“It’s a hit and it won’t be hit,” Jones (left) says of BKB
Sweeney is Jimmy Sweeney, a charismatic Irishman who’s a little crazy and who did well in glove boxing as an amateur before turning to bare-knuckle boxing.
Sweeney, who defeated Andy Lee in an amateur fight, has done much to give the sport credibility by using his skills to win fights against increasingly better opponents and generally being unstoppable in the face of his rivals’ attacks.
Jones defeated him twice.
“Jimmy has a good boxing IQ,” said the 38-year-old Welshman. “When I first boxed him I thought, ‘He’s better than I expected.’”
“He was clever, moved well and had a good boxing IQ. I could have started feeling sorry for myself, but I knew what I had to do, calmed down and used my boxing brain.”
The truth is that the best bare-knuckle boxers are those who came from a boxing background, such as Sweeney, Jones and James Connelly.
“It’s hit and miss,” Jones said. “You can’t stand there and fight a war every time, because you won’t last long.”
Even if you win, bare-knuckle fighting hurts.
Jones said, “Without gloves, you get cut more. I haven’t had any wars, but I’ve still been marked a few times, and my hands hurt more than ever. You really feel the blows in your ribs the next day, more than when I boxed with gloves.”
Jones has primarily landed punches during his boxing career as a bare-knuckle fighter.
He has won all 10 of his fights (nine by knockout) but will undoubtedly face his toughest test yet in Cardiff.
“I always thought it would end in a fight,” said Jones, of Nelson. “We weigh about the same, and he’s beaten some of our best guys.
“I know he’s tough, but after beating Jimmy, every fight will be tough.
“Sweeney is one of the best boxers I’ve ever fought. There’s no one as good as him when it comes to boxing (bare-knuckle boxing). Nelson is different. He’s tough.”
Jones-Nelson will be contested in a three-sided formation that is said to be more suited to brawlers than boxers.
Jones is a boxer, Nelson a brawler, but the Welshman has won both of his three-way fights.
“There’s a ton of room to move if you’re good enough,” he said. “You just don’t want to get stuck in the corners. If you get stuck there, you have to fight to get out.”
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