Heavyweight contender Dave Jones is back after nearly hanging up his gloves
Kent’s Dave Jones (8-2-1) makes a dramatic comeback after temporarily hanging up his gloves over three years ago.
He faces Swindon’s Phil Williams (3-32-1, 1KO) over four-rounds on a Boxing Connected show on Saturday, November 6, which also features a host of other talents from Kent.
Back to back KO defeats to Martin Bakole and Daniel Dubois in 2018 resulted in the six-foot-five heavyweight walking away from boxing until now.
The reason for this was out of his control and he explained exactly why, “I had a broken eye socket from the fight with Bakole, so I had to wait for the operation then Covid happened. I never wanted to quit but my eye stopped me, and the doctor told me I probably won’t be able to fight again.”
Despite fearing the worse, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for 39-year-old from Queenborough, he continued to clarify, “It was around last March, I had a video consultation with the surgeon, and he said everything is good and that I can fight again. It was a surprise to me because he was the one who told me I couldn’t fight, but he has been brilliant, can’t thank him enough.”
After suffering such a horrific injury and the thought of having to stop boxing forever, Jones described how his mindset has changed since returning to training, “I’m more hungry now. I boxed for years and took it for granted, then when I thought it was all gone and taken away from me… so it’s a second chance and I’m 40 a few days after the fight, so I’ll move fast.
“I want to go for titles this time, it got to the point last time that I could have gone for titles but went for money fights instead. If I can cause an upset, then I’ll still take the riskier fights but only ones where I’ve got a chance.
“I don’t regret those fights [with Dubois and Bakole] one little bit, it’s great experience being in big fights, and I can look back with pride on all these experiences.
“I would love to fight Dorian Darch again, but I’m going to take it one fight at a time.”
He then listed the specific titles he has his eye on, “I want the Southern Area title or potentially English, depends on who’s about and at what time. I’d even go for the British if the right fights are there.”
It was in his second to last fight, in February 2018, that Jones challenged for the Southern Area heavyweight title against the formidable powerhouse Daniel Dubois, who stopped him in round three at the York Hall, live on BT Sport.
The Southern Area heavyweight strap has been vacant ever since, after Dubois went on to collect another half a dozen titles and is now the WBA No.1 contender.
“The level is good in the heavyweights at the moment,” admitted Jones. “It’s a good level domestically but all the top boys are above domestic level, like Fabio Wardley.”
Unbeaten in 12 fights, Wardley is the reigning English heavyweight champion, winning the vacant title in August 2020 and defending it a year later to Nick Webb with a blisteringly fast first-round knockout.
Joe Joyce is the British titleholder, but he is now the WBO No.1 challenger and chasing a world title shot at Oleksandr Usyk.
With Wardley already defending his English championship, he should naturally move on to the British next, which Joyce will likely vacate now he is on the brink of world title shots.
“They’re full-time fighters and there’s a difference, that’s all they do, but people like me have to work for a living so I can’t put everything into my training because I’ve got earn a living.”
Jones runs Troops Construction with his brother, who were both trained in the building trade by the British Army Royal Engineers.
“But I haven’t left the gym really, been in and out the whole time. I sparred Tyson Fury in the time I’ve been off, as well as Dillian Whyte and Nick Webb.”
Jones plans to win his return fight against Williams to then return straight back to the gym for his next fight, with title shots his main aim in 2022.
Kent Fight Night
It’s the first event back at the popular venue, Maidstone Leisure Centre, since February 2020, after the entire country was forced into lockdown measures, with local favourites Martin Hillman and Martin McDonagh back in action.
Sidcup’s exciting Martin Hillman (14-6, 2KOs) is back for the first time since the last show took place over 21 months ago.
For his first fight back in almost two years, he has a tough assignment in front of him in former Ghanaian super-bantamweight champion Raymond Commey (19-14-1, 10KOs).
The 34-year-old from Accra has also won a WBA Pan African title during his 12-year career and just recently took top featherweight prospect Raza Hamza (16-0-1, 7KOs) the distance over eight-rounds.
Hillman has challenged for the Southern Area title on three occasions. His last attempt against Duane Winters in 2018 saw him cruelly denied the win by a single point from the away corner in Bristol. Since then, he has put together four straight wins with the intention of challenging for the Southern Area again.
Trained by Billy Rumbol, lightweight Martin McDonagh (8-2) heads back to the ring for the first time since his brave bout with Harlem Eubank (now 12-0, 4KOs) in September last year, where the southpaw from Sheerness pushed the unbeaten Eubank until he was stopped within 30 seconds from the end of the eight-round contest.
As an amateur he won gold at the Three Nations and reached the final of the ABA Elites, losing out to Tokyo 2020 Olympian Luke McCormack.
The ‘Senegal Tiger’ Matar Sambou (1-9, 1KO), 37 from Barnet, will occupy the home corner for the first time in his career having travelled all over the country facing some of the best prospects in the UK, such as Eithan James (6-0) and Joe Underwood Hughes (6-0, 1KO), of which none have been able to stop him.
A trio of debutants round up the undercard – Luton’s Nicole Barke, Sittingbourne’s Tyrone King, Chatham’s Robert Caswell.
The event at Maidstone Leisure Centre on November 6 costs £40 per ticket or £60 for ringside with waitress service. Doors open at 6pm, boxing starts at 7pm.
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