Ex-British champ has to hang up the gloves
Once Prizefighter champion and former British and Commonwealth welterweight title-holder, Chris Jenkins (23-7-3, 8KO), has officially fought his final bout, announcing his retirement from the sport aged 35-years-old, following a brain scan that detected ‘abnormalities’.
The Welshman represented his country at the AIBA’s in both 2007 and 2011 before turning professional in 2012, going undefeated for his first 17 fights at super lightweight, including his triumph at Prizefighter 31 and a draw with Tyrone Nurse for the then vacant British super lightweight crown in July 2015.
Jenkins would lose the rematch to Nurse four months on, but eventually claimed the Lonsdale belt three-and-a-half years later, outpointing in-form Londoner Johnny Garton following a move up to the welterweight division, and adding the Commonwealth with victory over Paddy Gallagher months later in 2019, his most successful year.
However, those belts were lost to unbeaten “Engine” Ekow Essuman in 2021, the first defeat in a run that saw Jenkins lose four of his last five fights, at the hands of Florian Marku, Tyrone McKenna and Cyrus Pattinson.
On social media, Jenkins explained why he understandably had to make the difficult decision to retire.
View this post on Instagram
“This is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write on here. Just to let everyone know, I have no option but to retire from the sport I’ve competed in since the age of 12. I recently had the yearly routine brain scan, it’s shown some abnormality from last years scan meaning I’d be putting myself at risk if I was to continue boxing.
A hard fight or hard spar could result in greater risk of having early set dementia/Parkinson’s. Having a young family, this is a risk I can’t even contemplate in taking. I need to be there and provide for my family, watch my lads grow up, be there with my wife, not having her tie my shoelaces or wipe my a**e.”
We at British Boxing News would like to say congratulations to Jenkins on a fantastic career and wish a happy retirement to the ‘Rok’n’Rola’!