THIS weekend, a quietly-spoken Welsh southpaw is looking to tame a hyped, heavy-handed American.
Sound familiar ?
In 2006, Joe Calzaghe was the underrated Welshman, Jeff Lacy the overhyped American – and on one of the best nights in recent British ring history, Calzaghe dished out a brutal boxing lesson.
On Saturday night, Barrie Jones is the understated Welshman southpaw and Lorawnt T Nelson the high-profile American heading into what’s been called “the biggest fight in bareknuckle boxing.”
It goes ahead at the Vale Arena in Cardiff.
Jones used to box with gloves on and three times fought on Calzaghe undercards, including the shows at the Principality Stadium that were topped by Calzaghe’s battles with Peter Manfredo and Mikkel Kessler.
“I was a big fan of Joe’s growing up,” said Jones, “and it was mad to be in changing room with him.
“He was always quiet and cool, happy to chat.”
Jones is a similarly quietly confident character, but at 39, he’s still fighting.
He had the 32nd and last fight of his pro gloved career in 2015, a stoppage of James Lilley that meant he kept the Welsh super-welterweight title.
“I had a couple of fights called off after that,” remembered Jones. “I was supposed to fight Bradley Pryce and it fell through twice. He was coming towards the end of his career, but was still a big name and beating him would have led to a bigger fight.”
The Pryce didn’t happen and Jones got on with life.
“I never thought I would fight again,” he said. “I stayed active, playing football and doing a few weights, so I stayed in decent nick. I was never a drinker.”
Jones says that thanks to bareknuckle boxing he’s “seen a bit of the world.”
One of the bits of the world Jones has seen is Miami.
He fought Luiz Melo there in December, 2021 – and beat him in 15 seconds.
“They were raving about how tough he was before the fight and saying what a good fight it was going to be,” he said.
“The plan was to have a look at him and then box his head off. But he came out swinging and there wasn’t a lot of room in there so I thought I would plant my feet and let them go.
“You get more knockouts in bareknuckle boxing, but you don’t take as much punishment as you do in a gloved fight that goes several rounds.”
Jones has fought at the highest level in both sports.
He went seven rounds with future world welterweight champion Kell Brook in June, 2008.
“I only had 12 days’ notice,” he remembered, “and I went onto it thinking I would save myself for the later rounds. I knew he hadn’t done 12 rounds either. I should have gone for it and then pulled out if I started to run out of steam.”
Harder to take was the eight-round points loss to Soulemane M’Baye, at the ExCel Arena six months later.
The Frenchman was returning from the loss of his world title and broadcasters Sky Sports – and most others watching – had Jones winning clearly.
After eight rounds, the verdict went M’Baye’s way by a point.
“He went on to fight for the European and world titles after that,” said Jones, “and I lost a bit of interest.”
Until he found bareknuckle boxing.
“There have been a few boxers who have come into it thinking it was easy and then decided they didn’t fancy it,” said Jones.
“It’s tougher than they thought.
“People think I’m beating people who haven’t boxed, but there are tough guys in it who have fought MMA and Sweeney could have done well with gloves.”
Sweeney is Jimmy Sweeney, a charismatic Irishman who is just the right side of crazy and did do well with gloves as an amateur before taking up bareknuckle boxing.
Sweeney, who had an amateur win over Andy Lee, has done much for the sport’s credibility, using his skills to win fights against improving opposition and usually leaving the ring unmarked.
Jones has beaten him twice.
“Jimmy has a good boxing IQ,” said the 38-year-old Welshman. “The first time I boxed him I thought: ‘He’s better than I expected him to be.’
“He was sharp, moved well and had a good boxing IQ. I could have started feeling sorry for myself, but I knew what I had to do, settled down and used my boxing brain.”
The fact is, the best bareknuckle boxers come from a boxing background, such as Sweeney, Jones and James Connelly.
“It’s hit and not get hit,” said Jones. “You can’t stand there and have a war every time or you won’t last long.”
Even when you win, bareknuckle boxing hurts.
Jones said: “You get more cuts without gloves. I haven’t had any wars, but I’ve still been marked up a few times and my hands hurt more than they ever did. You really feel the shots to the ribs the next day as well, more than I did when I was boxing with gloves.”
Mostly, Jones has dished out punishment in his bareknuckle boxing career.
He’s won all 10 fights – nine by knockout – but faces surely his toughest test so far in Cardiff.
“I always thought we would end up fighting,” said Jones of Nelson. “We are around the same weight and he has beaten a few of our top boys.
“I know he’s tough, but after beating Jimmy, every fight is going to be tough.
“Sweeney is one of the best boxers I’ve fought. There’s no one as good as him, boxing wise (in bareknuckle boxing). Nelson is different. He’s tough.”
Jones-Nelson will be held in a three-sided trigon believed to suit brawlers rather than boxers.
Jones is the boxer, Nelson the brawler, but the Welshman has won both fights he’s had inside the trigon.
“There’s plenty of room to move about if you’re good enough,” he said. “You just don’t want to get stuck in the corners. If you get stuck in there you have to fight your way out.”
