Jay Harris (boxer)

Jay Harris (born 25 August 1990) is a Welsh professional boxer who has held the Commonwealth flyweight title since 2017 and previously the European flyweight title in 2019.

Early life[]

Harris was born on 25 August 1990 in Swansea, growing up in the Townhill area of the city.^[2] He is the son of former British featherweight champion, Peter Harris, who is also his trainer. Harris began boxing at the age of 12 after going to the gym with a friend.^[3] Alongside boxing, he works part-time at Amazon.^[4]

Professional career[]

Harris made his professional debut on 27 July 2013 at the Newport Centre, Wales, scoring a four-round points decision (PTS) victory over Brett Fidoe.^[5]

After compiling a record of 9–0 (6 KO), he challenged Thomas Essomba for the Commonwealth flyweight title on 24 February 2017 at the York Hall, London. The fight was televised live on BoxNation, with Harris winning via unanimous decision (UD) over twelve rounds. The judges' scorecards read 117–112, 116–113 and 115–114.^[6] Following three more wins, one by knockout (KO), he made the first defence of his Commonwealth title against Ross Murray on 3 November 2018 at the York Hall. Harris successfully retained his title with a third-round technical knockout (TKO).^[7]

After a six-round PTS win over Brett Fidoe in March 2019, he next fought former world title challenger Angel Moreno on 1 June at the Vale Sports Arena in Cardiff, with the vacant European flyweight title on the line. All three judges scored the bout in favour of Harris, with the scorecards reading 120–108, 119–109 and 117–111, awarding Harris the European title via UD.^[8]

Four months later, he faced two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former world title challenger Paddy Barnes on 11 October at the Ulster Hall, Belfast, for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental flyweight title. The fight was streamed live on ESPN+ in the United States and globally through YouTube channel iFL TV,^[9] with Harris capturing his third professional title with a fourth-round KO. Harris, being the bigger of the two, used the height and reach difference to his advantage, boxing at range with sharp jabs and straight right hands. In the final 60 seconds of round one, Harris landed a straight right hand to stun Barnes and send the former three-time Olympian reeling into the ropes. After a follow up attack by Harris, Barnes fired back with a rapid ten punch combination, all of which were taken on the gloves by Harris. Round two saw much of the same, Harris staying at range, continuing to land jabs and straight right hands to the head with Barnes having little success. The third was an action packed round. With Harris electing to fight at close quarters, Barnes began finding the target with hooks to the head and body, opening a cut above Harris' right eye. In the final minute of the round, Harris landed a left hook to the body that dropped Barnes to undo the Irishman's previous success. He raised to his feet before the referee's count of ten to see out the remainder of the round. The end came in the round four. With Harris going back to fighting at range, Barnes took punishment throughout, finally being dropped with a left hook to the midsection. Unable to beat the count of ten, the fight was stopped with 48 seconds remaining.^[10][11]

Professional boxing record[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
21	Loss	18–3	Hector Gabriel Flores	KO	6 (10), 1:32	26 Nov 2021	Vale Sports Arena, Cardiff, Wales	For WBA Inter-Continental light-flyweight title
20	Loss	18–2	Ricardo Rafael Sandoval	KO	8 (12), 2:12	25 Jun 2021	Bolton Whites Hotel, Bolton, England
19	Win	18–1	Marcel Braithwaite	UD	10	18 Oct 2020	Production Park Studios, South Kirkby, England
18	Loss	17–1	Julio Cesar Martinez	UD	12	29 Feb 2020	The Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas, US	For WBC flyweight title
17	Win	17–0	Paddy Barnes	KO	4 (10), 2:14	11 Oct 2019	Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental flyweight title
16	Win	16–0	Angel Moreno	UD	12	1 Jun 2019	Vale Sports Arena, Cardiff, Wales	Won vacant European flyweight title
15	Win	15–0	Brett Fidoe	PTS	6	1 Mar 2019	Vale Sports Arena, Cardiff, Wales
14	Win	14–0	Ross Murray	TKO	3 (12), 2:48	3 Nov 2018	York Hall, London, England	Retained Commonwealth flyweight title
13	Win	13–0	Cristian Narvaez	PTS	6	11 Aug 2018	Llandarcy Academy of Sport, Neath, Wales
12	Win	12–0	Gyula Dodu	KO	2 (8), 0:29	13 Nov 2017	Hilton Hotel, London, England
11	Win	11–0	Michael Barnor	PTS	6	22 Jul 2017	LC2, Swansea, Wales
10	Win	10–0	Thomas Essomba	UD	12	24 Feb 2017	York Hall, London, England	Won Commonwealth flyweight title
9	Win	9–0	Phil Smith	TKO	4 (6), 2:04	26 Nov 2016	Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
8	Win	8–0	Ramesh Ahmadi	KO	3 (8), 0:55	16 Jul 2016	Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff, Wales
7	Win	7–0	David Koos	TKO	3 (6)	23 Nov 2015	Hilton Hotel, London, England
6	Win	6–0	Tibor Nadori	KO	1 (6), 1:35	17 Jul 2015	York Hall, London, England
5	Win	5–0	Stefan Slavchev	TKO	3 (6), 2:29	14 Feb 2015	Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England
4	Win	4–0	Francis Croes	KO	4 (6), 1:33	27 Oct 2014	Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, England
3	Win	3–0	Ricky Leach	PTS	4	1 Aug 2014	Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England
2	Win	2–0	Gary Reeve	PTS	4	29 Mar 2014	Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
1	Win	1–0	Brett Fidoe	PTS	4	27 Jul 2013	Newport Centre, Newport, Wales

References[]

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