I know this is a bit left field but does anyone know why Silky Jones didn't defend his WBO belt that he won against Verno Phillips on the 22 Nov 1995? He next fought 13 months later losing a British Title fight v Ryan Rhodes. I know the WBO was the greatest in the nineties but it must have still been worth defending.
I don't think there was an offer worth taking. Apparently, Paul was a difficult guy and never a big draw.
Jones was an Ingle fighter. His last fight with them featured Naz's debut on the card. Jones then went sent to spar at Romford and never returned. This didn't go down well and a young Naz soon switched from Hearn to Micky Duff. After Jones won the title he should have boxed Bronco McKart but didn't and then appeared to fall out with Bazza. By then Naz was with FW and a huge star with Rhodes on his coat-tails. Jones was the away fighter on a FW show against Rhodes who had just turned 20. Jones was 10 years older and they had sparred a lot together but not since Ryan was 15.
Lloyd Honeyghan had an amazing record. Won all the available belts, domestic, euro and world, beat the pound 4 pound king at the time in the states and even pre world honours, KOed Gianfranco Rossi in Italy who then went on to be IBF light middle champ for years.i know he went on too long but why isnt he mentioned in the same breath as Calzaghe Lewis Naz and Froch ?
Maybe not but, Honeyghan helped the UK boxing revival and no doubt plus, his away win against Curry still ranks as one of the best overseas by a UK fighter like top 5 of all time in my humble opinion. Also, I think the main reason for Honeyghan not quite achieving that lofty status was because he was around when the WW division was pretty stacked and fought often overseas. He has a pretty solid resume if not always a victorious one. Certainly had no fear in putting it all on the line.
cos people don’t understand or know much about the game bud. How can anyone mention Froch (who did very well in his career with little ability) in the same breath as Honeyghan is beyond me.
Honeyghan boxed everyone at 147 and beat P4P number 1 Curry. Calzaghe didn’t box everyone at 168 and if he had boxed Jones when he was P4P as he should have do you honestly think he would have won? Not a cats chance in hell. He made 20 defences of the crappy WBO title which was also vacant when he won it against a guy who had not boxed from for ages.
