Bloody Tony Jones battles to opening victory
Telford's Tony Jones battled on a cut to score the victory on his pro debut as Kellie Maloney returned to boxing with a bang on Saturday night.
The 23-year-old welterweight from Brookside was in the wars with wily Scottish-born veteran Matt Seawright at a small hall in Glasgow but emerged victorious,
A media scrum descended on the Bellahouston Leisure Centre north of the border. with ITV and Fox TV from the United States tracking promoter Maloney.
The 62-year-old, formerly known as Frank, has signed up Jones on her return to the boxing scene after undergoing a full gender reassignment.
All eyes then went onto Jones as he opened the show and then experienced bloodshed from the fifth, with the bout changed to six two-minute rounds from four threes at late notice.
Jones' trainer Brian Robb, after a 60-54 points shut out for his man, said: "You couldn't blame Tony for being a bit nervous, there were literally cameras following him around all day.
"Kellie coming back to boxing has, obviously, drew a lot of attention and I know she was delighted with the way Tony performed, as she told us after the fight.
"It's great exposure, but that means nothing when you are in the ring. Tony had to get down to business and he did just that – despite the pitfalls we had to overcome."
Seawright's hands down, in your face style led to a clash of heads in the fourth that really caused blood to spill come the fifth, with Jones nursing a cut and marks to his eyebrow and nose by the final bell.
No stitches were required, though, so the Shropshire fighter should be fine to tackle his next ring date at the famed York Hall in London on Friday, July 3 – Maloney's first promotion coming back to England.
And coach Robb was delighted how he used the jab to fend off Seawright – a tough spoiler who won't roll over for anyone – at the weekend.
Robb said: "It won him the fight, to be honest. We knew what to expect with Matt, but we perhaps didn't expect him to be as hard as he was.
"Tony hit him with a peach of a short right hand in the second, which really wobbled him. But that's what veterans do, they use every trick in the book to survive.
"It's great experience, really, and Tony had to both dig deep and use his brain to get the job done. In the long run, he will see the benefits of that."
