Jay Harris: “It’s been amazing, and you know what? I wouldn’t change anything. It’s been full of ups and downs, but that’s the way it should be.”

Jay Harris: “It’s been amazing, and you know what? I wouldn’t change anything. It’s been full of ups and downs, but that’s the way it should be.”

By Matt Elliott

As the eyes of the boxing world turned once again towards Riyadh this past weekend, it’s easy to forget, even momentarily, about the landscape that exists outside of the glitz and glamour of boxing’s latest financial powerhouse. Each week, there are hundreds of shows taking place worldwide, across both small halls and arenas, featuring fighters with a range of abilities and aspirations, who can only dream about reaching the pinnacle of the sport. In reality, it is only the very elite that make it onto that stage, and while now and again a Josh Padley will come along and grasp their opportunity, that is the exception rather than the norm.

Even for those who achieve a high degree of success, the politics of the sport are such that winning fights alone does not guarantee you the opportunities you might deserve. One such fighter who knows that only too well is Jay Harris; the former British and two-time Commonwealth and European flyweight champion, who announced his retirement from the sport earlier this month. Having defeated Connor Butler last February, Harris believed another shot at a world title was in his sights. He remained in the gym and waited patiently, only for politics to get in his way. That left him frustrated, and, at the age of thirty-five, he decided now was the right point to call time on his professional career.

I caught up with Harris via Zoom to discuss his decision and started by asking him how long he’d been considering hanging up his gloves for good.

“To be fair, I was thinking about it for a while, if I’m honest. My family wanted me to retire after I won the British title, and that was my plan. I always thought that was the belt that had gotten away, and I’d pretty much done everything I needed to do in the sport, so I planned to walk away if I won that. But then, the opportunity to fight Connor for the Commonwealth and European titles came up, so I decided to go for them again and when I won that fight, there were talks about me potentially fighting for a world title again, so I held on in there. I waited for almost a whole year, and nothing came about, and I thought that with the momentum I had, it would’ve come last year, but nothing seemed to progress. Then I was going to fight in September but it fell through, and I started to do other bits of training, I was doing weights and stuff, and after that, I started thinking it’s going to be difficult to make eight stone again, and the thought of doing so made my decision for me really. I was happy with the decision, I wasn’t sad, it was the right time, and I went out as a champion.”

With the momentum that Harris had following that victory over Connor Butler, where he became only the second Welshman in over one hundred years to become a two-time European champion, it stands to reason that he should have expected another big fight to come along, despite not being signed to a major promoter. Was it a case that the opportunities were simply not put to him, or were there other factors at play?

“We tried to get a fight for the IBO title against Jackson Chauke, but the money involved, and the general politics of the sport were terrible, and then there was the mandatory fight with Conner Kelsall, that was a mad one. Before Christmas, Queensberry won the purse bids for it and then did nothing. From there, it just kept going on and on. The fight went back to purse bids and GBM then stepped forward and were looking to make it for this May but they were offering something like ten thousand pounds, and I’d have to sell two and a half thousand pounds worth of tickets, and I was like, I’m not selling tickets again. I thought, is this really what it’s come to? In my head I’m thinking, I’m a British, Commonwealth and European champion, and they are trying to get me to sell tickets. It’s not happening. I get why promoters didn’t want to sign me, because what use are they going to get out of someone my age, especially when I was planning to retire in any event, they’d only get maybe two fights out of me, so I understand that, but I had the titles so I thought either a big money fight or another big opportunity would’ve come along.”

This wasn’t the first time Harris had considered retirement. In February 2020, he travelled to Texas to face then-WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez, losing a unanimous decision but drawing praise for his performance. He returned to the ring that October, defeating Marcel Braithwaite over ten rounds, before back-to-back stoppage defeats in 2021, made him think long and hard about whether or not to continue.

“When I fought [Ricardo] Sandoval, it was an IBF eliminator, so the winner was in line to fight Sunny Edwards. Sandoval got the victory, and he went down a different route at that time. Then I dropped down and fought [Hector Flores] Calixto, and at the time, my old man reckoned that was a bad decision by me. Still, the winner was in line for a world title shot, and he went on to face Sivenathi Nontshinga, so I had no regrets about taking either fight because of where victory could’ve taken me and that’s what you get into boxing for. Looking back at the Sandoval fight, I was only a point behind before I was stopped, and I’ve watched it back a few times, and it’s a really good fight. Those defeats did make me consider whether or not to continue, but I decided to keep going.”

Harris competed at flyweight for the majority of his twenty-four professional fights, winning all of his titles in the 112lb division. For boxing purists, the lower weight classes are an enthralling watch, but they don’t draw the eyes of the casual fan, and for that reason, they are often overlooked. Harris admits that is something that is hugely frustrating.

“The heavyweight division has always been where the big money is, and you had the likes of Floyd Mayweather as well back in his day. The focus is on anything from bantamweight upwards, and anything below that is almost pushed aside. There are some fantastic fighters amongst those lower weights, but no one really knows about them, and I think that’s terrible because there are some very talented individuals competing there. Except for fighters like Bam Rodriguez, Sunny Edwards and now Galal Yafai, the focus isn’t on those divisions, so if Galal gets a big fight now, chances are most people don’t know who the opponent is because it’s not as well publicised or promoted. The fights are all-action, though, from rounds one to twelve, they are fast-paced and entertaining, and we do the same job as the heavyweights, but get paid a shed load less for it.”

For all the good that the introduction of Riyadh Season has done for the sport, in delivering the fights that fans have been asking for, I asked Harris if he thought this had further harmed the likes of the flyweight division, with the focus of these events very much on the heavier weight divisions.

“I spoke to someone about this the other day. The shows that have taken place in Saudi Arabia or are linked to Riyadh Season have not featured one flyweight. The focus is all on the divisions at featherweight upwards, and I think there was only the McCann and McGrail fight that didn’t happen that was below that weight. It would be good to see fighters get a chance to compete as that will help to promote the quality of the division.”

Focussing back on his career, they say it is often only when you retire from a profession that you can look back with pride on what you achieved. Harris certainly has plenty to reflect positively on, but what moments from his career is he most proud of?

“There’s a couple that have been pretty special. Winning my first title was great because before then I’d only fought once beyond six rounds, and then they chucked me in for a Commonwealth title fight. When I went to Ireland to face Paddy Barnes stands out, as he was the hometown favourite, and we took a good few boys over there, so it was a cracker of a day and weekend. And then, of course, the world title fight with Martinez. That whole event, I’ve never seen anything so good in my life. You had all the stars there. The weigh-in was different from what I was used to, and the way they treated us was amazing. The one that stands out though is when I beat Tommy Frank for the British because everybody thought I was done, and they only accepted the fight because they thought I was finished, but I knew what I was capable of, and I proved everybody wrong. I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to fight for the British, so when the opportunity came, I grabbed it.”  

Outside of the ring, Harris has been a personal trainer for some time now having gained his qualifications over the last couple of years and admits to getting a real sense of personal achievement from helping clients transform their lives through fitness. When asked whether he’d ever consider following in the footsteps of his father Peter, who trained Harris throughout his career having been a former British champion himself, he admits that getting into that side of the sport is something that has crossed his mind.

“You know, I think I do see myself doing something like that in the future. I would like to have a crack at it. Even if it’s through management or training someone, it’d be nice to give it a go and see where I can get to. What’s the worst that can happen? It either works or it doesn’t, and if it doesn’t, I can just go back to where I was. I’ve been there and lived it; I worked extremely hard to get where I did, and I’ve seen the dark side of the sport, so I think I could pass on that experience.”

We finished our chat on the announcement of his retirement. As Harris admits, it might be over, but it’s been one hell of a ride.

“It’s been amazing, and you know what? I wouldn’t change anything. It’s been full of ups and downs, but that’s the way it should be. As my manager Gary [Lockett] used to say to me quite a bit, patience is key. And I was very patient, I got my time, took my chances, and despite the frustrations, I’ve gone out on my terms.”