Stephen Smith: “Jade Jones is doing really well. She is making massive improvements.”

Stephen Smith: “Jade Jones is doing really well. She is making massive improvements.”

In March, Jade Jones announced that she was leaving the world of taekwondo behind. The retirement call probably wasn’t that surprising, but when she made public her intention to try her hand at boxing, that would have surprised many.

“Boxing just excites me. It’s a new challenge,” the former two-time Olympic champion told me a few weeks after that career-changing announcement. “If you are getting the backing of the Smith brothers, then you have to have some sort of chance.”

Jones is embarking on her new journey under the tutelage of the former British and Commonwealth champion Stephen Smith. Jones has been joined in that thriving Liverpool gym by the former undisputed world super-lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron. The Northampton fighter has talked about her ever-developing bond with Smith, and Jones is seemingly enjoying working with that fighting family, also.

“I went around to a few different gyms. But my instincts just told me. I felt so comfortable there. I liked his vibe. How Stephen taught me on the pads. I thought that was the place I would be the happiest, and obviously improve the most as well.”

A few months on, the signs are beyond encouraging that Jones is adapting to her new world quite nicely.

“Jade Jones is doing really well,” Smith told me over Zoom. “She is making massive improvements, considering Jade is new to the sport. I’m really looking forward to people seeing the improvements she is making. Jade has competed at the top in another sport, and her mentality is amazing. Jade is a proper athlete. She turns up every day at the gym, and she’ll spend 30 minutes warming up and doing everything right before she starts a session. There is a reason Jade has won two Olympic gold medals; her professionalism is amazing. All I have to do is teach her more in terms of her boxing ability. Jade is coming on leaps and bounds, and I am excited for people to see her journey.”

Jones told FightPost a few months ago that she was looking to make her maiden ring walk in September, and her trainer believes they are right on track to make that date. “We are looking at September for her debut; that was always the aim,” Smith relayed to me. “When we first met up, Jade asked how quickly we could fight. But I had to see how she took to it and how quickly she improved. But I am pleasantly surprised how quickly Jade has taken to boxing. I am constantly hiring for sparring. We are getting lots of different girls into spar with Jade. She is mixing with some really good girls, and Jade is holding her own, and I am really happy with where she is at and how quickly she has improved.”

Jones has a story to tell. Something to work with for any promoter. She seems a natural for a major promotion and the bright lights. Discussions are currently ongoing to find the right promotional home for the former taekwondo star. “Jade is having talks right now,” Smith told me. “Her manager is dealing with all that. She is in talks with different people, and we’ll see what the best option is for her, and we’ll go from there.”       

“Who knows where this could all go?” Jones said a few months ago, and that is the intrigue in her story. Jones could have gone down the safer and perhaps more lucrative Misfits route, but she deserves immense credit for going the more traditional way. Jade Jones is all in. A fledgling fighter doing it the right way.