Kelly Morgan (athlete)

Kelly Morgan (born 17 June 1980) is a former British boxer. She won the WBC female silver middleweight belt in June 2016. Prior to taking up boxing, she represented the England development team in netball, and represented England and the United Kingdom in the javelin throw.

Kelly Morgan
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1980-06-17) 17 June 1980
Durrington, Wiltshire
Height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1]
Weight72.5 kg (160 lb)[2]
Sport
Sport
Weight classMiddleweight[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)Javelin: 64.87 m (2002)
Medal record
Javelin throw
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2002Javelin throw

Sports

Javelin

Morgan started throwing the javelin at age 11, picking up a boy's javelin at her school and throwing it further than any of the boys.[3] She went on to win the English schools junior girls title in 1994, then a year later at age 15 won the AAA under 20 title, resulting in her being called up to the British junior squad. Injury caused her to miss two seasons, but she retook the AAA under 20 title in 1998, and represented the UK in the World Junior Championships.[4][5]

In 1999, with a new model of javelin being introduced, Morgan took the UK junior record with a throw of 54.61 m (179.2 ft), going on to win the AAA senior title in 2000, when she also broke two British under 23 records.[3][5]

Further injury held Morgan back, but she nonetheless represented the United Kingdom in the 2002 European Athletics Championships and England in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where she achieved third place.[5] 2002 was by far Morgan's best year for javelin: she broke multiple records, including with her personal best of 64.87 m (212.8 ft), and at one point ranked second in the world.[5][6]

Morgan required multiple cortisone injections to get through the 2002 season, and had an operation to shave away part of the acromion process towards the end of that year.[6] That operation led to a secondary problem, however, and as a result she did not compete in 2003. Instead she intended to focus on the 2004 Olympic Games,[7] but was unable to overcome her injuries to be able to compete.[8]

Netball

In 2001, Morgan competed for the English development team in netball, playing against the world champion Australian team.[6]

Boxing

Morgan started amateur boxing while in the British Army in 2007, but only had a small number of fights due to Army commitments. However, in July 2015, she switched to professional boxing, winning her first five bouts, including against world number two Szilvia Szabados, and claiming the World Boxing Council's silver middleweight belt.[9][10][11]

Morgan has been looking to challenge for a world title since July 2016,[11] and after a "very frustrating" time attempting to arrange a title fight, in January 2017 the World Boxing Council ordered its super-middleweight champion, Nikki Adler, to face Morgan.[12] In February 2017, the WBC told Morgan she could fight for the "vacant title", with her manager stating it was unclear whether Adler had vacated the title or been stripped of it.[13] However, before she was able to fight for the title, Morgan was forced to retire from boxing due to a sparring injury leading to fourth nerve palsy.[14]

Personal life

Morgan was born in Dover and brought up in Durrington, Wiltshire.[5][15] The daughter of Sarah, who played netball, and Russ, an amateur boxer and Army physical training instructor, she tried a large number of sports before finding a niche with the javelin.[16]

Outside of sport, Morgan was in the Royal Air Force until 2000, when she left to concentrate on javelin. At the end of 2001 she rejoined the armed forces, this time in the British Army, where she served until 2012, reaching the rank of sergeant in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps.[5][16][17][18]

Between leaving the army and beginning her boxing career, Morgan spent some time travelling, including working as a personal trainer in Qatar.[18]

Results

Javelin
Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Great Britain and  England
1998 World Junior Championships Annecy, France 18th (q) 46.58 m (old spec.)
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 3rd 57.09 m
European Championships Munich, Germany 12th 53.89 m

Boxing
5 Wins (1 knockout)[1]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Win 5–0 Borislava Goranova PTS 6 (6×2) 16 September 2016 Sir David English Sport Centre, Bournemouth
Win 4–0 Lisa Cielas UD 8 (8×2) 10 June 2016 Grand Leisure Centre, Swindon WBC Silver female middleweight title fight
Win 3–0 Szilvia Szabados PTS 6 (6×2) 20 December 2015 Grand Leisure Centre, Swindon
Win 2–0 Melinda Lazar PTS 6 (6×2) 24 October 2015 Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon
Win 1–0 Klaudia Vigh TKO 1 (6×2), 1:34 18 July 2015 Bath Pavilion, Bath Professional debut
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References
  1. "Kelly Morgan". BoxRec. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  2. "Biography". Kelly Morgan Boxing. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  3. Wilson, Neil (16 July 2002). "Athletics: Kelly makes no bones of her target". Daily Mail. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  4. Peters, Lionel; Magnusson, Tomas (19 January 2013). "World Junior Athletics History". Javelin 600g old spec. (-1998) Women. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
  5. Brown, Matthew (22 July 2002). "Kelly Morgan, Echoes of Sanderson and Whitbread". IAAF. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  6. Turnbull, Simon (22 December 2002). "Athletics: Year of the Big Breakthrough – Kelly Morgan". The Independent. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  7. "Morgan opts out of season". BBC Sport. 18 July 2003. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  8. Fordyce, Tom (7 August 2003). "Injury list grows for Team GB". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  9. Steele-Davis, Andrew (21 December 2015). "Morgan describes her triumph over Szabados as her best yet". FLIC Wiltshire. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  10. Reeves, Michael (21 December 2015). "Boxing: Morgan stuns world number two Szabados". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  11. Edwards, Matthew (13 July 2016). "Swindon's WBC Silver middleweight champion Kelly Morgan outlines plan for her to battle for full world crown". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  12. Davies, Matthew (26 January 2017). "Swindon boxer Kelly Morgan handed boost as WBC orders super-middleweight champion Nikki Adler to face her". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  13. Reeves, Michael (8 February 2017). "Swindon boxer Kelly Morgan given 'all-clear' for shot at WBC world super-middleweight title". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  14. Trehan, Dev (4 September 2017). "WBC Silver champion Kelly Morgan retires from boxing following eye injury". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  15. Bruce-Ball, Jim (21 July 2002). "Athletics: Morgan revives the good old days". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  16. Reeves, Michael (13 May 2015). "After javelin and netball, Kelly steps into the ring". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  17. Gallagher, Brendan (24 July 2002). "Morgan just a throw away from glory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  18. Flexen, Danny (16 November 2015). "Meet boxing's real-life G.I. Jane". Boxing News. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
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