Pat Thomas (boxer)
Pat Thomas (born 5 May 1950) was a Light-middleweight boxer, originally from Saint Kitts and Nevis, who took British citizenship and won two British boxing titles in the 1970s and 80s. After leaving Saint Kitts, Thomas settled in Cardiff in Wales, and is recognised as a Welsh fighter taking the Welsh light middleweight Championship in 1977.[1]
| Pat Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Light-middleweight Welterweight |
| Nationality |   |
| Born | 5 May 1950 Saint Kitts |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 57 |
| Wins | 35 |
| Wins by KO | 14 |
| Losses | 18 |
| Draws | 3 |
| No contests | 1 |
Boxing career
Thomas' first professional bout was at welterweight, fought in Manchester against Ray Farell, himself a fairly novice boxer with only two professional matches to his name. Thomas won by knockout in the second round, and this started a nine match unbeaten run, though none of his seven wins after Farell coming through knockout. His first defeat was a points decision to Alan Reid at the end of 1971, a fighter who he had faced and beaten six months earlier.
Thomas' next bout was in 1972, against Jimmy Fairweather in Walworth, saw Thomas now fighting in eight-round matches. A win over Fairweather was followed by victories over Mickey Flynn and Phil Dykes, before being disqualified in an encounter with Charlie Cooper. At the start of 1973, he beat Des Rea, the Irish Welterweight Champion by a points decision; this was followed by two more wins before he faced Rea again, this time beating him by technical knockout in the fourth round. 1973 ended just like the previous two years, with a defeat, a narrow points loss to Trevor Francis at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The next year saw Thomas begin one of the most successful periods of his career, going on a twelve match unbeaten run. On 15 December 1975, Thomas faced Pat MacCormack for the vacant British Welterweight title. He knocked MacCormack down twice, before winning by knockout in the thirteenth and in the process became the first immigrant fighter to win the British Welterweight title.[2]
After a win over Jim Devanny in February 1976, Thomas fought Italian Marco Scano in Cagliari, for the vacant European Welterweight title. Thomas was outclassed losing by knockout in the second round. This was followed by Thomas' second overseas match, facing Jørgen Hansen in Denmark; Thomas lost by technical knockout in the third. Back in Britain, Thomas successfully defended his welterweight title against Trevor Francis, but then lost the belt when he was knocked out by Henry Rhiney in Luton.
After losing the welterweight title, Thomas went up a weight division, now fighting at light-middleweight. He began in the new division by taking the Welsh Light-middleweight title from Dave Davies, who had beaten Thomas three times in the amateurs,[3] in early 1977. Despite the encounter being for a Welsh title, the match took place at The Stadium in Liverpool, the fight being part of the undercard for John Conteh's WBC World Championship bout with Len Hutchins.[4] Thomas' light-middleweight career was far more chequered than his time as a welterweight, losing to Larry Paul, before beating Rhiney and then drawing with Tony Sibson. In 1978 Thomas spent much of his time fighting outside Britain, but with little success. He fought twice in Netherlands, a win and a loss, which were followed by three straight loses, against former Olympic Lightweight Champion Chris Clarke in Canada, then French Champion Claude Martin and finally Spanish fighter Andoni Amana in Bilbao.
His fortunes changed on British soil, with wins over Salvo Nucifero and Robbie Davies, before losing to Kenny Bristol in a fight for the vacant British Empire Light-middleweight title by a unanimous points decision.[5] The very next fight was another title decider, this time for the British Light-middleweight belt on 11 September 1979. In that encounter he beat Jimmy Batten in the ninth round to take his second British title; though Batten later stated that he felt he had given the title away as he wasn't in the correct frame of mind due to personal problems.[6] Thomas defended his title successfully twice, knocking out Dave Proud in the seventh and then stopping Steve Hopkin in the final round with a badly cut eye. His third defence ended in defeat, losing to Hensol Graham by points. This was the start of a six-round losing streak that only ended with his retirement from boxing in 1984.
Professional boxing record
| 35 Wins (14 knockouts, 21 decisions), 18 Losses (4 knockouts, 14 decisions), 3 Draws, 1 No Contest | |||||||
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 7-0 | |
PTS | 10 | 15 Mar 1984 |  |
|
| Loss | 11-0 | |
PTS | 10 | 31 Aug 1982 |  |
98-98.5. |
| Loss | 13-3-3 | |
PTS | 10 | 21 May 1982 | |
96.5-100. |
| Loss | 7-2-1 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
PTS | 10 | 26 Apr 1982 | |
96.5-99.5. |
| Loss | 33-0 |  |
TKO | 4 | 13 Nov 1981 |  |
|
| Loss | 16-0 | |
PTS | 15 | 24 Mar 1981 |  |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title. 143-150. |
| Win | 14-1-2 | |
TKO | 15 | 16 Sep 1980 | |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:25 of the 15th round. |
| Win | 9-6 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
PTS | 8 | 3 Jun 1980 | |
80-76.5. |
| Win | 28-3-1 | |
KO | 7 | 11 Dec 1979 |  |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 28-3 | |
TKO | 9 | 11 Sep 1979 | |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:15 of the ninth round. |
| Loss | 9-0 |  |
UD | 15 | 29 Jul 1979 | |
Commonwealth Light Middleweight Title. |
| Win | 9-1 | |
PTS | 12 | 5 Apr 1979 | |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title Eliminator. 118-117. |
| Win | 9-3 | |
TKO | 1 | 27 Nov 1978 |  |
|
| Loss | 17-0 |  |
PTS | 10 | 5 Oct 1978 | |
|
| Loss | 25-3-1 |  |
PTS | 10 | 23 Sep 1978 | |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:25 of the 15th round. |
| Loss | 13-0 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
UD | 8 | 1 Aug 1978 | |
|
| Win | 4-0 |  |
PTS | 8 | 29 May 1978 |  |
|
| Loss | 8-0 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
PTS | 8 | 16 Jan 1978 | |
|
| Draw | 17-0 | |
PTS | 8 | 18 Oct 1977 | |
|
| Win | 25-10-6 |  |
PTS | 8 | 14 Jun 1977 | |
|
| Loss | 28-6-1 | |
DQ | 5 | 27 May 1977 | |
BBBofC British Light Middleweight Title Eliminator. |
| Win | 6-6-2 | |
TKO | 8 | 5 Mar 1977 | |
BBBofC Welsh Light Middleweight Title. |
| Loss | 22-9-6 | |
TKO | 8 | 7 Dec 1976 |  |
BBBofC British Welterweight Title. |
| Win | 20-8-6 | |
PTS | 15 | 22 Sep 1976 | |
BBBofC British Welterweight Title. 147.5-147. |
| Loss | 40-9 |  |
TKO | 3 | 3 Jun 1976 | |
|
| Loss | 33-3-2 | |
KO | 2 | 9 Apr 1976 | |
EBU Welterweight Title. |
| Win | 16-8-5 | |
TKO | 8 | 16 Feb 1976 | |
|
| Win | 30-17-1 |  |
KO | 13 | 15 Dec 1975 | |
BBBofC British Welterweight Title. |
| Win | 7-3-1 |  |
PTS | 8 | 8 Jul 1975 | |
79.5-76.5. |
| Win | 7-1 | |
TKO | 11 | 2 Jun 1975 | |
BBBofC British Welterweight Title Eliminator. |
| Win | 9-9 | |
KO | 5 | 28 Apr 1975 |  |
|
| Win | 13-4-2 | |
PTS | 8 | 4 Dec 1974 | |
|
| Draw | 10-4-2 | |
PTS | 10 | 25 Sep 1974 | |
|
| Win | 11-3-1 | |
PTS | 8 | 25 Jun 1974 | |
|
| Win | 21-15-1 | |
PTS | 8 | 22 Apr 1974 | |
|
| Win | 15-14-1 | |
PTS | 8 | 18 Mar 1974 | |
|
| Win | 29-33-5 | |
TKO | 4 | 27 Feb 1974 | |
|
| Win | 16-9-5 | |
KO | 1 | 21 Jan 1974 | |
|
| Loss | 9-3-1 | |
PTS | 8 | 21 Nov 1973 | |
78-78.5. |
| Win | 29-31-4 | |
TKO | 4 | 5 Oct 1973 | |
|
| Win | 16-8-3 | |
PTS | 8 | 26 Sep 1973 | |
|
| Win | 19-15-1 | |
PTS | 8 | 12 Mar 1973 | |
39.75-38.5. |
| Win | 27-25-2 | |
PTS | 8 | 15 Jan 1973 | |
|
| Loss | 10-0 | |
DQ | 7 | 22 Nov 1972 |  |
|
| Win | 7-11-1 | |
TKO | 3 | 19 Sep 1972 |  |
|
| Win | 13-8 | |
PTS | 8 | 15 May 1972 | |
39.5-39. |
| Win | 5-7 | |
PTS | 8 | 20 Apr 1972 | |
|
| Loss | 4-6-1 | |
PTS | 6 | 11 Oct 1971 | |
|
| Win | 4-2 | |
PTS | 6 | 17 May 1971 | |
|
| Win | 7-8 | |
PTS | 6 | 3 May 1971 |  |
|
| Draw | 3-10 |  |
PTS | 6 | 20 Apr 1971 |  |
|
| Win | 4-3-1 | |
PTS | 6 | 29 Mar 1971 | |
|
| Win | 10-10-2 | |
DQ | 4 | 23 Mar 1971 | |
|
| No Contest | 7-7 | |
NC | 4 | 22 Feb 1971 | |
|
| Win | 3-9 | |
PTS | 6 | 9 Feb 1971 | |
|
| Win | 7-5 | |
PTS | 6 | 12 Jan 1971 | |
|
| Win | 1-0-1 | |
KO | 2 | 14 Dec 1970 | |
|
References
- Pat Thomas johnnyowen.com
- Pat Thomas boxing profile boxrec.com
- North Wales' top-10 boxers of all time Archived 2012-03-14 at the Wayback Machine Daily Post, 22 June 2009
- Professional boxing, The Light Heavyweight Championship of the World John Conteh V Len Hutchins bfi.org.uk
- Commonwealth contenders and champs Stabroek News, 9 February 2009
- Jimmy Batten Archived 2009-02-18 at the Wayback Machine boxingnewsonline.net