Jay Harris: Welsh boxer goes from retirement to full career revival

Jay Harris is hoping to become a boxing trainer after he retires from fighting

It only took one sparring session for Jay Harris to go from considering himself retired to a complete career revival.

A former Commonwealth and European champion and a world title challenger, Harris was ready to move on to the next chapter of his life after losing three fights in four, including successive defeats where he was stopped.

Boxing is the hurt game and fighters on the slide who have been contenders - those in Harris' situation - tend to retire.

When fighters who have won a lot become fighters who lose regularly, retirement becomes almost inevitable.

Harris, 33, has completely ripped up the script. He has done something few fighters in his situation ever manage - the seemingly elusive career revival.

The Swansea boxer who was ready to hang up his gloves is now a British, Commonwealth and European flyweight champion.

He became the first Welshman in 103 years to win the European title twice, having beaten Connor Butler in a barnstormer last weekend.

For a boxer who has never had it easy, Harris has taken the hard route towards another potential world title opportunity.

'I genuinely thought I was done'

Harris, like most Welsh fighters, has had a career with few bouts at home and mostly has boxed out of the away corner.

The son of former British champion Peter Harris, who in the best of Welsh boxing traditions is Jay's trainer, Harris made his professional debut in 2013 for a purse of £100.

He amassed an impressive record of 17-0 boxing on small hall shows, winning the European and Commonwealth titles, culminating in an eye-catching victory over Paddy Barnes in Belfast.

Harris, a father of two who at the time was combining boxing with working part-time in an Amazon warehouse, had put himself well into the world title picture.

In 2020 he fought WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez in Texas, losing on points in a gallant effort that proved he belonged at the world level.

Harris performed so well that Martinez's promoter Eddie Hearn tipped him as a future world champion, but the reality was more painful, with Harris losing two of his next three fights.

He was stopped twice by Ricardo Sandoval and then Hector Flores in 2021, the worst possible time for a boxer to be on the slide as the pandemic caused most small hall shows to be cancelled. With Harris only able to box once in 2022, he began working towards a career as a personal trainer.

Retirement seemed inevitable, until it didn't.

"It was a hard time for me. After I lost to Flores I thought that was it, I genuinely did, I thought I was done," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"Carrying on, it just didn't really seem worth it. I spoke to my dad and my manager [former world title contender] Gary Lockett and told them what I was thinking.

"But then one of the boys, Joshua John, needed some sparring for an upcoming fight.

"I wasn't really training at the time but gave it a go and sparring him, that ignited something in me again.

"I told my dad I wasn't going to give up and try and chuck as much as I could at boxing in the short time I had left.

"I wanted to get back to that world level again... now I'm in touching distance of doing it."

Jay Harris was the first challenger for Julio Cesar Martinez's WBC flyweight belt

'Still on cloud nine'

Harris' renaissance began in May 2023 when he captured the British title by beating Sheffield fighter Tommy Frank in Rotherham.

That led to last week's fight against unbeaten Liverpool prospect Butler in his home city. Butler's European and Commonwealth titles were on the line against Harris' British title.

Harris took the unanimous verdict in an all-action fight, making him the first Welshman to reclaim the European title since Johnny Basham in 1921.

"The British title seemed like the one that had got away, because I had previously won the Commonwealth and European titles," Harris said.

"I never got to fight for the British, so taking that Tommy Frank fight was a no-brainer.

"I needed to get back to winning ways so I went to his back yard and that went brilliantly.

"After that they came up with the opportunity for the Commonwealth and European title. Hopefully that can open up doors for me and be the stepping stone to something else."

Harris, still baring the scars of his battle with Butler, admits his victory is a career high.

"I'm still on cloud nine, the support has been overwhelming. My social media has gone mental, people have been brilliant," he said.

"There's no bad blood at all between Connor and myself, but I had a job to do and that was to win.

"Nothing was going to stop me winning and bringing those belts back home."

Jay Harris' professional record is 21 wins and three defeats

'One more year'

Victory over Butler should elevate Harris on the respective world rankings lists, with the Townhill boxer desperate to end his career in the spotlight with the stakes and hopefully the purse, as high as possible.

But he is acutely aware that the clock is ticking on his career as he looks to go out on a high.

"Flyweights go on, but they also peak earlier," he said.

"Honestly, I probably have until the end of this year to carry on fighting. I am going to be 34 this year.

"But I want to go out on a high. I will work with any of the big promoters and I will go anywhere.

"I hope anything is possible. I've won all my titles away. I don't mind doing it the hard way.

"I don't care where I have to go or who I have to fight. I just want a shot."

Harris knows a big purse could set him up for a future after boxing, but insists a world title bout remains his biggest ambition.

"I got asked if I would take a big money fight next or, if I had the choice, a world title opportunity for less money. I would go for the world title," he added.

"I've been boxing since I was 12 years old and all my life I've dreamed of a world title, that's what we do this for.

"I believe I can compete at that level and win a world title.

"Boxing for a world title in Texas was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. The posters, the billboards, it was a brilliant experience and drives me on to get there again."

Can Harris become Wales' 15th world champion in the ultimate Cinderella story? It would be a foolish pundit who writes him off.

In a sport that figuratively and literally knocks you over, Harris just keeps getting back up.