Overview
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.
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. 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, 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.
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. 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. 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
- align="center" colspan=8 35 Wins (14 knockouts, 21 decisions), 18 Losses (4 knockouts, 14 decisions), 3 Draws, 1 No Contest http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=2728&cat=boxer - align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Result align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Record align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Opponent align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Type align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Round align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Date align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Location align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3" Notes -align=center Loss align=left Chris Pyatt PTS 10 15 Mar 1984 align=left Granby Halls, Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Graeme Ahmed PTS 10 31 Aug 1982 align=left Buddy's Night Club, South Shields, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Brian Anderson PTS 10 21 May 1982 align=left Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Darwin Brewster PTS 10 26 Apr 1982 align=left STAR Centre, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Nino La Rocca TKO 4 13 Nov 1981 align=left Rome, Italy align=left - Loss align=left Herol Graham PTS 15 24 Mar 1981 align=left Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Steve Hopkin TKO 15 16 Sep 1980 align=left Wembley Conference Centre, Wembley, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left "Fighting" Jim Richards PTS 8 3 Jun 1980 align=left Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Dave Proud KO 7 11 Dec 1979 align=left Bletchley Leisure Centre, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Jimmy Batten TKO 9 11 Sep 1979 align=left Wembley Conference Centre, Wembley, London, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Kenny Bristol UD 15 29 Jul 1979 align=left National Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana align=left - Win align=left Robbie Davies PTS 12 5 Apr 1979 align=left Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Salvo Nucifero TKO 1 27 Nov 1978 align=left Civic Sports Centre, Kettering, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Andoni Amana PTS 10 5 Oct 1978 align=left Bilbao, Spain align=left - Loss align=left Claude "General" Martin PTS 10 23 Sep 1978 align=left Saint-Malo, France align=left - Loss align=left Chris Clarke UD 8 1 Aug 1978 align=left Halifax Metro Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada align=left - Win align=left Agamil Yilderim PTS 8 29 May 1978 align=left Rotterdam Ahoy Sportpaleis, Rotterdam, Netherlands align=left - Loss align=left Marijan Benes PTS 8 16 Jan 1978 align=left Rotterdam, Netherlands align=left - Draw align=left Tony Sibson PTS 8 18 Oct 1977 align=left Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Henry Rhiney PTS 8 14 Jun 1977 align=left Empire Pool, Wembley, London, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Larry Paul DQ 5 27 May 1977 align=left Digbeth Institute, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left "Boxing" Dave Davies TKO 8 5 Mar 1977 align=left Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Henry Rhiney TKO 8 7 Dec 1976 align=left Luton Caesar's Palace, Luton, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left "Boxing" Trevor Francis PTS 15 22 Sep 1976 align=left Hilton Hotel, Mayfair, London, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Jørgen Hansen TKO 3 3 Jun 1976 align=left K.B.
Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark align=left - Loss align=left Marco Scano KO 2 9 Apr 1976 align=left Palazzo Dello Sport, Cagliari, Italy align=left - Win align=left Jim Devanney TKO 8 16 Feb 1976 align=left Arden Sporting Club, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Pat McCormack KO 13 15 Dec 1975 align=left Manor Place Baths, Walworth, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Peter Scheibner PTS 8 8 Jul 1975 align=left Double Diamond Club, Caerphilly, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Jeff Gale TKO 11 2 Jun 1975 align=left National Sporting Club, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Jim Montague KO 5 28 Apr 1975 align=left Albany Hotel, Glasgow, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Henry Rhiney PTS 8 4 Dec 1974 align=left National Sporting Club, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom align=left - Draw align=left Kenny Webber PTS 10 25 Sep 1974 align=left Midland Sporting Club, Solihull, West Midlands, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Henry Rhiney PTS 8 25 Jun 1974 align=left National Sporting Club, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Mickey Flynn PTS 8 22 Apr 1974 align=left National Sporting Club, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left "Scottish" John Smith PTS 8 18 Mar 1974 align=left National Sporting Club, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Des Rea TKO 4 27 Feb 1974 align=left Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Les Pearson KO 1 21 Jan 1974 align=left National Sporting Club, Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left "Boxing" Trevor Francis PTS 8 21 Nov 1973 align=left Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Des Rea TKO 4 5 Oct 1973 align=left Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Les Pearson PTS 8 26 Sep 1973 align=left Midland Sporting Club, Solihull, West Midlands, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Amos Talbot PTS 8 12 Mar 1973 align=left Anglo-Welsh Sporting Club, Caerphilly, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Des Rea PTS 8 15 Jan 1973 align=left Double Diamond Club, Caerphilly, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left Charlie Cooper DQ 7 22 Nov 1972 align=left Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Phil Dykes TKO 3 19 Sep 1972 align=left King's Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Mickey Flynn PTS 8 15 May 1972 align=left Mayfair Sporting Club, Mayfair, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Jimmy Fairweather PTS 8 20 Apr 1972 align=left Manor Place Baths, Walworth, London, United Kingdom align=left - Loss align=left "Boxing" Alan Reid PTS 6 11 Oct 1971 align=left Manchester, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Johnny Shields PTS 6 17 May 1971 align=left Hotel Piccadilly, Manchester, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Tony Bagshaw PTS 6 3 May 1971 align=left Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom align=left - Draw align=left Mohammed Ellah PTS 6 20 Apr 1971 align=left Newport, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left "Boxing" Alan Reid PTS 6 29 Mar 1971 align=left Manchester, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Tony Burnett DQ 4 23 Mar 1971 align=left Newport, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom align=left - No Contest align=left Tony Bagshaw NC 4 22 Feb 1971 align=left Manchester, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Mohammed Ellah PTS 6 9 Feb 1971 align=left Newport, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left "Boxing" Keith White PTS 6 12 Jan 1971 align=left Shoreditch Town Hall, Shoreditch, London, United Kingdom align=left - Win align=left Ray "The Dart" Farrell KO 2 14 Dec 1970 align=left Manchester, United Kingdom align=left
See also
* List of British welterweight boxing champions