Sport

‘Rhoose Rhino’ extends his unbeaten professional record

Glamorgan Star news 12/03/2022

3 minutes read

Jay Munn’s latest victory was on points against a tough opponent.

‘Rhoose Rhino’ extends his unbeaten professional record

SPORT | Boxing

UPDATE: Talented Rhoose boxer Jay Munn added to his undefeated professional record yesterday (12th March) by beating Bulgarian Teodor Nikolov with a 60-54 decision win at the Vale Sports Arena.

Affectionately known as Jay ‘Rhoose Rhino’ Munn, the young boxer is said to be delighted as he extended his wins to a remarkable 7-0.

Prior to the contest, Jay Munn had commented to his fanbase on social media: “Thank you everyone I appreciate the support / messages it means a lot ! X.”

Earlier report by Marcus Stead:

Talented boxer Jay Munn is hoping for a 23rd birthday to remember when he faces experienced Bulgarian Teodor Nikolov at the Vale Sports Arena on this evening, 12th March.

Jay, known as the ‘The Rhoose Rhino’ has an unbeaten record from his six professional fights, and in November a hastily-arranged encounter saw him defeat 39-year-old Russian Vladimir Fleischhauer at the MECA Regent Circus in Swindon in a four-round fight that went the distance: “He was a really tough fighter, he was part of the Russian amateur squad years ago, I’d say that was the hardest fight of my career so far,” he said.

The quiet, down-to-earth light-middleweight and avid Cardiff City fan is keen to use this fight at a venue close to his home to show his appreciation to those who have supported him during the pandemic: “A lot of people have really struggled through lockdowns during the last two years. I have friends who’ve had mental health issues, or have been out of work, or have been relying on state benefits that haven’t been enough to cover the bills.

“I wanted to do something nice for them, so I’ve given a few tickets out for free, because I don’t want them to miss out.

“These are people who’ve supported me since the start of my journey, so if I can give something back and help them out, I’ll do it,” he said.

Jay’s last bout saw a party of 150 local people travel to Swindon to support him, many of whom had made arrangements to attend a scheduled fight on a bill in Taunton the previous week that was cancelled at short notice due to injuries and positive Covid tests among those due to take part.

The army of supporters clearly means a lot to Jay, who rewards their loyalty by paying for their transport to his fights, supplying them with drinks and putting on free bars at specially-organised parties.

The upcoming contest against Nikolov, 27, will be Jay’s first fight over six rounds, and he hopes to produce a strong display in front of his home crowd.

Jay’s boxing hero is former light-welterweight and welterweight world champion Ricky Hatton, but he took his attempts to emulate ‘The Hitman’ a step too far by following his habit of piling on the pounds in between fights.

Following his victory in November, Jay ballooned to 84kg, which would place him in the light heavyweight division, but with disciplined training and the help of dietician Chris Price, within the space of six weeks he now stands at an optimum weight of 71kg.

Jay puts the weight gain down to partying over the Christmas period. He said: “It’s a huge amount of weight to lose. My old man put on a training camp for me in December and I said ‘yeah, no problem’, but then I went partying big time.

“I told my father that doing another training camp at that time would’ve driven me insane. We’ve all had to make a lot of sacrifices through lockdowns by not seeing our friends and socialising, so it was good to let my hair down and just enjoy myself for a few weeks.”

Along with the need to lose weight, Jay’s preparations for the big fight were disrupted by a split with his trainer Chris Davies just four weeks beforehand.

Jay’s manager, former Welsh world middleweight title challenger Gary Lockett, is now also his trainer, but the new training schedule has been difficult to fit around his day job at his father’s scaffolding firm: “Normally, I’d train in the mornings, after that I go to work, and then I train again at night, but switching coaches has disrupted that routine.

“Now, I train from 11:30am until 1pm, so work has been a bit of a hit-and-miss.”

The bout will take place immediately before the top-of-the-bill fight, where Craig Woodruff from Newport will take on Scotland’s Ronnie Clark for the British Boxing Board of Control Celtic Lightweight title.