'I'm lucky to be able to finish on my own terms': Blackpool's 'Jazzy' Jeff Thomas calls time on his boxing career for a second time

Blackpool’s ‘Jazzy’ Jeff Thomas has called time on his boxing career for the second time.

The 38-year-old announced his retirement at the weekend after losing on points to young prospect George Davey at London’s York Hall.

The lightweight becomes the latest Fylde coast fighter to call it a day following the recent retirements of Matty Askin, Scotty Cardle and Adam Little.

He finishes his career, which first got underway in 2001, with a record of 12 wins from his 23 fights, with eight losses and three draws.

“The important thing is being able to finish on your own terms, I’m so lucky in that regard,” he told The Gazette.

“You see boxers like Danny Williams who are only just retiring now, he’s nearly 50 now and has been stopped so many times. It’s so sad to see that.

“I’m just glad I have good people around me and a good family, so I’m really lucky. I’m definitely one of boxing’s success stories even though I never managed to win a title.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t go out on a win, but for me the whole process of getting to this point meant I was alright with it. It allowed me to negotiate certain parts of my life, so I was quite happy with it really.

“It’s very rare you’ll catch me ever smiling at the end of a contest I’ve lost but I felt quite happy at the end. I did my best and as you get older, you have to concede you slow down a little bit.

“I performed pretty well in the fight, it was a good contest.”

After eight years in retirement, Thomas returned to the sport in March of this year with a points win over Dale Arrowsmith.

Three years prior to that, the fighter suffered a serious shoulder injury in a motorbike accident which resulted in him putting on a lot of weight.

After overcoming his personal demons, he rediscovered a burning desire to get back into the gym which led to his unlikely comeback.

“I know it’s a rare achievement to get into good shape and win professional boxing matches. It’s amazing to win any professional boxing match, but to do it at 38 was an incredible feat,” Thomas added.

“We didn’t get the title I always wanted but it’s just one of those things. Not everything is meant to be in life.

“When you look at it, I didn’t actually have that many fights really considering how long I’ve done it for. It was only 23 fights.

“But I still managed to get so much in there. I was a prospect, I was the opponent, I was the challenger for the title, I was the dangerman who people worried about. I did it all in a relatively short career in terms of the number of fights.

“One of the biggest highlights for me was being named number seven in Britain in my weight division in the Boxing News magazine, which is something I read religiously as a child.

“I read it after a loss and at the time I was thinking about quitting. But I opened the magazine and saw the rankings and that’s what made me carry on.

“Because I never won a title, that’s probably the most recognition I got. I really appreciated that people thought I was that good I could get in the top 10 in the UK.

“At the time the division was absolutely rammed with quality fighters as well, so to be placed in there was really flattering for me.

“Apart from that, I fought for the British Masters title twice, I fought for the Irish title, I fought in Prizefighter, I sparred Marco Antonio Barrera, fought Ricky Burns, there’s so many I couldn’t narrow it down.

“It’s been an amazing journey, one that has really changed my life in so many ways and I feel really lucky to have experienced it all.”

As for what comes next, Thomas has plenty of options, adding: “I love coaching, I love boxing and I think I have a good understanding of it, so I’ll certainly be looking to improve on my coaching.

“I’ve definitely let that side of things go a little bit during Covid, I’ve not been pushing as much as normal which I need to address. I’m looking to put together a bit of a boxing team.

“In terms of my own goals, I might do something with the grappling because that’s something I really enjoy.

“There’s some good competitions, so I wouldn’t mind having a look at those and training for them like it was a boxing match.”