The Beckham of boxing?

Introducing Jack '13' Morris, boxing's new golden boy.

Boxer’s has a rule have always been known as having rather ugly faces, for example the boxers nose, the cauliflower ear, scar tissue, the high cheek bones, are what are usually remarked about of the boxers face.

However contrary to popular belief there comes along the pretty boy or better known as the golden boy whose handsome countenance makes a mockery of the trade he plies and clearly dispel’s such stereotypical view’s of the boxer’s boat, {cockney slang for someone’s face} and talking of boat’s don’t worry guy’s we’ll be taking a trip to the seaside soon, in the literary sense of course!

Through the years there have been plenty of good looking men who have traded leather but have dismissed the old adage about ‘he looks a bit banged up’ let’s start with Jack Dempsey, the first million dollar fighter who also had a short career on the silver screen with actress wife Estelle Taylor, then came boxing’s first golden boy Art Aragon, then Sugar’s Robinson and Leonard both pretty boy’s, Muhammad Ali, Tony and George Collins, Bobby Czyz, Donnie “Golden Boy” Lalonde the former W.B.C 175lb king, who Ring magazine stated as ‘diabolically good looking’ to Britain’s own Robin Reid, who in his spare time posed for girly mag’s in erotic poses, Calzaghe is another one, both former World super middleweight champions respectively.

However it’s with the super middles and Britain where we’ll stay, shall we? See down on the South coast there’s a super middle coming up the rankings and from Margate actually, look I’ll explain a little later!

Having only boxed six times and winning his last five in a row as a pro, he sure looks impressive inside the confines of a boxing ring, but talking of looks it’s on the outside of the ring he has been causing waves. Well he is from Margate ain’t he!

So without further a due, let me introduce boxing’s latest golden boy……Jack Morris.

See Jack doesn’t look like your average boxer with his boy next door good looks and as a native of Margate, the place of kiss me quick hats, I’m sure the ladies would opt to kiss Jack slowly!

Jack who stands six foot tall has been dubbed by many of the local lasses down there in Southwark as the Beckham of boxing, oh sorry guy’s I did’nt mention when Jack’s not at home weekend’s in Margate he stay’s in London as this is where he trains down at the City Boxer gym, a personal trainer during the day Jack also doe’s a bit of modelling naturally.

Having modelled in his teens, it wasn’t long before bigger names came knocking at the afforementioned City Boxer gym, one time Jack modelled in Holborn in London and was paid for a measly two hours work the grand sum of around five thousand pounds!

Modelling anything from Suit’s to Boxing wear Jack is at the moment in talks with GQ magazine and Men’s Health involving more work and only last year Jack was offered a week’s work in Milan, the fashion capital of the World, for a cool fourteen thousand pounds, as one of the top people from the late Alexander McQueen’s company felt Jack had the right look and build however due to there not being enough model’s with the ‘right look’, the shoot was cancelled.

However despite that initial setback of sorts, the offers weren’t far from big name modelling agencies and Jack was picked up by Dominic Barratt Evans, good friends with Jason Joyce who shoots some of the most famous people in the World including U2, Oasis, Cheryl Cole as well as some of the World’s top models amongst others….so Jack is certainly mixing with the big boys in the photogenic sense, say no more!

As I mentioned earlier Jack stands an imposing six feet tall, his twelve stone is distributed nicely over his manly frame, wide sloping shoulders with a good six pack chucked in for good measure and unlike most muscle men doesn’t suffer from what I term ‘lolly pop legs’ as his pin’s are shapely and well muscled like that of a footballer.

It amazes me that a guy that get’s punched in the face for a living is in my totally unbiased opinion a lot better looking than most footballer’s and for that matter film stars as well, so I told you quite a bit about Jack, so what’s his face like?

Well….. this guy is handsome, let me go on record as one writer once did in Ring magazine back in 1993 when doing an article on Billy Conn, the former light heavy champ, ‘he was the most handsome man I ever saw in my life’ and where Jack’s concerned I echo that very sentence.

Drop dead gorgeous he sure is, nice friendly blue eyes shine from his pale complexion, a nicely shaped nose and his lovely smile that’s harboured by wait for it ladies…..his squarish manly jaw and more importantly Jack when he speaks, it’s with a nice quiet barritone, see there’s nothing flash or cocky with this guy, he is one of the quietest people I have had the pleasure of meeting in my life.

Born on 15th August 1982 a day I remember well as I was a twelve year old at Leigh on sea in Essex and I remember seeing a pretty girl of a similar age. Both looking at each other I felt like I was falling in love at such a young age, it reminded me of that scene from Blake Edward’s film ’10′ where Dudley Moore is imagining running along the beach meeting up with Bo Derek {a regular at the big fights in the 80′s}, but sadly for me reality struck later that day as she left and I never saw her again. I could have cried but one thing’s for sure someone did that very day, some miles away in Greenwich it was a newborn baby….it was Jack Morris!

Never mind ’10′, the number ’13′ is a number that Jack seem’s comfortable with and this is for some reason his nickname. No one other than the man himself know’s why this is and in true Bond fashion, it’s top secret. See Jack won’t reveal the reason why he calls himself this until after one of his fights, possibly after he becomes a champion, so you could say ’13′ will one day be number 1!

And in true Patrick Mcgoohan fashion from the hit 60′s tv series, The Prisoner, he is not just a number, he is the man!

Whilst on the subject of numbers, Jack Morris however is from my knowledge the only boxer ever to call himself ’13′ and by eerie coincidence in the sport of baseball there was also another Jack Morris who had made history with the number 13, as he scored a record Major League thirteen consecutive straight opening day starts from 1980 through to 1992, so maybe there’s a chapter here to be written in boxing as well as baseball, but hey it’s the boxing version whose knocking em for six, man and woman alike.

Jack, real name Andrew Morris, is a proud father, but due to the British Boxing Board of Control deciding that there couldn’t be two Andrew Morris’ and there already being a Andy Morris a super feather from Manchester, Andrew named himself after his son, Jack.

The name conjures up images of an old time prizefighter, someone who plied there trade back in the 20′s during the time’s of another Jack, Dempsey that is and Morris fight’s like one too. My first time of watching him was last year at the Troxy when he defeated the durable Kenroy Lambert, who rarely get’s stopped.

Sitting there I felt excited just like when I was a sixteen year old watching for the first time the black and white fights of Dempsey, Marciano and Tunney. It felt as though I was watching a throwback, the very way Morris moved, let his shots go and managed to score a most impressive stoppage victory. Steve Holdsworth pointed out to me when I was around his house, “that’s a good result, no one hardly stops Kenroy!” so nuff said!

At the Troxy, on a big screen before the contest Jack was shown being interviewed by his trainer Mark ” the Burf” Burford. The big screen treatment fitting, as Jack is hoping that an acting career will hopefully come to fruition on a much bigger screen after his finished trading punches hopefully for punch lines!

Also it is hoped a much bigger stage boxing wise, with the good looks of a James Bond type, and like the nickname of his trainer, the “Burf” it could be the birth indeed of a champion boxer and film star, or like the recent film starring Jim Carey ‘I love Philip Morris’ all I can say is Jack ain’t too bad himself! While on the subject of celuloid, in true Bond idiom on getting back to that particular March evening last year, it was Lambert who was shaken, myself stirred!

Thus far as a pro Jack has showed progress more so in his last two fights beating oft beat journeymen Jamie Ambler and Adam Wilcox, it’s not just beating them but it’s the way he has, more conclusively than that of the other so called prospects. Turning pro in 2007 against Berkshire based Pole Michael Banbula who is a serial spoiler, Jack seemingly won four of the completed six only in my opinion to be robbed of a decison that rightfully was his, even Steve Collins went into the Margate man’s dressing room and told Morris there was no way he lost the fight, since then Banbula has retired former World {WBU}, British and Commonwealth light heavy king Tony Oakey and also spoilt the record of top prospect Tony Jeffries, so the proof’s there that this native of Margate can seriously fight.

Since the robbery against Banbula, Jack has rebounded as I mentioned earlier with a consecutive five fight winning run, firstly bashing up and earning a decision against Ricky Strike who groped, grimaced and basically came to survive. Next up was a switch hitter called Saibie Monteith who was outclassed and outpunched over four rounds, Jack broke his hand in the second but still won easily as his immense strength proved too much for the slick Monteith. Kenroy Lambert as I mentioned earlier was impressively stopped in four and since Jack has busted up Welshmen Ambler and Wilcox, taking easy decisions. The Ambler fight was scored by a point which was a joke in my opinion, however armed not only with hooks that weaken opponents knees but looks that weaken the ladies knees, Jack is a winner on both sides of the ropes it seems.

Surely a member of the bored housewifes club and many a teenage girl’s fantasy, let me put it into some kind of perspective shall I, after buying the trade paper Boxing News, showing my mate at work Dave Crossley the photo of Jack he remarked ‘good looking boy’ and then on showing my mum some film I had taken of my subject for this article ‘his not a bad looking bloke is he’, see everyone love’s Jack from the young to the old and it’s with the young that Jack works closely with, as he helps raise money for a children’s charity that helps children with various illnesses, conclusive proof that the saying ‘beauty’s only skin deep’ need not apply to the man from Margate as he is on both counts.

Last year at Jack’s bout with Ambler there was a brigade of charity workers holding buckets for Jack around the ringside to help raise cash for Jack’s designated charity. I noted in my fight report, “if only footballers followed Jack’s fine example! Jack the Beckham of boxing? Definitely! He’s better looking than both David Beckham and fellow pin up boxer Haye, and with bigger ball’s and better look’s than Beckham, his more golden than golden ball’s himself!

So call him what you like, the Bond or the Beckham of boxing, but one things for sure girls, Jack bends it like Beckham if not better and that certainly would be a case of ‘for your eyes only!’

See what with me being Michael Angelo, I know a oil painting when I see one, and trust me Jack is a masterpiece, but low and behold I feel that it only fitting that the last word should be left to Jack has he has a message for his female fans and his rivals in the super middleweight division.

“It’s a shame you know, because don’t you think if James Degale and George Groves were as good looking as me, they’d have more fans!”

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