Anthony Small (also known as Abdul Haq[1]) is a retired professional boxer and Islamic political activist who was born 20 June 1981 in Lewisham, London, England. He held both the British and Commonwealth belts at light middleweight. He was also referred to as 'Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jr.' (SRCJJ), in homage to Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, and Roy Jones Jr. Small converted to Sunni Islam at the age of 24. He is active on his YouTube blog where he advocates for Sharia (Islamic political ideology) to be implemented in Britain and is a follower of Anjem Choudary and a member of Al-Muhajiroun/Islam4UK.[2]
Anthony Small | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anthony Small 20 June 1981 |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jr. |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Light Middleweight |
| Stance | unorthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 25 |
| Wins | 23 |
| Wins by KO | 16 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Boxing career
editEarly professional career
editSmall turned professional aged 23 in 2004 with a first-round knockout of Lance Hall. He was managed by boxing promoter Frank Warren, who had seen Small to wins over former Ukrainian Light Middleweight Champion Vladimir Borovski and previously unbeaten prospect Prince Arron. He also scored a win for the UK team in The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA on 30 March 2007, defeating Walter Wright in the first matchup of the tournament by a close split decision. However, his World Title hopes were given a massive dent when he was beaten by a technical knockout in round seven by Bradley Pryce whilst fighting for the Commonwealth Light-Middleweight title.[3][4]
Small's boxing style was considered to be unorthodox. He kept his gloves low, relying on body movement to avoid punches, rather than blocking. Due to his low hand position, he relied mainly on his natural hand speed to surprise his opponents when punching. Additionally, he shifted from the left-foot-forward orthodox stance to the right-foot-forward southpaw stance throughout the bout.
Route to contention
editHis first fight back following his defeat by Pryce was on 12 January 2008 for the Southern Area Title Light-Middleweight title when he defeated Mehrdud Takaloo by TKO after 7 rounds.[5] On 14 June, he made his first defence, beating George Katsimpas by TKO in the 8th, flooring Katsimpas with a bodyshot. He finished a successful year by also defeating ex-contender star Freddy Curiel with a tenth round stoppage as well as former British title challenger Steve Conway.
British and Commonwealth champion
editOn 18 July 2009, Small fought for and won both the British and Commonwealth champion with an 8th round stoppage of Manchester's Matthew Hall after overwhelming him with a vicious flurry of hooks in the 8th, which forced the referee to stop the contest.[6] He made his first defence of both titles on 27 November 2009 in a close decision win over Thomas McDonagh over 12 rounds.[7] Small was criticised for his performance with many believing McDonagh had won. Small chose to give up the Commonwealth title and hold on to the British belt, defending it against mandatory challenger Sam Webb on 26 March 2010, who had also beaten McDonagh on points. The fight, which was also close, went the distance with Webb surviving a nasty cut in the fifth round to claim the judges decision on points handing a second career defeat to Small.[8]
Protest controversy
editSmall attracted controversy when he took part in a march in Barking, East London, to protest against the British presence in the war in Afghanistan. Small, a Salafi Muslim, had joined with around 50 other demonstrators who called themselves 'Muslims Against Crusades', which is a new front for al-Muhajiroun/Islam4UK, at the march on 15 June 2010.[9]
In 2014, he was arrested after two other men were apprehended at Dover with false documents, and appeared in court at the Old Bailey on 15 June 2015 charged with planning to go to Syria to fight with Islamic State after spreading terrorist material online.[10] He was found not guilty.[11] In January 2018 Small was formally charged with "encouraging acts of terrorism" in a 2016 social media post following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.[12] He was acquitted in June.[13]
Other media appearances
editIn 2016, he appeared on the BBC Two documentary Muslims Like Us, in which ten Muslims of diverse beliefs were placed in a house together. His appearance was controversial for being potentially unrepresentative of the views of most Muslims in the UK, although reviewers noted that he was challenged vehemently on his views by the other housemates.[14][15][16]
Professional boxing record
edit| 25 fights | 23 wins | 2 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 16 | 1 |
| By decision | 7 | 1 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| No contests | 0 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Loss | 23–2 |  Sam Webb
|
MD | 12 | 2010-03-26 | Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham, England
|
Lost BBBofC British Super welterweight title. |
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Thomas McDonagh
|
UD | 12 | 2009-11-27 | Robin Park Centre, Wigan, England
|
Retained BBBofC British Super welterweight title. Retained Commonwealth (British Empire) Super welterweight title. |
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | Matthew Hall
|
TKO | 8 (12), 2:21 | 2009-07-18 | M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, England
|
Won vacant BBBofC British Super welterweight title. Won Commonwealth (British Empire) Super welterweight title. |
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Steven Conway
|
TKO | 2 (8), 0:28 | 2008-12-06 | ExCeL Arena London, London Docklands, England
|
|
| 21 | Win | 20–1 |  Freddy Curiel
|
TKO | 10 (12), 1:45 | 2008-09-12 | Grosvenor House Hotel, Mayfair, London, England
|
Won vacant WBA International Super welterweight title. |
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | George Katsimpas
|
TKO | 8 (10), 2:58 | 2008-06-14 | York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England
|
Retained BBBofC Southern Area Super welterweight title. |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 |  Mehrdud Takaloo
|
TKO | 7 (10), 2:57 | 2008-01-12 | York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England
|
Won vacant BBBofC Southern Area Super welterweight title. |
| 18 | Loss | 17–1 | Bradley Pryce
|
TKO | 7 (12), 2:14 | 2007-07-14 | The O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, England
|
For Commonwealth (British Empire) Super welterweight title. |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Walter Wright
|
SD | 8 | 2007-03-30 | Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
|
|
| 16 | Win | 16–0 |  Sergey Starkov
|
TKO | 4 (8), 2:16 | 2007-02-17 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England
|
|
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Kevin Phelan
|
TKO | 1 (6) | 2006-12-09 | ExCeL Arena London, London Docklands, England
|
|
| 14 | Win | 14–0 |  Ciaran Healy
|
TKO | 3 (8), 2:55 | 2006-11-18 | Newport Centre, Newport, Wales
|
|
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Prince Arron
|
TKO | 2 (6), 1:59 | 2006-10-21 | Elephant & Castle Centre, Southwark, London, England
|
|
| 12 | Win | 12–0 |  Volodymyr Borovskyy
|
PTS | 6 | 2006-07-21 | Leisure Center, Altrincham, England
|
|
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Oleksandr Matviichuk
|
TKO | 6 (8), 2:10 | 2006-05-30 | York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England
|
|
| 10 | Win | 10–0 |  Kai Kauramaki
|
KO | 3 (6), 0:29 | 2006-03-24 | York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England
|
|
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Ernie Smith
|
PTS | 6 | 2005-11-23 | London Hilton on Park Lane, Mayfair, London, England
|
|
| 8 | Win | 8–0 |  Ismael Kerzazi
|
TKO | 1 (6), 1:53 | 2005-10-14 | Leisure Center, Huddersfield, England
|
|
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | David LeFranc
|
TKO | 1 (6), 2:11 | 2005-07-20 |  Salle des Étoiles, Monte Carlo, Monaco
|
|
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Howard Clarke
|
PTS | 6 | 2005-06-16 | Millennium Hotel, Mayfair, London, England
|
|
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Dmitry Donetsky
|
PTS | 4 | 2005-04-24 | Equinox Nightclub, Leicester, England
|
|
| 4 | Win | 4–0 |  Andrei Sherel
|
TKO | 3 (4), 2:09 | 2005-01-21 | Fountain Leisure Centre, Brentwood, Essex, England
|
|
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Howard Clarke
|
PTS | 4 | 2004-12-10 | Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England
|
|
| 2 | Win | 2–0 |  Emmanuel Marcos
|
TKO | 1 (4), 1:08 | 2004-09-10 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, London, England
|
|
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Lance Hall
|
TKO | 1 (4), 2:28 | 2004-05-12 | Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, Berkshire, England
|
Professional debut |
References
edit- ^ Interview with Anthony Small on Islam Channel - Part 1. YouTube. 7 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ Behead Muggers Says Ex-Champ[permanent dead link]
- ^ "BoxRec - Anthony Small". Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ "BBC SPORT - Boxing - Pryce stops Small to defend title". 15 July 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ "BBC SPORT - Boxing - 'Sad' Takaloo ponders retirement". 16 January 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ South London Today | Small outclasses Hall [dead link]
- ^ Scott Christ (27 November 2009). "Anthony Small narrowly decisions Thomas McDonagh in Wigan". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ "Webb stands tall to beat Small". SkySports. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ Tom Pettifor (15 June 2010). "Muslim militants hurl abuse at military parade in Barking". The Mirror. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
- ^ "British boxing champion wanted to join IS - court hears", BBC News, 15 June 2015
- ^ "Ex-boxer Anthony Small acquitted of terrorism charge". BBC News. 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Ex-boxer charged with terror offence". BBC. 18 January 2018.
- ^ Jolly, Bradley (5 June 2018). "Former boxing champ Anthony Small cleared of calling for terror attacks". Metro. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ Ali, Umbreen (13 December 2016). "TV REVIEW: The best parts of 'Muslims Like Us'". Asian Image. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ Ismail, Sarah (14 December 2016). "Review: Muslims Like Us". HuffPost. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ Versi, Miqdaad; Aly, Remona; Bano, Alia (14 December 2016). "Was Muslims Like Us a helpful portrayal of Islam in the UK?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2022.