Double Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones will make her boxing debut tonight, almost two years after her hopes of a third gold ended in disappointment. The 32-year-old from Flint, Wales, has signed with Misfits Boxing and faces internet personality Egypt Criss, daughter of Salt-N-Pepa star Sandra Denton.
Jones's hometown has celebrated her achievements with a commemorative post box, a leisure centre named after her, and an Olympic sausage created by the local butcher where her mother works. Speaking about the post box, she said: "It's cool going past and seeing it, but it'll probably be when I'm about 80 that it will all sink in."
After winning gold at London 2012 and again at a later Games, Jones crashed out in the first round at both the 2021 and 2024 Olympics, ending her dream of a hat-trick. She described the period as very hard: "I was a bit lost. I thought I could be the greatest of all time and win a third Olympic gold and for it to just go up in flames... it was a hard time."
The transition from taekwondo to boxing has been overseen by former world title challenger Stephen Smith over the past 12 months. Jones said her new sport has helped heal the wounds of her last Olympic defeat, adding: "Through hard times you grow and I genuinely believe I'm a much better, stronger and all-rounded person."
Reflecting on her upbringing on a council estate in Flint, she said becoming Olympic champion "is almost unbelievable when you think back". She added: "I feel like I've learned a lot of lessons from that and I'm definitely not going to make the same mistakes again."
