Anthony Small

For the New Zealand cricketer, see Anthony Small (cricketer).

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 (1981-06-20) 20 June 1981 (age 43) London, England
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

Early professional career

Small 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

His 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

On 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

Small 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

In 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

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

1. 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.
2. Behead Muggers Says Ex-Champ^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. "BoxRec - Anthony Small". Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
4. "BBC SPORT - Boxing - Pryce stops Small to defend title". 15 July 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
5. "BBC SPORT - Boxing - 'Sad' Takaloo ponders retirement". 16 January 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
6. South London Today | Small outclasses Hall ^{[dead link‍]}
7. Scott Christ (27 November 2009). "Anthony Small narrowly decisions Thomas McDonagh in Wigan". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
8. "Webb stands tall to beat Small". SkySports. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
9. Tom Pettifor (15 June 2010). "Muslim militants hurl abuse at military parade in Barking". The Mirror. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
10. "British boxing champion wanted to join IS - court hears", BBC News, 15 June 2015
11. "Ex-boxer Anthony Small acquitted of terrorism charge". BBC News. 5 June 2018.
12. "Ex-boxer charged with terror offence". BBC. 18 January 2018.
13. Jolly, Bradley (5 June 2018). "Former boxing champ Anthony Small cleared of calling for terror attacks". Metro. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
14. Ali, Umbreen (13 December 2016). "TV REVIEW: The best parts of 'Muslims Like Us'". Asian Image. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
15. Ismail, Sarah (14 December 2016). "Review: Muslims Like Us". HuffPost. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
16. 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.

Preceded by Ryan Rhodes vacated	British Light Middleweight Champion 18 July 2009 – 26 March 2010	Succeeded by Sam Webb
Preceded by Matthew Hall	Commonwealth Light Middleweight Champion 18 July 2009 –	Succeeded by Craig Watson