Double Olympic champion Jade Jones scores brutal faceplant KO in Misfits Boxing debut

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones got off to a flying start to her boxing career on Saturday night.

The former Team GB taekwondo star traded kicks for punches as she blew away singer Egypt Criss in two rounds at a Misfits Boxing event in Derby.

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Criss, daughter of rappers Anthony Criss from Naughty by Nature and Sandra Denton from Salt-N-Pepa, entered the contest with no combat sports background and was horribly overmatched.

Jones repeatedly walked Criss onto a clubbing backhand from the southpaw stance.

And in the second round, she sent her adversary tumbling to the canvas face-first with three consecutive left hooks.

Speaking post-fight, the London 2012 and Rio 2016 gold medallist dedicated the win to her late grandfather.

“I’ve always been a fighter, so even in taekwondo I used to come up against big, lanky tall people who just wanted to fight,” she said.

“But in true Rocky Balboa fashion, I just want to say, Grandad, I hope you’re watching me. Everybody that knows me knows how much of a legend he is.

“He changed my life, and we all miss him so much. I love you grandad.”

Jones then turned to Misfits Boxing president Mams Taylor to call for the ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus.

“Mams [Taylor] told me there was a knockout bonus,” the Welshwoman added.

“I didn’t get paid enough, so I had to do the knockout bonus! I’ve always had the very best support, from Wales, from Britain.

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“Switching sports, it’s a bit different, but the fans are through and through, thank you so much, the atmosphere was electric.”

Jade Jones’ switch from taekwondo to boxing

Jones inked a multi-fight deal with Misfits Boxing last year, marking the end of a decorated taekwondo career stretching two decades.

Her decision came off the back of two unsuccessful attempts at becoming a triple Olympic champion.

Jones went crashing out in the Tokyo 2020 round of 16 in a shock upset to Refugee Team competitor Kimia Alizadeh.

She was then on the receiving end of another early defeat at the hands of Macedonia’s Miljana Reljikj at Paris 2024.

Jones is now training with former British and Commonwealth titlist Stephen Smith in Liverpool and has set her sights on becoming a two-sport world champion.

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“I don’t know what gave me the idea, I was sat in my kitchen and thought ‘I’ll try boxing’, my family all think I’m crazy, but people who know me know it is inside me, I love to have a fight and a scrap,” she told BBC Wales.

“People can follow my journey, the good, the bad and the ugly. Can I get to the top? Will I fail?

“The dream is to be a world champion. To be a world champion in two sports would be pretty cool.”