Champ Barry set to go down to feather

Jess Barry proudly displays her Midlands title belt

JESSICA Barry admits she may relinquish her newly won Midlands junior-lightweight (super-feather in modern boxing speak) title.

The Coventry “Banshee” wants to step down to feather where mouth-watering matches await. She’s also put forward a lack of local contenders at junior-lightweight as a reason to give up the belt, won in June with a sixth round stoppage victory over Beccy Ferguson.

Big decisions await Barry who is in action again in September at Cannock’s Excelsior Sporting Club. She’s becoming something of a regular at Scott Murray’s exclusive venue.

In the ring, Barry’s a buzzsaw of a fighter and threw punches non-stop against Ferguson until the Stoke titleholder’s corner signalled surrender.

Of that performance – by far the best in her six fight career, the 30-year-old, now trained at Birmingham’s Eastside gym, said: “I was surprised and not surprised.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect it to go as well as it did, I expected a very tough challenge. I wasn’t expecting the stoppage, that wasn’t what I set out to do.

“But my sparring was the best it’s ever been, I felt relaxed and calm, I did feel really good. I put my total trust in the corner.”

Before that golden moment, Barry had suffered more frustrations than most fighters, with a string of proposed contests falling through.

She’s not naïve enough to believe a smooth ride through the rankings is now ensured.

“I don’t feel there is anyone to defend the Midlands title against,” she said. “It’s a little bit frustrating, I don’t want to set my sights on something and then find it isn’t coming up. I do want to fight over 10 rounds. I’d love to fight on a big show and it would be great if it was in Coventry.

“I did have an amateur coach who warned me about what comes with the professional game, but if I could turn back the clock I’d 100 per cent do the same thing. The pro style suits me a lot better than the amateur style.”

Barry has the stature of a featherweight, maybe even a super-bantam. There’s little doubt her future lies at 9st and in that division one contest stands out as a West Midlands barnstormer: Jess against fellow unbeaten hope and Midlands champ Sian O’Toole.

“Me and Sian fought in the amateurs,” Barry said. “I think that’s a fight we would both like, it would be a great local match. I just think it would be criminal if the fight wasn’t for something bigger than the Midlands.”

It is, therefore, one for the future.