WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones will receive a test from undefeated hometown fighter Ryan Coyne who holds the WBC USNBC national cruiserweight championship.
Jones began his career at 147 pounds but it took him adding and astonishing 53 pounds and fighting at the 200-pound limit before he won his first world championship, a 10th-round technical knockout over Firat Arslan in 2008. Jones is a gifted athlete and true fighter who has an uncanny ability to find a way to win in almost every circumstance.
The Panamanian lost a disputed split decision in 2005 to future world champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, but he rebounded to defeat former world champions Kelvin “Concrete” Davis and Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite.
In his last appearance, Jones scored an 11th-round technical knockout over respected former interim WBA cruiserweight world champion Valery Brudov when the two met on Oct. 2 in Panama City, Panama.
Coyne graduated from St. Charles High School where he was named “St. Charles County Football Player of the Year” in 2001. He played collegiate football at University of Missouri from 2001 to 2002. Injuries shortened his football career, and he returned to St. Charles to pursue a boxing career while earning a bachelor’s degree from Lindenwood University in 2005.
He has made steady progress in his boxing career, maintaining an unblemished record since turning professional in 2006. He won the WBC-USNBC national title last summer at Scottrade Center in St. Louis by knocking out Warren Browning in the ninth round.
Coyne also is known for having fought into the semi-finals during the fourth season of The Contender, televised on Versus, before suffering an accidental headbutt that forced him to leave the competition.
Coyne trains out of the Sweat Pound 4 Pound Gym in Clayton, Mo., under the tutelage of trainer Jose Ponce. The addition of strength and conditioning expert Matt Brown has helped “The Irish Outlaw” to increase his power.
