By Dean Parr

On the 22nd of April, Oklahoma City's Carson Jones, 26-7-2 (16 early) raised the vacant NABA Light Middleweight Title after a ninth round stoppage victory over Jason LeHoullier, 21-3-1 (8 KOs). The new Champion's trainer John Tandy was thrilled with the result.

"Considering Carson came to us for the first time with just under four weeks camp to prepare for this fight he did really well," said John. "He was coming off a poor performance in a draw against Delroy Raines and he was about 23-24lbs overweight and not in the best shape. There was a lot of pressure on Carson and myself to turn this around.

"We clicked pretty quickly and he worked very hard and listened well. We concentrated mainly on his defence, his punch output in regard to him throwing more combinations, his ring craft to stop him standing in front of opponents too long, and then obviously his general strength and conditioning. Michele, our nutritionist, had to work hard to ensure the weight was coming off but still allowing him to have enough energy to train really hard to get the fitness required for the fight.

"During the fight Carson followed the plan to perfection.  We knew LeHoullier was a tough kid and we had to break him down, and when the time was right Carson stepped on the gas and took him out picking up the NABA title, so I couldn't have asked for more. We still have a lot to work on but we have time on our side and I am looking forward to his future."

Indeed, despite Jones having several dints in his record, John is confident he has an exceptional talent on his hands. "Carson has a lot of ability," enthused the Talon Boxing trainer. "He has a number of losses on his record but he took a lot of fights at short notice and he had to fight through on natural ability alone, and tended to suffer late in his fights. I think he now has a great management team behind him who are going to match him well, and allow him the time necessary to get ready for fights. I think he has a great future ahead of him."

Also, Tandy is sure Carson has time on his side. "The main thing that a lot of people don't realize is that Carson is only 23 years old, but he has the experience of over 30 fights under his belt," he stated. "He's been through some tough times and for the majority he has had to turn it around himself.

"Now with the right team around him I think that if he continues to work hard he has a very bright future ahead of him. He has already picked up the NABA title so he is already establishing himself as one of the players in the light middleweight division, another few wins and he will be up there challenging for one of the major belts."

John is now looking for big fights for his protégé. "We just had a fight fall through with Harry Joe Yorgey which was due for June, but there are a number of names knocking around including the likes of Antonio Margarito who he was scheduled to fight on the undercard of the Pacquiao v Clottey fight, so if Margarito gets his US license back there is a possibility of that fight in the future," beamed Tandy.

"His future fights are in the hands of his management team, and I believe if we all work together he will get the right fights at the right times. Personally, I would quite like to see him in with the likes of Daniel Santos, Ryan Rhodes and Cornelius Bundrage in preparation for a future world title fight. I think his style would work well against these guys and they would provide him with the necessary experience to take it to the next level."