Quick Facts
Biography
Kelly Morgan (born 17 June 1980) is a British boxer. She won the WBC female silver middleweight belt in June 2016. Prior to taking up boxing, she represented the England development team in netball, and represented England and the United Kingdom in the javelin throw.
Sports
Javelin
Morgan started throwing the javelin at age 11, picking up a boy's javelin at her school and throwing it further than any of the boys. She went on to win the English schools junior girls title in 1994, then a year later at age 15 won the AAA under 20 title, resulting in her being called up to the British junior squad. Injury caused her to miss two seasons, but she retook the AAA under 20 title in 1998, and represented the UK in the World Junior Championships.
In 1999, with a new model of javelin being introduced, Morgan took the UK junior record with a throw of 54.61 m (179.2 ft), going on to win the AAA senior title in 2000, when she also broke two British under 23 records.
Further injury held Morgan back, but she nonetheless represented the United Kingdom in the 2002 European Athletics Championships and England in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where she achieved third place. 2002 was by far Morgan's best year for javelin: she broke multiple records, including with her personal best of 64.87 m (212.8 ft), and at one point ranked second in the world.
Morgan required multiple cortisone injections to get through the 2002 season, and had an operation to shave away part of the acromion process towards the end of that year. That operation led to a secondary problem, however, and as a result she did not compete in 2003. Instead she intended to focus on the 2004 Olympic Games, but was unable to overcome her injuries to be able to compete.
Netball
In 2001, Morgan competed for the English development team in netball, playing against the world champion Australian team.
Boxing
Morgan started amateur boxing while in the British Army in 2007, but only had a small number of fights due to Army commitments. However, in July 2015, she switched to professional boxing, winning her first four bouts, including against world number two Szilvia Szabados, and claiming the World Boxing Council's silver middleweight belt.
Morgan said in July 2016 that she expects the World Boxing Council to schedule "one more fight for me at 10 rounds for the [silver middleweight] title defence and then the next one will be [the world female middleweight] title shot." Her manager and trainer said in August 2016 that they were "working towards a ticking-over fight in September ... we are also looking at October/November for a world title fight."
Personal life
Morgan was born in Dover and brought up in Durrington, Wiltshire. The daughter of Sarah, who played netball, and Russ, an amateur boxer and Army physical training instructor, she tried a large number of sports before finding a niche with the javelin.
Outside of sport, Morgan was in the Royal Air Force until 2000, when she left to concentrate on javelin. At the end of 2001 she rejoined the armed forces, this time in the British Army, where she served until 2012, reaching the rank of sergeant in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps.
Between leaving the army and beginning her boxing career, Morgan spent some time travelling, including working as a personal trainer in Qatar.
Results
Javelin
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the  United Kingdom and  England | ||||
| 1998 | World Junior Championships | Annecy, France | 18th (q) | 46.58 m (old spec.) |
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, United Kingdom | 3rd | 57.09 m |
| European Championships | Munich, Germany | 12th | 53.89 m | |
Boxing
| 5 Wins (1 knockout) | |||||||
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 5–0 |  Borislava Goranova | PTS | 6 (6×2) | 16 September 2016 | Sir David English Sport Centre, Bournemouth | |
| Win | 4–0 |  Lisa Cielas | UD | 8 (8×2) | 10 June 2016 | Grand Leisure Centre, Swindon | WBC Silver female middleweight title fight |
| Win | 3–0 |  Szilvia Szabados | PTS | 6 (6×2) | 20 December 2015 | Grand Leisure Centre, Swindon | |
| Win | 2–0 | Melinda Lazar | PTS | 6 (6×2) | 24 October 2015 | Oasis Leisure Centre, Swindon | |
| Win | 1–0 | Klaudia Vigh | TKO | 1 (6×2), 1:34 | 18 July 2015 | Bath Pavilion, Bath | Professional debut |