Jérôme Thomas
Jerome Thomas ( born January 20, 1979 in Saint- Quentin, France ) is a French former boxer.
Amateur career
Jerome Thomas scored 1997 at the Junior European Championships in Birmingham his first major international success when he was in the light flyweight class ( up to 48 kg) only in the finale the Russians Georgi Balakschin defeated and took second place.
Thomas took three times for France participate in the Olympics. In 2000, he reached in Sydney Flyweight a bronze medal, he lost in the semifinals 16-22 against the Kazakhs Bolat Schumadilow. Four years later, he won silver in Athens, he was beaten only in the finale the Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa. His start at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 was disappointing, he was defeated in the first fight against Juan Carlos Payano from the Dominican Republic with 6-10 points.
His greatest success as an amateur was winning the title at the Amateur World Championships in Belfast in 2001, where he defeated in the finals later Ukrainian professional world champion Wladimir Sidorenko. In the 2003 World Cup, he was runner-up in Bangkok and lost the final against the local heroes Somjit Jongjohor. In 2005, he failed in the Chinese Mianyang in the first round of the Cuban Andry Laffita and again in 2007 in Chicago, he left after the first fight, he lost there against the Russians Georgi Balakschin.
At European level, Thomas was successful, the European Championships in 2002 in Perm and 2006 in Plovdiv he finished each with a third place. In Perm, he lost in the semifinals against Russian Alexander Vladimirov and in Plovdiv against the Azerbaijani Samir Məmmədov.
Professional career
After the 2008 Olympics, Jérôme Thomas ended his long amateur career and moved at the age of 29 years in the professional camp. His first professional fight, he won on November 20, 2008 in his home town of Saint- Quentin on points. There he did not succeed to build on its successes in amateur sport. On 3 December 2010 he pushed against the Spaniard Joaquín Céspedes draw for the vacant European championship. After a Ko. defeat in January 2012, he finished his career.
Jérôme Thomas ' older brother Cyril Thomas is also an active professional boxer ( 36-4-4 balance ) and two -time European Featherweight Champion.