Legends of Sunderland: Tony Jeffries, Herrington’s down to earth Boxer, Trainer and Youtube star.

Tony Jeffries (b.1985) is a Sunderland born former boxer and boxing coach. Now living in California, USA, Jeffries rose from humble roots to become an Olympic Medalist and establish a professional career where he was never defeated in the ring, only to have to retire early due to a hand energy. After setting up his training business, Jeffries has also become of the most popular boxing personalities in YouTube where he offers advice to those interested in the sport.

Jeffries grew up in East Herrington, where he attended Farringdon School from 1996-2001. From a young age he got into amateur boxing being inspired by his uncle Billy Bryce. He soon joined the Sunderland Amateur Boxing Club, and in 1999 while still at school he won the School Boys’ Championships. Later won gold European Cadets (U17) in 2001 and won the juniors of the 2003 YMCA International Cup in New Delhi, India. He also participated in competitions in Germany and Poland.

His youth level success led him to soon represent his country in a number of amateur championships at the Light-Heavyweight level, where he won bronze and silver medals. This soon seen him representing Great Britain where he participated at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Jeffries came away with a Bronze Medal after being defeated by Irish boxer Kenny Egan.

After the Olympics, Jeffries decided to go professional and signed a contract with boxing manager and representative Frank Maloney (now known as Kellie). From 2009 to 2011 Jeffries participated in 11 professional fights, largely around the North East and went undefeated, winning most of them by knock out. However, that following year he picked up a hand injury which hindered his career. Despite having surgery, it was unsuccessful and Jeffries was forced to retire, instead pursuing a new pathway as a trainer and moving to Los Angeles, soon starting up a boxing training gym in Santa Monica.

Jeffries’s new gym took the area by storm and by 2014 was voted the best in Los Angeles. Since that time, Tony has also became a very popular and influential boxing Youtuber. Some of his videos are very fun, where for example he recounts his personal training experiences in contrast to the ones shown in Rocky, and of course gives his own advice. As of August 2023, Jeffries has over 1.8 million subscribers, making him one of the biggest boxing personalities on the platform, and presumably the biggest name from Sunderland on Youtube.

On a personal level, Jeffries is an extraordinarily humble and down to earth person, as well as a family man. It’s hard to find a nicer man than Tony in his outlook and treatment of others. He believes in honesty, hard work and optimism, which makes his videos a pleasure to watch.