Jack Rafferty
The Sheffield Sniper
Bio
Right then, Jack Rafferty is one of those Sheffield prospects who has been a gym secret for two years and is finally about to break out into national consciousness. The 26-year-old welterweight, schooled out of the Ingle gym tradition that produced everyone from Naseem Hamed to Kell Brook, has gone 20-0 with 12 stoppages by being properly technical first, properly opportunistic second.
What's brilliant about Rafferty is the punch selection. He doesn't waste shots. The right hand to the body off the back of a jab is his signature, and he's stopped six opponents with that combination alone. Quick hands, a sharp counter-puncher, and properly schooled defensively — Rafferty is the kind of British prospect you'd back to step up to European level inside a year.
The May 9 step-up to face Ekow Essuman at 147lbs on the Wardley-Dubois Manchester card is the proper test. Essuman is a former British and Commonwealth champion. Whoever wins this is genuinely back in the British welterweight conversation, and for Rafferty specifically a clean win sets up British title fights against any of the names floating around 147 in the back half of 2026.