Chelsea legend Gavin Peacock’s one-handed son Jake beats the odds to become a professional Muay Thai fighter – despite being born without a right hand
- Gavin Peacock swapped football for religion to become a Christian pastor
- He and his family now live in Canada and his son is a professional sportsman too
- Despite being born without a right hand, 27-year-old Jake is a Muay Thai fighter
- He holds a 4-0 record and has enjoyed an impressive start to life in the ring
Chelsea and QPR legend Gavin Peacock’s son Jake has defied the odds to become a professional Muay Thai fighter – despite being born without a right hand.
The Peacock family moved to Canada in 2008 when Gavin turned from football pundit to preacher, becoming a pastor at a church in Calgary soon after.
With the family now settled on the other side of the Atlantic, it is son Jake who is rising to fame in a sport far more dangerous than the one his father succeeded in.
Jake Peacock (L) has his own gym in Canada and has become a professional Muay Thai fighter
The 27-year-old son of Chelsea and QPR legend Gavin Peacock was born without a right hand
The 27-year-old holds an unbeaten 4-0 record in his professional Muay Thai career, overcoming all his doubters after being born without one of his limbs.
‘My mum and dad have always been fantastic,’ Jake told The Sun. ‘They didn’t know I was going to be born with one hand so it came as a huge shock to them but they never babied me, they never stopped me from trying things.
‘I grew up just working things out for myself and I haven’t found any limits yet.’
‘I can’t throw all the conventional shots,’ he continued. ‘So I do things differently, my range in a fight is usually different to my opponents.
Jake has gone down a very different career path to that of his Chelsea legend father’s
Jake, pictured in his gym, is 4-0 in his professional career and recently became a father himself
‘I use my legs a lot to get me in on the inside and when I get in range, I can do damage with my right arm, I can use it like a jab or like an elbow and when I connect I hit hard. Using my brain is what has helped me as a fighter and as a trainer as well.
‘Because I was born with one hand, I think outside the box a lot and that usually means I can help people overcome some of the things they are struggling with.’
Jake recently became a father himself, helping his wife through her mammoth 50-hour labour at the exact time he should have been participating in his fifth professional fight in Wyoming.
The social worker turned fighter was faced with a 900-mile, 15-hour drive to the bout due to Covid travel restrictions, but fate meant he suffered an injury and instead stayed home to help his wife give birth to baby Charlie.
Gavin Peacock was a midfielder who enjoyed a long career at the top level, starring for Newcastle, Chelsea, QPR and Charlton before retiring in 2001. His biggest move was to Glenn Hoddle’s Chelsea, joining for £1.5million in 1993.
He and his wife Amanda also have a daughter, and they relocated to Canada after Peacock had completed his BBC punditry duties at Euro 2008.