Gym – Hard & Fast Police Boxing Club
Hero’s – Mum and Muhammad Ali
I have been boxing since the age of 12, I first started by going to the Star and Fitness gym in Leeds to keep fit with my mum and that was when I first saw the two people who would soon be my first coaches Steven Franks and Leroy Brown. I saw other kids having fun and I decided to join in and I have been boxing ever since. I am now boxing for Hard & Fast Police Club with Coaches Martin Utley and Fred Gummerson and also Alwin Belcher an England coach. For work I do walk on parts for a soap opera called Emmerdale which I enjoy.
I had my first bout when I was 13, it was an exhibition bout in Leeds against Clair Newton from a rival gym, it was great a experience and I wanted to do more but as keen as I was to fight again, my coaches couldn’t find any other girls for me to box, it wasn’t until I turned 17 when my coaches found me an opponent in Newcastle, I won by knock out in the second round.
Two years later, in November 2001 I was picked to be the first female to box for England in a dual international against Ireland, I won the bout in the second round on the outclass rule, I was over the moon, both for winning and representing my country for the first time. In 2002 I got the chance to represented England again in a box cup in Norway where I got a bronze medal. In May 2003 I won my first England Amateur boxing National title, which I have gone on to win 4 times since.
In April 2004, I boxed in the Women’s World Tournament in Norway, to be honest I didn’t think I was ready to go to such a big tournament at the time, as I had only had 12 bouts and to make matters worse I drew the world champion in the fist round, but to my amazement I didn’t do as bad as I thought I would, It went three rounds and I lost on points but gained a world of experience, later on that year in September I boxed in the Witch cup International Tournament in Hungry, where I won gold, as you can imagine I was ecstatic, and I remember, I couldn’t stop smiling I was so happy. A month after that in October, I was selected to box in the European Championships, in Italy and fuelled with confidence after winning gold in hungry I felt more than ready for the European championships, unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be I lost to a girl with a lot more experience than I had, and she went on to win gold.
In September 2005 I boxed in my first home dual international against Italy in Sunderland, I won on the out class rule in the second round. In June 2006 I boxed in the European Union in Porto Torres, Sardinia lost in the quarter finals. In that same month I won the England Amateur boxing National title for a third time, in July of the same year I boxed in a dual international, Yorkshire V Canada, at the Niagara fall’s casino where I won unanimous, I couldn’t believe my luck first for being selected to go to Canada and then to win, a tuff bout, It was exciting,.
In February 2007 my club and my mum raised the funds for a boxer to come to England so I could box in front of my home crowed, I boxed a girl from Denmark and won, unanimous decision, it was the first time id ever boxed in front of my home crowed in Leeds, I was really nervous.
In may 2007 I boxed in the Ahmet Comert box cup in Turkey where I won a bronze medal, as you can imagine I’m over the moon about that, as its one of my greatest achievements so far, I’m improving all the time and I’m looking to do bigger and better things with the support of my sponsors Hilton Hotel and Livingwell heath club Leeds and Mike Thorpe Properties Leeds. My coaches and my mum have helped me and supported me a lot along the way and I couldn’t ask for a better mum.
