Boxing News — January 11, 2018

http://www.boxingnewsonline.net JANUARY 11, 2018 lBOXING NEWSl 5

GUEST COLUMN

EOPLE say
women’s
boxing has
come a long
way, and it
has come a
long way, but
imagine what
it’s going to be
like in 20 years.
Back when
I was boxing,
I didn’t even
used to get
a mention in
Boxing News.
I used to
think it was
funny. They’d
mention all the male boxers on a
show and deliberately leave me
out of the reports. Now I’m writing
this column. Now I’m talking about
women’s boxing and how far it has
come.
Here’s another example of how
far it has come. Before a fight in
Denmark, I remember going to the
promoter and asking if he had any
meal vouchers I could use in the
hotel. He said, “No, you can’t have
any. You’re only in a women’s fight.”

Another time I turned up at the

British boxing awards dinner and

they wouldn’t let me in. They said

I wasn’t welcome. I said, “Why?”

They said, “Because you’re a

woman.”

That was what it was like back

then. I had no choice but to take

it, sleep on casino floors and fight

for nothing. It didn’t bother me. We

didn’t know any better.

Even when we did get paid, it

wasn’t much. Look at the night I

fought Lucia Rijker, the best female

boxer of all time, on the undercard

of the world heavyweight title fight

between Lennox Lewis and Vitali

Klitschko in 2003.

At the time, it didn’t get any

bigger or better than that. But

Lucia got paid just $5,000 and I

had to make do with $3,500. That

night at the Staples Center I went

the distance with the hardest-

hitting female boxer in history and

perforated my ear drum in the first

round. For what? A measly three-

and-a-half grand.

Even today, at a time when

women’s boxing is doing well, the

girls will be struggling. It’s better,

yeah, but the only one who is

probably doing well is Katie Taylor

and even Katie won’t be doing

as well, financially, as everybody

thinks.

Girls like Natasha Jonas,

Chantelle Cameron and Stacey

Copeland are just boxing on

normal shows. They’re probably

getting a few hundred quid. But

people don’t see that. The problem

is, there’s not enough depth yet.

Our girls haven’t fought anybody

decent. It will happen in the future,

they’ll find better opponents, but

it’s not happening right now.

The standard, overall, has

improved. You can’t say it hasn’t.

But it’s still not where it needs to

be. You could say the same about

the men, though. There are a lot

of terrible men fighting on our TV

screens.

Katie is brilliant, she’s got all the

tools, but her biggest attribute is

the Sky Sports platform. Without

that, she’d struggle like the rest.

I also like the look of Chantelle. I

think she’s got power. But the one

thing she is lacking is a platform to

help her get noticed. If I was her

I’d go to America, like I did, and

just start bashing them lot up over

there.

The best in America is probably

Claressa Shields. She’s very good.

She had a terrible life and is clearly

tough physically and mentally. She

also has some character, some

personality, and that’s what you

need. You have to have that bit

of personality if you hope to get

anywhere in this sport, especially if

you’re a woman.

I’ve got nothing to do with

boxing now but still get emails

every day from girls and their

trainers looking for sparring and

fights.

What can you tell them? It’s so

f **king hard out there.

It needs me to make a comeback

and kick the f **k out of all of them.

If I wasn’t 49, I f **king would do

as well.

IF I WASN’T 49, I WOULD COME BACK

Women’s boxing is improving for sure, but it’s still not where it should be

Photo: ACTION IMAGES/RICHARD HEATHCOTE

I WASN’T ALLOWED INTO THE BOXING

AWARDS BECAUSE I WAS A WOMAN

PIONEERS OF THE MODERN AGE:

But Couch [right] and Rijker

were paid peanuts for their

efforts on the undercard of a

world heavyweight title fight

P

Jane

Couch MBE

Former NABA

world champion