Secret scenes: Women's boxing
-
By Lucy Powell
Posted: Tue Sep 12 2006 
Co-trainer Peter Mitchell tapes Martin's knuckles But women’s boxing is currently experiencing a boom in the UK and, increasingly, the public are responding to it. In January 2005, the German TV channel ZDF reported that 6.57 million viewers tuned in to the broadcast of the women’s world championship fight between Regina Halmich and Marilyn Hernandez. On Sunday September 24, at York Hall in Bethnal Green, Cathy Brown will fight Juliette Winter for the Masters title that Winter won in Dagenham. Channel Five will broadcast the fight, on Friday September 29 at midnight, the UK’s first televised women’s bout.
Kathy ‘The Bitch’ Brown, who hails from Peckham, stands at an inch over five feet tall. The 36-year-old works and trains in the swanky Third Space in Piccadilly, which looks more like a club than a gym. Feature continues
AdvertisementBrown has been a pro boxer since 1998, but it’s only when she demonstrates the weird, egg-shaped muscle in her forearm that her profession becomes evident. That and her knuckles, which are enlarged, chapped and red.
‘I’ve got fighter’s hands for sure,’ she says, laconically.
‘I’ve broken bits off all my knuckles by this stage.’
Brown is ranked sixth superflyweight in the world, with a record of 15 wins and five losses in seven years. She is supremely uninterested in the sexism in the industry: ‘I’m used to it now. “Oh, you’re too pretty to fight,” they say. I’m an adult; I know what I’m doing and I train bloody hard to be good at my job. I can take care of myself.’
Like all pro boxers, Brown is in the gym six days a week. ‘I have a lot of anger,’ she confesses, ‘and boxing training really helps. You can come into the gym feeling really frustrated, and after an hour working the bags, it’s just evaporated.’
There’s a world of difference, though, between training and getting up, and falling down, in a ring. ‘I’ve had black eyes galore,’ Brown says cheerfully, ‘cuts and broken hands, broken lips, popped noses. I’ve been a mess after fights, but you don’t notice it at the time. The adrenalin blocks everything out except the desire to win. But it’s that moment, when you step into a ring, that decides whether you’re a fighter or not. Anyone can look like Ali on the bags, but it’s whether you’ve got a lion’s heart in the ring, whether you can be so exhausted it feels like there’s lead in your gloves, and still go out and fight, that’s what decides if you can box.’
She can’t remember her first punch (‘My memory did me a favour and blocked it out’), and neither can she recall why she wanted to fight, when she was a successful forensic photographer. ‘I’m just really physical, I suppose. I was kickboxing in ’98 when a promoter called and asked if I’d think about boxing. I tried it out and was hooked. The fights are amazing; when you’re standing there in front of 5,000 people, facing all your fears and using every ounce of your strength, it’s an almost spiritual experience.
- Add your comment to this feature
More ways to enjoy Time Out
-
Weekly London newsletter
The best of London in your inbox
-
Time Out Widgets
|
|
23 comments
As a victim of abuse and rape, I would love to do this - I feel like kicking someone's arse everyday - might as well do it constructively.
Just wanted to clear up that she's not Canadian, but American (they are two seperate countries). Thanks!
I'm 13 and I want to become a good female boxer-I do want to fight and I want to encourage female boxing more! I live in Dorset does anyone know a club for female boxers? I'm currently a member at a club but me and only a few other girls train there none want to fight.
does anyone know of anywhere in birmingham i could train. I don't want to fight i just need get fit and have fun. Any help would be great :)
I'm male...not actually a boxer,but learning the basics at the momment.... I'm so intrigued by female boxers that I'd love to spar or even have a couple of rounds with a female boxer and test her skills.... I'm only 120 lbs but think I could block what ever is thrown my way, so Mariann, Dena,any female boxer please let me know if your interested in setting something up...even just a spar session.
Many thanks.
James.
U r not close to naked
Hey Carl,
I would love to talk to you about opening in Birmingham.
Check out our website and email me.
Dena Paolino
Hi.. I am all for ladies fighting in a competions including full contact kickboxing would love to open one in birmingham. If intrested would love feed back....
Being a professional female boxer I am obviously very happy with the increased interest in Women's Boxing - and hope that there may soon be another UK fighter at my weight!!.
Due to my love of the sport and desire to get more Women into boxing I have recently started offering Women only Boxing classes in London - see my website WWW.WOMENSBOXINGCLASSES.COM
WE JUST OPENED THE FIRST ALL-WOMEN'S BOXING GYM IN THE US and HOPE TO OPEN IN LONDON BY 2012!
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.STRIKINGBEAUTIES.COM.
ALL OF OUR INQUIRIES SAY JUST WHAT YOU ALL DID---WHERE CAN A WOMAN GO TO FIGHT? SPAR? TRAIN? OR JUST WORK OUT LIKE A REAL BOXER?
CHECK US OUT AND LEY US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!!
I have just viewed this page and the bloody broken noses and bruises, fat lips etc has made me feel a bit queasy for a minute, but its too late for me. The conviction to box has already come to me, and this shocking news (i thought it'd be painless being the weaker species ;s) won't put me off. No wonder theres an influx of females wanting to do this!! I wanna be in the olympics now!!
Check out my new social networking site for female boxers.
Share training tips, find sparing partners.
Arrange fights.
post footage of your own or someone elses fights.
1on1boxergirl.ning.com
Personally i still think that we as women should just stick two fingers up to mens boxing an start out on are own underground.
Why we keep waiting for then to except use into there world of boxing, i will never understand.
If we started doing it for use, there wouldn't be much they could do about it.
Stop waiting for men to approve of everything we do, an just do it.
@ Snippet....... that is the most sense i've ever hurd from anyone regarding women in general but especially when it comes to womens aggressive nature.
If we didn't already have the will to fight in use, then we simply would not have survived.
The fact that we can and do fight is just human nature, it's got nothing to do with what your sex is.
Women really do NEED places where they can get rid of there aggression, it's just not natural to keep it in.
Biologically for a woman to be aggressive is a very natural thing and in primitive societies would be what enabled her to survive. She would normally be stuck looking after infants and the male would not be anywhere around ( out hunting, reproducing with other females) . Therefore for a female to not be able to fight to protect herself and her young would reduce her chances.
Society today has become very artificial if we are questioning a woman's fighting ability or that it is not innate.
However ladies, consider using chest protection for any full contact sport as there is some medical evidence that there is a moderately increased risk of breast cancer with trauma to the tissue there. (Men after all have groin protection for many sports).