By John Evans
Women’s boxing has come a long way. Gone are the days of freak shows featuring Mia St. John and Christy Martins brawls. Although the likes of Lucia Rijker and Laila Ali raised both the profile and standard of the women’s game, they were shining lights in a poorly organised and supported sport. Things have changed. Women’s boxing has progressed to such a level that, for the first time, it is to be recognised as an Olympic sport at the London 2012 games.
One of the boxers hoping to compete in the inaugural games is Great Britain’s Natasha Jonas. The 27-year-old lightweight is a member of the British podium squad and is deep into preparations for the chance to compete in front of her home crowd in less than 12 months.
“I started boxing nearly six years ago so it’s taken me that long to work my way through the ranks. It only got announced in 2009 that it was gonna be an Olympic sport. We had the assessments for the GB camp at the end of 2010 but were only with the shadow and development squad every other Thursday to Sunday. As of this year we’ve gone on to the full time podium squad so we’re training alongside the podium lads (who are the men who will go on to the Olympics) every Monday to Thursday,” stated Natasha when speaking to www.boxingscene.com .
The training is just one part of a rigorous selection procedure. Jonas is a decorated amateur by any standard. As a multiple ABA champion and current British and E.U champion, it might be expected that she would be a shoe in for a place at the games. Not so. There will be just three weight classes competing in London (flyweight, lightweight and middleweight) and each country can enter just one boxer per division.
“Firstly you’ve got to be the one who’s chosen from your country to compete in the Olympic qualifier. Once you get there you have to come within the last eight to qualify for the Olympics” says the Liverpudlian.
“It’s a points based system and the World Championships and the Europeans are the ones you get the points for. The qualifier is going to be seeded because I think last time the men’s Olympics came around, the world number one and number two met in the preliminary rounds. That meant that one of the two best people was out. They didn’t want that kind of thing to happen again.”
British amateur boxing, both male and female, has seen a dramatic increase in success since Robert McCracken took over as Performance Director of the GB squad. McCracken is known to professional fight fans primarily for his role as Carl Froch’s trainer and has introduced the same professionalism into his amateur charges.
“The professional and amateur games are a lot different obviously, but it’s the same sport. You’re trying to hit and not get hit. That’s the underlying thing whether you’re pro or amateur,” states Jonas.
“Amateur is all about moving and stuff but Rob likes you to stay there so you’re always in striking distance. I think that’s what a lot of countries may not do. They’re about hitting and getting away but we’re kind of always there. I’m throwing shots and I could throw another 10 if I want to. He wants us to be out of distance if we want to be, just step your back foot out or whatever, but to always be in striking distance. That’s the pro side that he brings in.”
One of the main criticisms levelled at the amateur game over the years is the apparent neglect of inside work and body punching. A new scoring system should mean that critics who have labelled the sport as glorified tag see amateur boxing more accurately depict the professional game they love. Body shots now count.
“Well now they do with the new scoring system. The team have encouraged us from the start though and any boxer – any sane boxer – will tell you that a good body shot is worse than a head shot by about a million miles! You just cannot recover from a good body shot. It doesn’t matter how good or strong your chin is or whatever, how good your legs are. You just can’t recover.”
The past few weeks saw a blaze of interest in the UK as the countdown to 2012 reached the one-year mark and Jonas was one of a number of athletes who attracted the attention of the cameras. Professional or amateur, boxing can be the loneliest of sports and she has now gone back to the hard grind of training away from the glare of publicity. Not that Jonas minds. “I’m on a mission!” she says. One she hopes will end with a gold medal.