I’m No.1 in the world but know I won’t take my foot off the gas
THE WORLD’S NO.1-RANKED AMATEUR MIDDLEWEIGHT WRITES FOR METRO ABOUT HER JOURNEY TOWARDS THE TOKYO OLYMPICS. THE NATIONAL LOTTERY-FUNDED BOXER, 26, HOPES TO QUALIFY FOR HER FIRST GAMES AT THE REARRANGED LONDON TOURNAMENT IN THE NEW YEAR HAVING GONE NEARLY
IT’S less than 300 days until Tokyo now and things are getting moving for me again after the disruption caused by coronavirus. I’ve just come back from a training camp in Turkey with the team and I’m hoping to get two tournaments in before 2020 is out.
The camp was a tough one but it was good to get some sparring in with the Turkish world welterweight champion Busenaz Surmeneli. They have a very strong women’s team so it was a worthwhile trip and I got some world-class rounds under my belt.
Just a change of scenery was nice as we are used to travelling so much usually but obviously not since March when the pandemic hit. I also haven’t boxed this year and the realistic focus now is on next year and the Olympics.
At one stage, after boxing was closed down during the Olympic qualifying tournament in London back in March, I didn’t know when I would box again so it’s good to have some options for the rest of the year.
The likes of my team-mates Galal Yafai and Peter McGrail managed to qualify for Tokyo before Covid saw the event called off. Sadly, I was one of the boxers who didn’t get to fight in London in March so I still have to qualify for the Games.
GB Boxing provided us with weights and a punchbag to use at home while lockdown was in place and it was a very uncertain time.
I’ve been in sport since I was eight years old, trying different things like kickboxing and taekwondo, as well as winning 52 caps for Wales while playing football for Cardiff.
So Tokyo is massive for me. I know things have changed a lot, with the Olympics being postponed, but I don’t see it as a negative and I see it as meaning we have more time to prepare now.
I get asked a lot about my unbeaten run, which stretches from November 2018, and the fact I’m world No.1 at middleweight. Obviously it is a privilege to be the No.1ranked boxer in the world but I know how long it took me to build towards this. It has been a lot of hard work and commitment over the last few years.
I also know I can’t afford to take my foot off the gas with Tokyo coming into view, despite the nice run I’m on. I still have to qualify first but once I have, I want to go there to w win a gold medal.
I get contacted by pro promoters about turning professional after the Games but I’m 26 and time is on my side, so I know I have another four-year cycle in me for Paris if I decide to do that. Great fighters like Nicola Adams and Claressa Shields did the same.
In the UK, we have one of the strongest teams in the world. When I first joined the squad, we used to hope we didn’t draw the Russians at tournaments but now I would say y it is the other way around.
We have an amazing team, an amazing squad, and I’m confident of qualifying when the tournament resumes in London, probably in the new year. I hope I can be part of it in Japan p next summer.