MY TITLES ARE FOR MY GIRL

NATASHA JONAS claims making her daughter Mela proud means as much as her world titles.

Jonas bids to unify her WBC and WBC superwelterweight belts against IBF queen Marie Eve Dicaire tonight at Manchester’s AO Arena. Victory would confirm Jonas as No.1 in the division after just three fights at that weight.

But the single mum says seeing Mela beam with pride when she went into her school to give a talk to her classmates was just as good a feeling. “She’s never been that bothered about me boxing but, when her school asked me to come in and do a motivational talk, that was probably the first time I’ve seen her half-proud of me,” said Jonas (above).

“I took my belts in with me to show them off and she said to everyone ‘that’s my mummy’.”

Jonas’s sister is Nikita Parris, who helped the Lionesses win the Euro 2022 championships this summer,. “Her biggest sporting idol is her auntie Nikita. She loves Nikita,” she said. “Who better to inspire you than your own family? That’s massive. She sees everyone looking up to Nikita and she’s her auntie.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, if you believe in yourself and work hard, anything is possible.”

Jonas quit the amateur ranks when she fell pregnant with Mela in 2015 before returning as a professional two years later.

She is still pinching herself at her success this year after stepping up three divisions to win the vacant WBO super-welterweight title in February and then the WBC strap in September.

“I’ve been chasing a world title since 2017 and, like buses, they’ve all come at once,” she said. “To win a third world title would be the stuff of dreams.”