The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Adams pulls her punches
● Olympic and world champion quits at 37 after glittering career
Nicola Adams, the two-time Olympic champion and current WBO flyweight world champion, has announced her retirement from boxing at the age of 37.
Adams penned an open letter to her local newspaper the Yorkshire Evening Post in which she revealed that continuing her in-ring career risked serious injury.
Adams became the first woman to win Olympic gold in her sport when she took the flyweight title at London 2012 and successfully defended her crown at Rio 2016.
She won the vacant WBO belt against Isabel Millan in 2018, less than 18 months after her first professional bout and bows out with an unbeaten professional record of five wins and one draw.
“I’m immensely honoured to have represented our country – to win double Olympic gold medals and then the WBO championship belt is a dream come true,” she wrote.
“But it’s not without taking its toll on my body and aside from the expected aches and pains I’ve been advised that any further impact to my eye would most likely lead to irreparable damage and permanent vision loss.
“It has been an honour to compete on the global stage, and it has been a privilege to fight against such remarkable athletes.
“Whilst I am proud of my achievements, the unwavering belief from everyone in my corner is something I will appreciate for the rest of my life. To my wonderful team, I would not be the fighter I am today without your encouragement and understanding. What you have taught me goes beyond the ring.
“Particularly special thanks go to the wonderful Alwyn Belcher, my coach and personal mentor.
“Hanging up my gloves was always going to hard, but I have never felt luckier and I’m so immensely proud of how far the sport has come.”
Adams took up boxing at the age of 12 after taking a class while accompanying her mother to the gym and quickly developed a dream to win Olympic gold – an ambitious aim given that female divisions would not even be contested at the games until her crowning moment in 2012.
After becoming the first Englishwoman to represent her country in 2001 she went on to claim silver medals at European and World levels between 2007/08.
Her fame reached new peaks with a thrilling, crowd-pleasing triumph at the London Olympics, defeating rival and world number one Ren Cancan 16-7 in front of a sold out ExCeL Centre.
In an event littered with joyous triumphs for Team GB, hers was one of the most memorable.
There were further successes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the European Games in Baku and the World championships in Astana, before she beat Sarah Ourahmoune in Brazil to become the first Briton since 1924 to retain an Olympic boxing title.
After taking the plunge into the professional arena, Adams won each of her first four fights.
T h i s i n c l u d e d a celebratory homecoming win over Soledad del Valle Frias at Leeds’ First Direct Arena.
That victory earned her a world title shot against Millan, whom Adams defeated in a unanimous decision in Leicester.
She managed one defence in September, a draw with Maria Salinas proving to be her final appearance before her decision to exit the stage.
Adams’ promoter Frank Warren paid tribute to her career and believes her accomplishments will go down in history.
Writing on frankwarren. com, he said: “It was my absolute pleasure and privilege to promote the professional career of Nicola and it is just a pity that it has come to a conclusion.
“Nicola has that star quality in abundance that very few possess which will see her make a success of whatever she chooses to do.”