CHALLENGES OF BEING A FEMALE BOXER

In our research we asked female boxers what they found hard about the world of women's boxing. The four most common concerns were:

Structure

The chaotic and uncertain structure of the sport itself. It can be hard and confusing to navigate the world of women's boxing: to find a gym and a coach; to find fights to compete in; to transition from amateur to professional; and then to maintain a career or to know what to do when your career is over.

Cost

The cost of boxing. This includes the amount it costs to box, gym fees, kit, time away from work, medical and insurance costs. But it also includes the relatively low prize pots offered to women, and the fact that it's harder for women to gain sponsorship deals (a problem which can be even greater for women of colour). 

Physical Demands

The physical cost of boxing was the next most cited challenge. Boxing and boxing training causes wear and tear on the body. The need to reach certain weights to compete can mean a lot of dieting and restriction. A long boxing career may also contribute to long-term physical problems, which last into retirement. 

Sexism

The fourth most common challenge mentioned was sexism. Many people still find the idea of women boxing to be a challenging one and it is a sport heavily associated with men. Historically, female boxers have felt rejected by some parts of the boxing establishment and many women feel that they're continuously having to prove their worth. 

Work and Family

Many female boxers have families and a day job. They talked about how hard it was to find the time to box and how guilty they felt if they were taking time away from their caring roles. For self-employed women, finding the time to train and travelling to compete can mean sacrificing much-needed income. 

Mental Health and Neurodivergence

While many women got into boxing to help manage their mental health struggles and neurodivergence, these same issues sometimes also made training and competing a struggle.

Appearance and Social Media

Some of our boxers talked about the cost and time required to look after their appearance (kit, hair, nails, make up); and also the demands of maintaining a profile on social media - to build an identity and sell tickets. 

Racism and Cultural Challenges

Some boxers spoke to us about the racism they encountered, both in the world of sport and wider society, Some boxers spoke to us about the challenge of stepping outside gender- and religiously-based expectations when they became female boxers. 

Loss of Childhood

Some boxers who had entered the sport early felt that the demands of training meant that they had missed out on having a normal childhood. 

You can find more details on the data from our project here.

You can read more research by clicking the links here.