TWENTY years after she poked her head through the back-stage curtains of a smoke-filled working men’s club in Saxton Gardens and began her ascent to boxing greatness, Nicola Adams is set for a rather different reception in her beloved home city.
Those one hundred or so club show diehards will be replaced by up to 10,000 cheering supporters as the double Olympic champion faces Mexico’s Maryan Salazar in her second professional fight at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
Adams has seldom fought in the city since her debut as a precocious 13-year-old, although Yorkshire Evening Post archives reveal she sustained a standing count en route to a points win at the local Irish Centre in December 2000.
If such reports serve to dismiss the much-promoted notion of this being Adams’ first return since her debut, they also indicate how far she has come since the days when she first stepped into the ring inspired by images of Muhammad Ali and Prince Naseem Hamed.
Adams said: “My mum took me up to the gym and I didn’t feel nervous about being the only girl there at all – it was when Naz was near his peak so I just saw boxing as another form of showmanship.
“I had always been pretty confident at school and taken part in shows and stuff, but I just needed another way to channel my energies. I took to it straight away and it never really seemed like an unusual thing for a girl to be doing.”
Adams is no longer in contact with her first coach, Leroy Brown, who was in her corner for her first fight and stayed with her for around 10 years until the pair parted on what wasn’t exactly the best of terms.
Brown, who still runs his Sharky’s gym in the city, said earlier this week: “She turned up at the gym with her mum one day and she was messing about a bit, but I stuck her in with the lads and she seemed to get to grips with it straight away.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here