For years, bodybuilding, weight training and sports of many kinds have been my life but bodybuilding is my absolute passion, my future and the reason why I live my life the way I do.  This was until taking ‘a year out’ to do some different things found me on a path enjoying something that many of the UK’s finest troops would come to benefit from.  Let me explain. I’ve been a natural competitive bodybuilding champion and continue to further my bodybuilding dreams and goals but one thing I decided to do this year was take some time out from the competitive stage to do a few different things so that when I return to the competitive stage (soon!) I will feel that brand new hunger for it again.  I wanted to take this year to give back to others, concentrate on work both paid and charity, try some new things and give my body a much needed rest from the intensity of competition life.  So, in the last year, I’ve done a half marathon for charity, volunteered for Crisis helping the homeless over the Christmas holiday period including giving up my Christmas Day to help the homeless, experimented with my weight training, developed and invested in new skills for my personal training clients and taken on a multitude of clients from all walks of life and one thing I decided to give a go at, for myself was, yep, boxing! Initially, I decided to do it as a means of developing a new cardio skill and tackle a sport I’d always wanted to try.  In my profession of personal training, it’s always good to learn new skills and expand the horizons to experience all kinds of sports.  Little did I imagine that one day when I was doing pad and body work with my trainer that someone in the gym I train and work in called Lee Brown (www.leebrownevents.com) who is the founder and promoter of many white collar charity boxing events would ask me to take part in one of his charity events.  Who, me???!!! I thought why not?!  I LOVE boxing training, sure, but stepping in the ring is a whole different thing.  There’s a lot on the line (mostly my cheekbones and brain cells) but if I trained right, I knew I could do it.  I didn’t think twice and agreed to the challenge and put everything I could into getting ready for my first ever boxing fight.  

Just before the fight commenced – ‘Anita The Beater’ (aka:  The Glamour with the Hammer!)

So, 4 and a half months later, on the 28^th October 2011, the day came where I had to be ready to step into the ring.  In the training process, one thing I found hard was trying to find an amateur female, my height (4’11 ½) to spar with.  Needless to say, I didn’t find one so my first true experience of boxing happened on the day.  Hells teeth!  The experience in the ring is something you cannot explain to anyone unless you’ve done it.  It really (excuse the pun) knocks your socks off!  Before then, I’d only lightly sparred with my two male trainers and a female friend that decided to help out so the real deal was quite a shock.  

The ‘Royal Oak Room’ at the Emirates Stadium was the venue for this fantastic event.  All charity boxers had been given tickets to sell to help raise funds for ‘Help for Heroes’, the charity that supports those returning from war having fought for their country.  You know what?  One thought I had summed it up.  I may endure 3 1 minute rounds of punching, pain and possibly hell or worse, get knocked out or make a fool of myself but I thought, what the hell…my pain and sacrifice is NOTHING compared to that of the guys that fought 24/7 in some of the most horrific and hostile places in the world.  3 minutes to me is nothing…those guys give everything and deserve to be supported and recognised for their efforts.

BLUES VS REDS – all for a cause, all of us charity fighters.  And all of us do this for heroes returning from war like the guy in the middle Stephen Vause.  Stephen is now 24 years old but in June of 2007, just three weeks after being sent to Basra, Stephen was hit by a mortar blast paralysing him and leaving him unable to speak or walk.  THIS is the reason charities like ‘Help For Heroes’ exist…this man’s life changed forever when he fought for his country and our actions at boxing events like this can at least make life that little bit better for people like Stephen.  That made my decision to get in the ring an easy one.

The commentating starts – ‘LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE’!!!

 So, it was finally time to stand up and face my opponent!  The great thing though, being a charity event and me being a proper ‘girly girl’ meant I went all out in my usual style…makeup, glitter, braids and a big smile!  Just because I’d be doing a tough sport didn’t mean I wanted to be a proper girl too.  ;-)   My opponent was Natalie Grafton.  A determined young woman in her early 20’s and this was her third ever fight.  She had lost her first 2 fights so I was sure she would be hungry for a win on her 3^rd against me.  Having flown in from Australia (being a bridesmaid for a friend’s wedding) just 3 days prior, my determination dissolved my jet lag and I was ready for it!  Walking into that ring though found me brimming with nerves and adrenaline…it was unreal.

Walking into the ring with my NZ flag…full of pride!

What I didn’t anticipate though was how hard it is to try and box someone who is about 6 inches taller than me with a much longer reach.  Wow, that was tough!  Hey, one thing I had learned in my training was to ‘go low’, get in some body shots and look for a gap to land an uppercut.  All I can say was that I absolutely went for it, as did Natalie and it was an absolutely incredible experience.  She landed some good shots, I did some good hard body shots and right hooks – quite a different experience to that of my usual sport where I am covered in tan and posing in a bikini!

I managed a few shots that stopped her in her tracks though…