Latest news with #GBBoxing
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Olympic medallist Richardson turns professional
Olympic bronze medallist Lewis Richardson has turned professional, ending months of deliberation about his future. The 27-year-old was Britain's only boxing medallist in Paris last year, winning two bouts before losing to Mexico's Marco Verde on a 3-2 split decision in the light-middleweight from Colchester, has joined Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions stable after GB Boxing confirmed on Thursday that he was no longer a member of their World Class date and venue of his first professional bout has yet to be confirmed."My inspiration as a professional is to go all the way, to win a world title. I remember watching the likes of Joe Calzaghe, Richie Woodhall and in more recent years, of course, the likes of Tyson Fury," Richardson said in a Queensberry video. "Years and years of experience, Frank has. It gives you goosebumps knowing you are joining a very illustrious group of fighters."Promoter Warren said he had signed Richardson because he was an "A-star amateur" who will make his mark on the pro ranks very quickly. Richardson originally took up boxing as a way of keeping fit for football, but became a national schoolboy champion in amateur career was interrupted by stress fractures in his back but he achieved a medal double in 2022, winning silver at the European Championships in Armenia and bronze at the Commonwealth Games in followed that with more success in Paris but said last November that he wanted more time to "navigate my path" between turning pro or aiming for the 2028 Los Angeles a post on X, GB Boxing said: "We thank you for your commitment to the WCP since joining us back in January 2018."Wishing you all the very best for the future, forever a part of the GB Boxing family."
Sky News
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Sky News
Olympic boxer who won refugee team's first-ever medal turns pro after UK citizenship rejection
Even for a boxer, Cindy Ngamba has had to fight more than most. And she's still fighting beyond the ring ahead of another career landmark. The 26-year-old was the first-ever member of the Olympic refugee team to win a medal - bronze at Paris 2024 - and has been preparing for her professional debut. "I've had a very, very, very hard journey," Ngamba told Sky News. She had been aiming to fight in the grandest of London venues - the Royal Albert Hall - in a super welterweight bout against Kirstie Bavington on an all-female card on Friday, but has since pulled out. "I'm one of 100 million refugees out there, all around the world," Ngamba said in a south London boxing club. "So I'll be the first ever refugee turning pro. And I'm sure many, many more will come. "And I hope that all the refugees out there can just look at me and see what I'm achieving, and hopefully that can kind of give them motivation." Even though she was celebrated by King Charles during a post-Olympics reception, Ngamba was unable to compete for Team GB as she has not been granted British citizenship. That is despite now being in Britain for 15 years, since leaving Cameroon aged 11. "GB Boxing have tried their best," she said. "I've seen them trying their best to get my papers fixed sooner before the 2024 Olympics. And there was no way to fix it earlier before the Olympics." 'I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy' She has not just been thwarted in her bid for citizenship, but there was a fear of being deported after attending an immigration office in 2019. "In that moment, I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," she said. "Being taken to a detention camp, speaking to all the females down there that were telling me they had been there for years, months and days. "And some of them didn't even know when they were going to be released. And you go in there thinking, that's going to be you, and you're wondering, is that going to be me? Am I going to be staying there that long? "You can't speak to no one. You can't hear from your family telling you everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine. That's what kept me going during the build-up to the Olympics. I think it only made me stronger." Representing the LGBTQ+ community Refugee status was granted over fears of being imprisoned for being gay if she returned to Cameroon - an issue she did not want to directly discuss in this interview. "I feel like I'm representing the LGBTQ+ community," she said. "The young generation, the future generation out there that will kind of look at me as a role model." That's why she is still taking a stand against Saudi Arabia, the nation investing so much in the sport and staging the biggest fights and sponsoring Friday night's all-female card. "I will give my opinion about it - I think it's very bad," she said. "I don't think I would want to go to Riyadh if the law has not changed on the LGBTQ+ and for females mainly." But asked about the Saudis saying they welcome anyone and have women competing in sport, Ngamba replied: "I need proof. That's my answer." Her main focus now is beginning the journey to add a championship belt to a collection featuring that milestone Olympic medal.
Sky News
06-03-2025
- Sport
- Sky News
Olympic boxer who won refugee team's first-ever medal to make professional debut
Even for a boxer, Cindy Ngamba has had to fight more than most. And she's still fighting beyond the ring ahead of another career landmark. The 26-year-old was the first-ever member of the Olympic refugee team to win a medal - bronze at Paris 2024 - and is now preparing for her professional debut on Friday night. "I've had a very, very, very hard journey," Ngamba told Sky News. And it is a chance to reflect on that journey before fighting in the grandest of London venues - the Royal Albert Hall - in a super welterweight bout against Kirstie Bavington on an all-female card. "I'm one of 100 million refugees out there, all around the world," Ngamba said in a south London boxing club. "So I'll be the first ever refugee turning pro. And I'm sure many, many more will come. "And I hope that all the refugees out there can just look at me and see what I'm achieving, and hopefully that can kind of give them motivation." Even though she was celebrated by King Charles during a post-Olympics reception, Ngamba was unable to compete for Team GB as she has not been granted British citizenship. That is despite now being in Britain for 15 years, since leaving Cameroon aged 11. "GB Boxing have tried their best," she said. "I've seen them trying their best to get my papers fixed sooner before the 2024 Olympics. And there was no way to fix it earlier before the Olympics." 'I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy' She has not just been thwarted in her bid for citizenship, but there was a fear of being deported after attending an immigration office in 2019. "In that moment, I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," she said. "Being taken to a detention camp, speaking to all the females down there that were telling me they had been there for years, months and days. "And some of them didn't even know when they were going to be released. And you go in there thinking, that's going to be you, and you're wondering, is that going to be me? Am I going to be staying there that long? "You can't speak to no one. You can't hear from your family telling you everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine. That's what kept me going during the build-up to the Olympics. I think it only made me stronger." Representing the LGBTQ+ community Refugee status was granted over fears of being imprisoned for being gay if she returned to Cameroon - an issue she did not want to directly discuss in this interview. "I feel like I'm representing the LGBTQ+ community," she said. "The young generation, the future generation out there that will kind of look at me as a role model." That's why she is still taking a stand against Saudi Arabia, the nation investing so much in the sport and staging the biggest fights and sponsoring Friday night's all-female card. "I will give my opinion about it - I think it's very bad," she said. "I don't think I would want to go to Riyadh if the law has not changed on the LGBTQ+ and for females mainly." But asked about the Saudis saying they are welcome to anyone and have women competing in sport, Ngamba replied: "I need proof. That's my answer." Her main focus now is beginning the journey to add a championship belt to a collection featuring that milestone Olympic medal.
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Cindy Ngamba rules out boxing in Saudi Arabia: ‘I will still feel scared for my life'
Cindy Ngamba has spoken out against the increasing grip Saudi Arabia wields over boxing as she prepares to make her professional debut this week. The 26-year-old won a historic first medal for the Refugee Olympic Team in Paris last summer and, in her first fight as a pro, will take on the European welterweight champion Kirstie Bavington on Friday 7 March. Ngamba, who cannot return to her native Cameroon because she is gay, has been a rare voice of dissent within boxing on the subject of Saudi involvement in the sport. 'It very much disappoints me but I think Saudi has always been like that,' she said in an interview with The Guardian. 'I don't think I ever want to go to Saudi until I hear from women saying that they've changed their laws. But even if the laws have changed, I will still feel scared for my life, or threatened for my life, if I go there.' Her debut bout as a professional forms part of an historic all-female card at the Royal Albert Hall this week. Ngamba felt that progress has been made in elevating the profile of women's boxing, but there is still some way to go, and she called on the media to pay more attention to women in the sport. 'I think the percentage of females compared to men has got better,' she said. 'The advertising and promotion of female boxing has got a bit better, but we're not where we want to be. 'Male boxing has always been at the top because men rule the sport. As females we're trying to prove we are boxers too and we have skills, talent, power and all that men have.' Ngamba, who has lived in the UK since she was a child but has been unable to gain citizenship, trains with the GB squad in Sheffield. Without documentation she had to compete for the Olympic Refugee Team last summer and ultimately won bronze in the 75kg category. She will walk out on Friday to the team's anthem, which remains important to her. 'I want to keep it authentic and remind everyone of who I am and where I started from,' she said. Enjoy over 150+ fights on DAZN, the Global Home of Boxing. Stream now She is turning professional with the support of GB Boxing and their new Podium Pro venture, which means that she will continue to work with coach and GB Boxing's Performance Director Rob McCracken, and train with the people she continues to call her teammates. One of those is Lauren Price, who headlines Friday's card against Natasha Jonas. Ngamba has previously heaped praise on GB Boxing for their support of her, especially in the cut-throat world of professional boxing. 'They want the best for me,' she said. 'When I had nothing, they were the ones who didn't look at me as someone they could take things from. They saw me as this girl who has an amazing talent.'
The Independent
05-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Trailblazing Olympic refugee boxer Cindy Ngamba set for a pro debut on all-female fight card
Something stood out to Cindy Ngamba as she glanced around when Friday's all-female boxing event was first announced. So many world championship belts. Ngamba wants one of her own. 'I saw Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price and Caroline Dubois with their belts, and I remember saying 'Oh, that looks nice, I would love to have one of them,'" she said. Achieving goals is kind of Ngamba's thing. At the Paris Games, she became the first athlete competing as a refugee to earn a medal when she took bronze in the middleweight category. A decade ago the Cameroon—born Ngamba thought she was about to be deported from Britain. Now she's set to make her professional debut at Royal Albert Hall. She's facing veteran Kirstie Bavington in a super welterweight bout in London as part of an all-female card headlined by the Jonas vs. Price welterweight world title unification fight. 'I can see it, that dream of me having a belt and being the world champion,' Ngamba told The Associated Press, 'but at the same time you have to be in the present and you have to make sure you get the job done.' The 26-year-old Ngamba tries not to think ahead too much. That's because she knows circumstances can change so quickly. Ngamba had arrived in Britain at age 11 — her father and siblings live here, too — in Bolton, just north of Manchester, and set about learning English and trying to fit in. She picked up boxing at age 15, and it became an escape from the stress of worrying about her residency status. She described being arrested as a teenager while checking in at an immigration center in Manchester. 'My case was still pending. I applied and they rejected it. When they reject your case, you have to go and re-apply again. I was in a situation where even though I was re-applying every time, they could have arrested me at any moment," she said. 'I visualized that they could arrest me in the street or in my house, in school or with my friends. I never knew it was going to be at an immigration center where I usually (went) every weekend.' Worried she would be deported, she thought to herself: "'I have no one in Cameroon, no family in Cameroon. Who is going to take care of me?'' She was held overnight at a detention facility in London before being released. Ngamba, who came out as gay when she was 18, eventually won her case and was given refugee status. Same-sex relations in Cameroon can result in prison sentences of five years in the country. Her progress in the boxing ring — Ngamba was an England amateur champion at three different weights — attracted the attention of Britain's elite development program. Ngamba was brought in to spar the likes of Jonas, Price and others in hopes that she would eventually compete for Britain. Ngamba, one of the flagbearers for the Olympic refugee team at the opening ceremony in Paris, is still treated as one of their own at 'GB Boxing.' After the Olympics, her name was added to the wall of fame at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, and she joined British Olympians at a Buckingham Palace reception where she meet King Charles III. Jonas vs. Price: British Olympians square off The main attraction is a welterweight clash of generations with 40-year-old Natasha Jonas facing 30-year-old Lauren Price. Both are former Olympians. Welsh boxer Price (8-0) won a gold medal for Britain at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She is the WBA champion. Jonas (16-2-1), of Liverpool, competed at the 2012 London Games when women's boxing made its debut in the Olympic program. She fell just short of a medal when she lost to Ireland's Katie Taylor in the quarterfinals. Jonas holds the WBC and IBF welterweight titles. American boxer Mikaela Mayer holds the other major welterweight belt — the WBO championship. WBC lightweight champion Caroline Dubois is also on the card. Dubois, whose older brother Daniel is the IBF heavyweight champion, will face Bo Mi Re Shin of South Korea. It's the second all-female event by promotion company Boxxer and Sky Sports following their October 2022 event at a sold-out O2 Arena (20,000 capacity) in London. Sky said that event had a TV audience of more than 2 million in Britain and Ireland. By comparison, Royal Albert Hall is a smaller arena with an expected sellout at 5,200. The venue goes way back in boxing, though. ___
