Gemma Richardson is well aware of the ring steps she is walking in when she climbs through the ropes at Bolton for the first time as a professional.
The 23-year-old, from Scunthorpe, is making her paid debut on Saturday night’s VIP event where she faces Poland’s Angelika Oles over six rounds.
She is incredibly proud of her roots in Scunny, where it all began as a kid when she followed elder brother, James, into the boxing gym.
Both would be coached, very successfully it has to be said, by dad, Andy, universally known as Ricko. James is already 7-1 as pro while Gemma is about to begin her journey following a glittering amateur career.
However, Gemma has swapped the steel town of Scunthorpe for another steel town in Hartlepool, in order to train alongside coach John Stubbs, who she built a close rapport with in her international days.
Punch-lines caught up with the former Commonwealth Games silver medallist at the Headland ABC gym, where Savannah Marshall learned the sport under coach Tim Coulter before going all the way to the very top.
‘The Silent Assassin’ was the first British female to win world amateur and professional titles inside the ring and is the reigning IBF world super-middleweight champion.
Another Headland product, Sadie Thomas, represented her country at the Youth Commonwealth Games, while before they came along there was the first lady of Hartlepool boxing, Amanda Coulson. The Catholic Club ABC boxer was a trailblazer in the sport.
“Since winning the silver medal at the Commonwealths I’m quite well-known now in Scunthorpe and have a lot of support there and I hope to get support here too,” said the former GB Boxing star.
“When I’m boxing, I’ll be fighting for Scunthorpe AND Hartlepool.
“I know I have a lot to emulate here in Hartlepool, who’ve had some great women boxers and I’m looking to add to that.”
Scunthorpe had Jim Betts as a top performer not that many moons ago, Jim making an unsuccessful challenge for the British and Commonwealth bantamweight titles against Nicky Booth in 2001.
Gemma’s opening assignment comes in Bolton on Saturday at a show promoted by the company that manage her, VIP Boxing.
She will not only have Stubbs in her corner but Anth Kelly who, with John, run Tenacity Boxing, a squad of North-East fighters which train out of the Headland and Wearmouth gyms.
Sunderland southpaw Travis Waters is Tenacity’s top boxer, with a 10-0 fight log with five wins coming early.
Tonight will be the first night for coach and boxer and Richardson is happy with her choice.
“You need someone who is going to tell you the truth so you can progress,” said Gemma.
“He’s always been honest with me and you can’t ask for any more. If I’d won a fight and not performed well, he’d tell me. I valued that.
“It’s gone well training with John for this. I feel as though I’ve made improvements already.”
Tonight, she faces tricky Pole Oles, a 27-year-old, who has a 3-14 record, one of those wins coming last September in Swindon, where she beat new professional Annabelle Lloyd.
Words: Roy Kelly
