By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart
Whilst the rest of the boxing world is mulling over the possibility that there might not be amateur boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, UK amateur boxing is facing a double whammy of how we might not also have a Commonwealth Games in 2026! With Victoria in Australia pulling out from hosting the Commonwealth Games we might not have anything to look forward to, unless a city is up for hosting them. Glasgow have apparently put themselves forward, which is bold, given the cost to the host city, and I truly hope we can make that happen.
And so, with that in mind I am casting my mind back to the last time that Glasgow hosted what was called the best Commonwealth Games EVER – 2014.
The Commonwealth Games is the one international competition where the United Kingdom breaks down into England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It means that athletes from all disciplines have an extra opportunity as they compete for their home nation rather than Great Britain and Northern Ireland, like at the Olympics. Irish athletes, though their nation pulled out of the Commonwealth can have athletes who represent Ireland at the Olympics but Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth thanks to the Good Friday Agreement – hence Michael Conlan has been to both.
I was in the city for 2014, and the buzz was exceptional. The biggest boon to the Games was the volunteers who gave of their own time to become involved and welcome people into their city. It was brilliant. But 2014 was important for one other reason – it was the first time that female boxing was included and that it is my principal focus here. Nicola Adams, Shelley Watts and Savannah Marshall became the very first female gold medalist in Commonwealth Games history in boxing.
So, what became of them, I wonder…
Nicola Adams won in the flyweight category for her second gold medal. She was already the 2012 Olympic champion at her weight. From Glasgow she went to Rio and won her second Olympic gold and third gold medal. None of that clearly surprised anyone, as she was such an exceptional fighter. The trail of her championship victories in the amateur code included a gold at the 2016 World Championships, gold at the European Championships in 2011 and 2015, gold at the 2011 and 2013 EU Championships, silvers at the 2008, 2010, 2012 World Championships, and the 2007 European Championships.
In a litany of firsts, Adams blazed a trail for women’s boxing in the United Kingdom – Adams won gold at the first ever GB Amateur Boxing Championship for women, was the first female fighter to win gold in the ring at an Olympics and the first double Olympic Champion, the first female English boxer to win a medal in a major tournament in 2007, and the very first British woman to win a world championship medal in women’s boxing.
But the story of her rise within the ranks was not without struggle. She won her first ever bout at 13, then had a 4 year wait for another competitive fight! Like many fighters she too had money struggles early in her career and made extra cash by being a television extra and as a builder on construction sites. But this Haringey Police Community Club fighter made good by beating world number one Ren Cancan in the 2012 Olympic final, defended her title in Rio by beating the French fighter, Sarah Ourahmoune in 2016 and in beat Northern Ireland’s Michaela Walsh by split decision in the final in Glasgow in 2014.
In 2017, she signed with Queensberry and became a professional. From her debut in April of that year she went on to have only 6 professional fights. In her final fight, a defense of her WBO flyweight title, she suffered an eye injury – a torn pupil – which led to her retiral. And just to add the firsts, Adams’ defense against former world title challenger Maria Salinas was the very first female professional fight to be staged at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In the announcement of her retiral, Adams captured the mood of what everyone in the boxing world thought when she wrote movingly, “I’m immensely honored to have represented our country – to win double Olympic gold medals and then the WBO championship belt is a dream come true… But it’s not without taking its toll on my body, and aside from the expected aches and pains – I’ve been advised that any further impact to my eye would most likely lead to irreparable damage and permanent vision loss.”
From the smallest weight division, we go up to the 60kg, lightweight division where Australia’s Shelley Watts reigned supreme. Her story, equally as valid as Adams, has slightly less to it. After competing as an amateur boxer, she became a lawyer and did not progress to the professional ranks. However, she did represent her country at the 2012 World Championships on her way to winning gold at the Commonwealth Games. She was, of course, the very first Australian women to win a boxing medal – and what a color. She broke the hearts of English fans by being the one who beat Natasha Jonas in the round of 16, before beating Northern Ireland’s Alana Audley-Murphy in the semi-final.
Shelley spoke to Australia’s Insights on what it was like to win gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and be at Rio. “There is no better feeling than standing atop the medal dais with the gold medal around your neck, singing the national anthem,” Shelley said of winning gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Then when she made the final of the 2016 Asian and Oceanic Olympic qualifier it meant that she also got to the Rio Olympics in 2016. And so, two years after that gold, Shelley represented Australia at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but she was not to get near a medal there. Again, in the article in Australia she was very honest in her assessment. “Not winning tore me apart,” she admitted. “Yet the experience of representing your country at the most prestigious sporting event on the planet, and knowing the amount of hard work, sacrifice and dedication it took to get there is a moment you’re proud of, and you appreciate.”
The final gold medallist at the Commonwealth games is the one with the longest professional career, Savannah Marshall.
Marshall’s rise in the amateur ranks included a gold medal at the 2012 World Championships, a silver in 2010, and bronzes at the 2016 Worlds and 2011 Europeans. She also competed at the Olympics in London but was beaten in the opening quarter-final against Marina Volnova. She did return to the Olympics in Rio in 2016 but again was beaten in the quarter finals by Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands by split decision. Of her amateur career the most notable achievement for some is the fact that Marshall is the only boxer to beat Claressa Sheilds, doing so in the second round of the 2012 World Championships in Qinhuangdao.
Her story of making the grade also has humble beginnings, however perhaps a more unusual start. Legend has it that after seeing a boy with a boxing trophy in the street aged 12, that she decided she wanted one – so duly joined in and got quite a few, including being the first British female amateur world champion!
Having been unable to find sparring partners early on in her career, Marshall, who she believed was just the annoying little girl who would not go away, despite much encouragement to do so, flourished. She has taken that winning mentality into the professional ranks. She has one loss on her record – a revenge mission by Claressa Sheilds that saw Marshall lose all her titles to the self-proclaimed GWOAT.
Marshall, who made her debut on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather/ Conor MacGregor circus in Nevada, has however, gone on to win world titles in two weight classes – middleweight and super-middleweight. She is currently the undisputed and Ring Magazine super middleweight champion and was the WBO middleweight champion from 2020 until 2022. It was then that she rematched Sheilds in a professional ring. Postponed from an original date due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II their fight was the first all-female headlined show in the UK. It was also the very first all-female fight card in the UK!
Since then, Marshall has chased a rematch and not got one but to try and facilitate that she has even gone chasing Sheilds into Mixed Martial Arts. Her first MMA fight in June of 2024 in Newcastle ended with her victorious. She still wants to avenge her Shields defeat in her professional career and does not mind if it is in the cage or in the ring.
And so all three have had amazing careers that have not begun with the Commonwealth Games, but it has been a vital part of their development and that is why I am hopeful that my home city of Glasgow does make the grade and does make the offer of hosting for 2026. This is a fighting city and to be the platform for these events is one way we can continually prove it.
Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By “Bad” Brad Berkwitt
