After joking she would fight at Hearn’s home in March, undefeated Courtenay faces Rachel Ball tonight
The irony with Shannon Courtenay’s appearance tonight at Eddie Hearn’s Fight Camp 3 in Brentwood is that before the novel set-up became a reality the 27-year-old was so desperate to fight that she had explained that she would fight in Eddie Hearn’s back garden. In late March, facing lockdown and no potential fight – at the time – until August or September, Courtenay told The Telegraph: “Hell. I literally think I’ll lose my mind. I’m still training every day because I’m trying to keep myself mentally and physically in shape. Listen, I’m not embarrassed to admit it I do struggle with anxiety. Badly. The only that keeps me sane is my training. The thought of not fighting until September … I can’t t think about it to be honest. At this rate I’d fight in Eddie’s back garden if I could.”
Now it’s a reality at ‘Matchroom Square Garden’ with Courtenay, undefeated in five contests, facing Rachel Ball, a tall super bantamweight fighter, a former kickboxing world champion, and seven inches taller than the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’.
It will be the first fight on Friday night at the manor in Brentwood.
Courtenay, who has thrilled early in her career this far in five contests undefeated with her all-action fighting style, got into boxing serendipitously. “It was literally by chance,” she explained. “I had no intention of fighting. I just went to boxercise classes to lose weight. A friend had persuaded me to go. It turned out I had a little bit of a natural talent for it, I could punch quite hard. Like everyone knows I was a heavy smoker, a heavy drinker and then took it seriously. I ended up going to Finchley [where Anthony Joshua started] and that was it. I threw my fags in the bin and fell in love with boxing. I’ve never looked back since. It’s changed my life dramatically. At the time I weighed 85 kilos. A very big girl. I was chunky, but funky.”
There has been time for reflection. “I feel sick when I look back at photos of myself back then. I can’t believe I allowed myself to get into that position. Not just physically, but mentally because I was so unhappy. So depressed. I was always the loudest in the room. I was always trying to overcompensate and make out I was happy. So I was always drunk because I was putting on this fake person. It wasn’t me.”
“I was always really sporty. I was good at football. I played at a really high level football. I was a dancer. But when I got to 13, 14, 15 years old I started going to house parties, started smoking, meeting boys and started drinking. I stopped doing sports all together. I guess my only sport after that was raving.” But that life has gone now. And it will remain in the distant past.
She added: “I count my blessings everyday. I feel so fortunate. Take away the drink, the weight and the smoking – I didn’t know what I wanted to be. What was I doing with my life? I was letting my family down. I had no purpose. The minute I walked into Finchley Amateur Boxing Club, forget the boxercise, it’s when I smelt the old fashioned gym and felt the aura. Straight away I knew I was meant to be there. This is what I’m meant to be, this is my purpose. I’ve felt that everyday since.”
During lockdown, the boxer and the woman has learnt by being alone, living alone. “The biggest thing is probably gratitude, to appreciate the little things in life – your friends and family. Even going to the supermarket. Other than my family and friends, the things I missed the most was going clothes shopping and sitting in a restaurant. Because I’m in camp, I’m basically still in full lockdown. I’ve been so careful. I don’t want to put myself in any kind of risk because all I want to do is fight on August 14th.”
In Ball, Courtenay is facing the toughest opponent thus far in her career. “I can’t honestly sit here and say I know a lot about Ball. Obviously, she’s quite tall, long, rangy and has got fast hands. I’m just focusing on myself. My team and I are focusing on my strengths and come fight night you will see the best version of myself.”
Ball, the only woman to win the BBBofC Midlands Area Fight of the Year Award, proved she can mix it with world level fighters when she pushed current Interim WBC Super-Featherweight World Champion Katherina Thanderz all the way in a close points loss at short notice last year. Courtenay is relishing the challenge.
Three-time kickboxing world champion Ball has been in a fiery mood since arriving at the official fighter hotel on Monday, questioning how the untested Courtenay will cope when she has a live opponent with ‘monstrous’ height in front of her.
“This is going to be a fight where you can actually see what I’m about,” said Courtenay. “Some people think that she might win, so I feel like I’m going to prove a lot of people wrong and I’m looking forward to making a statement. I perform well under pressure. When you put me in sparring with better girls, I perform better. You’ll see that on fight night.
“I’m going to shock a lot of people. Nothing worth having comes easy and I’ve worked so hard. I think every fight was a learning curve. Every fighter that I’ve come across was very different. I’ve learnt with every fight. It has been a bit of an apprenticeship for me. Now is the right time for me to step up, have a tough fight and show people what I’m all about. Some people might say ‘she never went to the Olympics’ or question why I’ve been given such a big platform by Matchroom and Sky Sports, but on August 14th I’ll show why I’m on this platform by making a big statement.”
“I think people are intrigued because they’ve not seen enough of me yet. There’s this big following and social media presence. Do I deserve it because I haven’t boxed anyone of a big name yet or big status? There’s people that will question if I deserve this platform or deserve this hype. On August 14th I’ll prove that I do.”
But Courtenay will continue to try and inspire – inside and outside the ring. “I think it’s always weird when people say I’m someone to look up to, because I don’t see myself in that way,” Courtenay told The Telegraph. “I get so many young girls stopping me to tell me I changed their live. It feels just as good as winning a fight. I don’t genuinely believe there’s many good role models out there in today’s society. I’m not saying I’m a role model. But young girls are so obsessed with Instagram and fake models and filters and the Kardashians. They’re not role models. Boxing has given me a confidence I want to pass on. For them to see someone focusing on the positive things in life and not bum fillers or lip fillers, I think it’s a positive thing.”