Amanda Coulson, born on 15th October,
1982 in Hartlepool. She works full time at a police call centre in
her hometown situated north east of England. She is considered
the best female amateur boxer in England.
Coulson told WBAN that she has always loved sports. She has
been involved in soccer, basketball before trying her hand at
amateur boxing.
Her interest in boxing was ignited in
1997, when she read about Emma Brammer and Andrea Prime, both 13,
who wanted to exercise their new won right to compete in a boxing
match sanctioned by the Amateur Boxing Association of England. This
caused plenty of controversy, with headlines such as “A BOUT OF
MADNESS”, and the manager of Lennox Lewis describing it as a freak
show. The bout was postponed twice before it finally took place
without pre-announcement in March 1998.
The controversy didn’t discourage Amanda Coulson. Quite the
opposite, it inspired her to have a go at it herself. She got out the
Yellow Pages and began looking for a club that would accept female
boxers. After a lot of “sorry, we don’t take women”. She finally
found an open door to Hartlepool Catholic Boxing Club-----thanks to
senior coach Paul Allen. He invited her to come and have a look
before she started training.
She didn’t join the Hartlepool Catholic
Boxing club with the intention of boxing in the ring. Her first
priority was to learn the skills, and then considering options like
boxing aerobics. But that only lasted until she started sparring,
and she was - pardon the pun, "hooked."
Finding the gym was only the first hurdle. The next was, and to a
certain extent, still is, to find opponents to box. In fact it took
two years before she got the opportunity to show off the boxing
skills, she had worked so hard to achieve. She made her ring debut
in October 1999, at the Mayfair Centre in Hartlepool, supported by
her whole family and half of Hartlepool. She passed her first test
with flying colours, stopping her opponent within a minute of the
first round. “Every punch just seemed to land, ” she recalls.
There were few and far between the British boxers who wanted to meet
Amanda Coulson in the ring, the following years. She realised, that
she had to go abroad to gain more ring experience, so she signed up
for the Angered Box Cup in Sweden in 2002. By then she only had
seven
bouts under her belt, and belonged in the 5-10 bouts category in the
tournament. However, when the organisers saw her box, they moved her
up in the highest category. She went on to win the gold medal, and
further honour was bestowed upon her as she also won the, "Best Female
Boxer Award."
Women’s amateur boxing in England is still in it’s infancy. The
first female novice boxing championships organised by the Amateur
Boxing Association in conjunction with the Police Federation were
held in May 2003. Unfortunately for Amanda, there was nobody for her
to box in the Class A Category. The story repeated itself in May
2004, when ABA held it’s first female senior championship.
The ABA finally realised, that international competition against
European top boxers was needed for their best female boxer to
develop and gain experience. Coulson went to Hungary to box at the
Witch Cup in 2004, and later that year she represented England at
the European Championships in Italy.
In 2005, she took part in the
European Championships in Norway. Coulson’s opponents at these top
tournaments typically had twice her ring experience, so although she
was very disappointed, it is hardly surprising that she had to
travel back to England empty handed. However, she proved that she
belongs in the top of her division in 2004, when she scored a win
over the newly crowned European Champion Vinni Skovgaard only two
weeks after losing to her at the Championships.
The ABA also selected Amanda Coulson to represent England at
international matches against France and Italy in 2005. She thanked
for the selection by winning over Amelie Blary of France as well as
former Italian champion Elisa Masiero.
Amanda Coulson's latest triumph came at
the all female MAJ BOX CUP 2006 held in Stockholm. She won the final
against Swedish Champion Armine Sinabian by 22-13. Packing her
suitcase for the homeward journey, she did not only have to make
space for the gold medal, but also for a trophy for the best Senior
A boxer in the tournament. This must be positive encouragement for a
busy 2006 with EU Championships in Sardinia, European Championships
in Poland and the World Championships in India on the agenda.
Interview by Torben L. -
WBAN's Correspondent
Statistics:
Born: 15/10 1982
Weight Division: 63 kg / 139 lbs
Began boxing: 1997
First fight October 1999
Record: 26-4
Club: Hartlepool Catholic Boxing Club
Trainer/Coach: Paul Allen
