It is always considered that there are few women who take on the sporting code of boxing.
But at Unleashed Combat Sport in the South, it is totally a misconception, as the club boast some of the best female boxers in the country.
One of them is Nozipo Bell, the World Boxing Federation (WBF) female champion, who has now joined forces at the boxing gymnasium situated in Booysens.
Formerly from Port Elizabeth, she has made her home in the South to train under the watchful eye of former boxing champion Lionel Hunter.
“I am very grateful to be here and to further my career under one of the best female boxing trainers in the country, Lionel. Of course, he is also training men, but gives special guidance to us,” said Bell.
She is a four-time South African champion in the super-featherweight division and holds the WBF featherweight belt.
She took up her boxing career in 2013 when trainers barely turned an eye to try and give women the “ring experience”.
However, over the past few years the country has grown in producing more and more female boxers.
In 2016, Bell became the SA champion. She then went on to fight for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) title in Poland in 2018, but lost on points. In March 2019 she captured the WBF title.
Managing to get a chance to fight for the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) title in 2019 in the UK, she again lost on a points decision.
“But I gained a lot of experience in the ring by fighting overseas and will utilise that in defending my title,” she said.
Bell will be defending her world title on June 6.
She is also a personal trainer at the ICON gymnasium in the South.
