Global prospect Hedda Wolmarans going the distance for women’s boxing

Growing up with three siblings in Auckland Park in 1990’s Johannesburg, Hedda Wolmarans was just another sports-mad teenager.

She had already started taking tennis seriously and played club soccer on the East Rand, until her older brother Jan took her to a boxing gym when she was 17.

Soon it was no longer merely a fitness pursuit, however, and by age 22 she was a formidable amateur at the Hugenote Boxing Club in nearby Brixton, one of the well-known training pits in the west of Joburg.

Nine years later, the tall, rangy, tattooed junior-welterweight fighter holds a record of 5-0 with three knockouts, and she is on the verge of a career-defining breakthrough as a professional.

Once Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted, Wolmarans will take the next step in her career as part of the MTK Global consortium, opening the door to potential fights abroad and exposure to the lucrative global women’s boxing market.
“My goal has always been to become a world champion,” Wolmarans says.
“The biggest plus is that I am likely to get more fights, and more importantly, get taken seriously as a boxer.

“I feel up until this point in my career, I have not been tested. You need to be tested to determine whether you can take the step up, so it is time to happen.”

Known as ‘The Shredder’, the unbeaten 31-year-old is the first national women’s champion to emerge from renowned trainer Colin Nathan’s Hot Box/MTK Africa gym.

The moment the big-punching southpaw walked into the gym, Nathan liked what he saw, and he lists dedication and discipline as her strongest suits.

“She has pretty much cleaned up her division here at home,” says her long-time mentor.

“There has been a global shift towards female boxing, and not forgetting it is Women’s Month, it was appropriate to get her moving now on the international stage with MTK Global.

“It’s about finding the right fights, pacing her, and getting her in a position to become a world champion.”

The two-time national amateur champion annexed the SA women’s junior-welterweight title a year ago
after her opponent, Nomandithini Ndyambo, remained anchored to her corner stool at the start of the second round.

However, a frustrating story of inactivity lies concealed in her professional record of just five fights in as many years, which
underlines the significance of the latest development.

That title bout was the last time she stepped into the ring for a competitive fight.

Her record highlights the dire lack of opportunities for female boxers in this country, and it bothers her.

“To clarify, yes, we have some really great female fighters in various weight divisions who have done pretty well, but we simply don’t get enough chances to fight,” she says.

“There are promoters who put us on their bills, but others who sadly shy away from promoting female fights.

“Why is the spotlight only on us in Women’s Month?  The rest of the year we are kind of forgotten.

“Here and there we might have a fight, but it’s not a regular occurance.”

Wolmarans didn’t have to give it too much thought when she first contemplated treading into a tough, male-dominated, blood sport.

“I found boxing to be the most physically challenging. I’m pretty headstrong by nature, but it never bugged me because I had made up my mind that this is what I am going to do.

“All the gyms where I have trained – both as an amateur and a professional – the guys have been very accommodating.

“I’ve very rarely heard any of the ‘you don’t belong here’ kind of talk.”

She admits getting hit for the first time was “a crazy thing to go through”.

“You respond emotionally, but you have to get over it and learn to react logically in a calculated way when you get hit in the head.”

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