“I just think I’m damaged, like really damaged,” Jane Couch says quietly as the tears roll down her face. She hunches over and her body shakes. This is the painful cost of being the pioneer of women’s boxing in Britain. Couch was the five-time world champion boxer who was barred from fighting in her own country. Just over 20 years ago the British Boxing Board of Control still insisted women were too emotionally unstable to box.
On my way to meet Couch I hear that Katie Taylor, the brilliant Irish boxer, will headline a bill at the Manchester Arena on 2 November with Anthony Crolla, a former world champion and much-loved Mancunian, on her undercard. Taylor would not be in this position if it had not been for Couch’s courage and defiance.
Written by Donald McRae
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/25/jane-couch-britains-first-licenced-female-boxer-interview under the title “Jane Couch: ‘I wish I hadn’t been the first in boxing … I’m damaged’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
