17 October 2023 , 06:17
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Natasha Jonas has broken new ground again after becoming the first Black female to obtain a British Boxing Board of Control manager's licence.
Jonas, the first woman to represent GB Boxing in 2009 and then her nation at an Olympics three years later at London 2012, has enjoyed a successful career and is a two-weight world champion.
The 39-year-old Liverpudlian has now acquired a manager's licence to start overseeing the career of her young protege Mikie Tallon, who makes his professional debut later this month.
"All my life I've always believed in myself and I've never allowed myself to give up," Jonas said. "I've not consciously set out to be first to do anything, I just knew that I wanted to break down barriers and not be scared to do anything just because it hadn’t been done before. That being said, one thing I do like about being first is that it makes you part of history and nobody can take that away from you."
Not yet hanging up her gloves, Jonas stopped Kandi Wyatt in July to win the vacant IBF welterweight title. She's also the reigning WBC, WBO and IBF light-middleweight champion.
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"We are delighted Natasha has decided to take up a licence to pass on her expertise to the next generation," Robert Smith, the general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, told BBC Sport. "She is very experienced and will be an asset. It is a great achievement."
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Natasha Jonas reigned victorious in Manchester this past summer (Cameron Smith/Getty Images)Jonas insists that despite boxing still being a male-dominated sport, she's "never felt out of place being around boys." The Liverpool-supporting star also told Sky Sports : "Football was my first sport and that's male-dominated as well. I was a little girl trying to compete with the lads, and when I stepped into the boxing gym it was the same.
"It was trying to find your place and as a female, you have to do that a little bit more to be just as respected and taken seriously… to try and make a pathway that wasn't visible. You didn't know where the pathway was going to go. I lost two jobs because of boxing, because of the commitment needed and the time away… ultimately I made those sacrifices because I thought it was worth it."