Hopewell delighted by ‘amazing’ reaction from town to her Commonwealth boxing success

Nicola is the first and only female professional boxer under the British Boxing Board of Control from Worksop and made history by becoming the town's first Commonwealth boxing champion, beating Gemma Ruegg at Rotherham's Magna Centre two weeks ago.

“It's been amazing,” she said. “I’ve been around all my local sponsors to show them the belt.

“When I have been in town I have been congratulated by people I don’t know, which I found really nice.

“I was in the new café in town on Sunday and someone walked past the window and spotted me and put their fist up followed by a thumbs up.

“The day after my fight I was asked to go to FC Manton of Worksop to show the children the belt. “The football club had supported me throughout my boxing journey, so it's really nice to be able to give back to the local community and show them dreams do come true and inspire the next generation.”

Nicola has won five fights with just one defeat, which was a title fight in the weight category above.

“I’m not sure how many fights I will have this year - it all depends on what my manager can get for me,” she said.

“Ideally I’d like two more, one in the summer and one towards the end of the year.

“That could be a title defence or moving on to the next level. I just need to wait for the phone to ring now.

“Now I am in the rankings, a world title shot could come at any time.

“I don’t think it's too far away, to be honest the phone could ring at any time. So I will be staying in the gym and working on my skills to make sure I am ready.

“But I will have some rest first due to both of us getting cut during the fight. So I have a few weeks off for it to heal properly.”

Nicola started boxing aged 23 and was initially only going to have an amateur fight to tick it off her list.

But, as an amateur boxer, her dream was then to compete at a high level which she did in the Elite Championships, fighting women who were going to the Olympics and Commonwealth games.

By the time she turned professional in 2022 her dream was to win a world title.

“I am surprised how far I have come so quickly. I’m an ordinary girl from Worksop but now I’ve won the Commonwealth flyweight title which puts me up there in the rankings,” she said.

“When I won the title I was speechless, all my hard work had paid off. But it's not stopping there, I have bigger dreams now.

“I am looking for local businesses who would like to get on board my journey. Any sponsorship enquiries please send to [email protected].”