Nicola Adams

Nicola Adams OBE (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 2019.[2][3] As an amateur, she became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion after winning gold at London 2012, and the first double Olympic champion following a second gold medal at Rio 2016, both in the flyweight division. As of 27 May 2016 she was the reigning Olympic, World and European Games champion at flyweight, and won the entire set of amateur championships available to her - Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games' titles, and the World, European and European Union championships.[4]

Rainbow Plaque in Leeds honouring her as the first openly LGBT+ person to win an Olympic Boxing Gold

Nicola Adams OBE
Adams in 2012
Statistics
Nickname(s)	The Lioness, Babyface[1]
Weight(s)	Flyweight
Height	5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Nationality	British
Born	(1982-10-26) 26 October 1982 Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Boxing record
Total fights	6
Wins	5
Wins by KO	3
Losses	0
Draws	1
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 0 0 World Championships 1 3 0 European Championships 1 1 0 European Games 1 0 0 European Union Championships 2 0 0 Commonwealth Games 1 0 0 Total 8 4 0 Women's amateur boxing Representing  United Kingdom Olympic Games 2012 London Flyweight 2016 Rio de Janeiro Flyweight World Championships 2016 Astana Flyweight European Games 2015 Baku Flyweight Representing  England World Championships 2008 Ningbo Bantamweight 2010 Bridgetown Flyweight 2012 Qinhuangdao Flyweight Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Flyweight European Championships 2011 Rotterdam Flyweight 2007 Vejle Bantamweight EU Championships 2011 Katowice Flyweight 2013 Keszthely Flyweight

Adams represented Haringey Police Community Club at boxing.[5] She is openly bisexual, and was named the most influential LGBT person in Britain by The Independent in 2012 and has been included in the annual Powerlist, recognition as one of the most influential people of African/African-Caribbean descent in the UK.[6] She also became the first openly LGBT person to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal, after her win at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[7][8][9]

Personal life

Adams was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. She was educated at Agnes Stewart Church of England High School, Ebor Gardens, Leeds.[10][11] She also went to Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale.[12] In November 2012, she topped the list of The Independent's 101 most influential LGBT people in Britain for 2012.[13][14][15]

Career

• 
  Nicola Adams (red) at the final of the European Games 2015 in Baku (Azerbaijan)

Adams fought (and won) her first bout at the age of 13, but it was four years before she found a second opponent.[16] In 2001, she became the first woman boxer ever to represent England, in a fight against an Irish boxer.[16] In 2003, she became English amateur champion for the first time,[5] and she retained the title at the next three championships.[16]

In 2007, Adams was the first English female to win a medal in a major tournament, taking Silver in the bantamweight (54kg) division at the European Championships in Denmark. She won Silver again at the world championships in Ningbo, China, in 2008. The following year she had to abstain from the sport for several months due to a back injury,[17] but she returned to success at the 2010 world championships in Bridgetown, Barbados,[18] taking Silver again, competing now at flyweight (51kg). Adams struggled to continue her boxing career due to lack of funds. She worked as an acting extra on soap operas such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and EastEnders, and worked as a builder before the International Olympic Committee backed funding for women's boxing in 2009.[19]

In November 2010, Adams was victorious in the first ever GB Amateur Boxing Championship at the Echo Arena Liverpool.[20] In 2011, she won Gold at the European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in Katowice.[21] In July 2011, the BBC included Adams in a feature on "6 Promising Britons to watch in the Olympics".[22]

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Adams defeated Mary Kom from India in the Flyweight semi-final.[23][24] She went on to defeat Chinese boxer and world number one Ren Cancan in the final to claim the first Olympic women's boxing Gold medal.[25]

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Adams knocked out Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland to take the gold medal in the women's flyweight division on a split decision.[26][27]

At the 2016 Rio Olympic games Adams successfully defended her Olympic title, defeating Sarah Ourahmoune of France in the Final on 20 August.[28]

On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Adams had turned professional, having signed with promoter Frank Warren.[29]

Adams had a 40–36 point victory over Virginia Carcamo of Argentina in Adams' professional debut.[30]

Adams announced her retirement from boxing in November 2019.[31]

Honours

Postboxes on Cookridge Street in Leeds painted gold in honour of Adams' Olympic Gold medal win.

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
2007	European Amateur Championships	Vejle, Denmark	2nd	54 kg
2008	World Amateur Championship	Ningbo, People's Republic of China	2nd	54 kg
2010	World Amateur Championship	Bridgetown, Barbados	2nd	51 kg
2011	European Union Amateur Championships	Katowice, Poland	1st	51 kg
2011	European Amateur Championships	Rotterdam, the Netherlands	1st	51 kg
2012	World Amateur Championship	Qinhuangdao, China	2nd	51 kg
2012	Summer Olympics	London, United Kingdom	1st	51 kg
2013	European Union Amateur Championships	Keszthely, Hungary	1st	51 kg
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	1st	51 kg
2015	European Games	Baku, Azerbaijan	1st	51 kg
2016	World Amateur Championship	Astana, Kazakhstan	1st	51 kg
2016	Summer Olympics	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	1st	51 kg

In 2012, she became the first female boxer to receive an award from the Boxing Writers' Club of Great Britain.[32][32] Specifically, she was awarded the Joe Bromley Award for outstanding services to boxing.[32] She was also the first woman ever to be invited to the club's awards ceremony.[32]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing[33][34] and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours, also for services to boxing.[35]

In July 2015, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Leeds.[36] In November 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.[37]

Awards

In 2016, Adams was named Number One in the DIVA Power List of the UK's most eminent lesbian and bisexual women.[38][39]

Athletics

• BBC Sports Personality of the Year, nominee, 2012.[40]
• Joe Bromley Award

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary

6 fights	5 wins	0 losses
By knockout	3	0
By decision	2	0
Draws	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
6	Draw	5–0–1	Maria Salinas	SD	10	27 Sep 2019	Royal Albert Hall, London, England	Retained WBO female flyweight title
5	Win	5–0	Isabel Millan	UD	10	6 Oct 2018	Leicester Arena, Leicester, England	Won vacant WBO female interim flyweight title
4	Win	4–0	Soledad del Valle Frias	KO	1 (10), 2:59	19 May 2018	Elland Road, Leeds, England
3	Win	3–0	Soledad Macedo	TKO	3 (6), 1:26	16 Dec 2017	Place Bell, Laval, Quebec, Canada
2	Win	2–0	Maryan Salazar	TKO	3 (4), 0:35	13 May 2017	First Direct Arena, Leeds, England
1	Win	1–0	Virginia Noemi Carcamo	PTS	4	8 Apr 2017	Manchester Arena, Manchester, England

Retirement

On 6 November 2019, Adams retired from boxing over fears for her eyesight. She said, "I've been advised that any further impact to my eye would most likely lead to irreparable damage and permanent vision loss."[41]

See also

• 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics gold post boxes

References

1. Jon, Snow. "Captivated by boxing's Nicola 'Babyface' Adams". Channel 4. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
2. "Nicola Adams: Two-time Olympic champion retires over fears for her sight". 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
3. "Nicola Adams: WBO make Briton world flyweight champion". BBC Sport. 30 July 2019.
4. "Nicola Adams: British fighter wins world flyweight gold". BBC Sport. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
5. "One hundred hopefuls for 2012". The Guardian. London. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
6. Mills, Kelly-Ann (25 October 2019). "Raheem Sterling joins Meghan and Stormzy in top 100 most influential black Brits". mirror. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
7. "Nicola Adams Makes Olympic Boxing History". Sky News. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
8. "London Olympics: Nicola Adams wins first ever women boxing gold". The Times Of India. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
9. "Bi Olympian Nicola Adams given MBE in New Year honours list". Retrieved 29 December 2012.
10. "Made in Leeds: How Nicola Adams grew to the brink of Olympic glory". Yorkshire Evening Post. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
11. "How Nicola Adams got her fighting chance for an Olympic gold medal". ITV News. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
12. "FE students add to Team GB Olympic medal haul". FE Week. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
13. Khaleeli, Homa (9 August 2014). "Nicola Adams: 'It always felt like boxing was my path'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
14. "UK sport stars top 2012 Pink List". Retrieved 5 November 2012.
15. Hattenstone, Simon (6 May 2017). "Nicola Adams: 'I jumped in front of my mother and tried to protect her'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
16. "Nicola Adams, World Championship Silver Medallist" (PDF). GSE Agency. 5 February 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
17. "Adams' excitement hitting fever pitch". Bradford Telegraph & Argus. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
18. "Marshall and Adams miss out on gold". BBC Sport (video available in UK only). 18 September 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
19. Rojas, John-Paul Ford (8 August 2012). "Fighter Nicola Adams battles her way to chance at gold". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
20. "Nicola Adams: trailblazer for women's boxing wins historic gold". The Guardian. London. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
21. "Boxer Nicola Adams confident of London 2012 gold". BBC Sport. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
22. Creighton, Jessica (27 July 2011). "London 2012: Promising Britons to watch in the Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
23. Bakowski, Gregg (8 August 2012). "Nicola Adams beats Mary Kom to reach 51kg Olympic final". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
24. "Nicola Adams beats India's Mary Kom to reach Olympic flyweight final". The Guardian. London. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
25. "Olympics boxing: Great Britain's Nicola Adams wins historic gold". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
26. "Glasgow 2014: Nicola Adams beats Michaela Walsh to gold". BBC Sport. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
27. "Nicola Adams". Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
28. Mitchell, Kevin (9 August 2012). "Nicola Adams wins Team GB's first women's Olympic boxing gold". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
29. "Nicola Adams: Two-time Olympic champion turns professional". 23 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
30. "Nicola Adams beats Virginia Carcamo on her professional debut". BBC Sport. 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
31. "Nicola Adams retires from boxing at the age of 37", Sky Sports, 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019
32. "Nicola Adams becomes first female boxer honoured by writers". BBC Sport. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
33. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 24.
34. "2013 New Year's Honours" (PDF). Retrieved 29 December 2012.
35. "No. 61803". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2016. p. N10.
36. "University of Leeds awards honorary degrees". University of Leeds. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
37. "BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
38. Newsdesk (16 September 2016). "DIVA magazine power list voted for by you". Out News Global. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
39. Lyell, C. (21 September 2016). "The DIVA Power 2016 List". DIVA. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
40. Creighton, Jessica (7 December 2012). "Sports Personality of the Year: Why Nicola Adams should win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
41. "Nicola Adams: Two-time Olympic champion retires over fears for her sight". BBC News. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

External links

• Boxing record for Nicola Adams from BoxRec
• Portraits of Nicola Adams at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Sporting positions
World boxing titles
New title	WBO female flyweight champion Interim title 6 October 2018 – 29 July 2019 Promoted	Vacant
Vacant Title last held by Arely Muciño	WBO female flyweight champion 29 July 2019 – 6 November 2019 Retired	Vacant Title next held by Debora Anahí López