2 min read
“The Fight Forward programme literally saved my life,” explains Saria, 40, raising her voice above the sound of gloves hitting punchbags and fellow boxers chatting at the 12×3 boxing gym in Aldgate, east London.
Two years ago, after leaving one abusive relationship and then finding herself in another, Saria was struggling. She signed up for her first boxing camp, run by former Team GB boxer and European gold medallist Lesley Sackey, who had begun offering free classes to survivors of domestic abuse.
“Doing that camp gave me the strength to fight for myself in that relationship, to get myself out of it, and to have confidence,” she recalls. “It gave me a sense of self-worth that I’d never had in my life.”
As she speaks, others from her cohort sidle up beside her, flushed and energised after rounds of sparring, to compare notes on everything from gum shields to home-made glove deodorising sprays.
Saria’s involvement in boxing now goes well beyond a weekly fitness class: on 28 November she will join several women from the programme to step into the ring at London’s Ladbroke Hall for The Fight Back. It will be the inaugural event staged by a new venture called Fight Back Promotions.
