‘I want to be done by 30’ – Eltham boxer Courtney has deadline to achieve all her ring aims

BY MATTHEW NASH

Maisey Rose Courtney admits she wants to check out of boxing by the age of 30, but only after she has won everything in the game.

The super-flyweight, who won her fourth professional fight against Gemma Ruegg at the O2 in London earlier this month, on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight win victory against Robert Helenius, is rising through the ranks having made her debut last October.

Eltham’s Courtney is highly fancied to win world titles under the Matchroom banner and her career is being guided by promoter Eddie Hearn while she has trained alongside the likes of Australian featherweight star Skye Nicolson.

At 22, and having been in boxing since childhood, she appears to have the world at her feet.

“I’d say I’d want to be done by 30,” said Courtney, whose four successes to date have all come on points. “By then  I would have been boxing, and getting pounded in the head, for 23 years!

“I’ve always loved boxing – it’s something I can’t live without. I love the art side of it, punching someone and not getting hit. It has stuck with me. I’m very lucky to have had a mum and dad who pushed me.’

Despite having no history of the fight game in her family, Courtney has made an impression in her brief foray into the paid ranks so far, following a decorated amateur career with the renowned Repton ABC.

She is very clear about how her style is perceived. “I’ve just gone out there like a bull in a China shop,’ she adds. ‘Really, I’m more classy than that.

“I get this urge to go and hit someone. I think I’ll thrive when I get to the eight and 10-rounders as it’s quite hard to put in the performances over two-minute rounds in a shorter fight.’

That said, Courtney is torn when it comes to the question of whether women’s boxing should join their male counterparts in fighting over three-minute rounds.

“It’s a difficult one,” she said. “Females don’t get that many knockouts, and knockouts come between minutes two and three in men’s boxing usually. We get one minute less – but I’m not moaning!’

Courtney revealed it was actually a very different aspiration that initially attracted her into the sport. However, with boxing fighting to keep its place in the Olympic Games beyond Paris next year, Courtney chose a different path.

“That was the long, long-term goal but the Olympics was my dream,’ she adds. “After seeing how competitive it is, and the problems Olympic boxing has got, and selecting the British squad so early, it took the dream away from me a little bit so I decided to turn professional.”

Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price became the first pro UK women’s boxing champion when she won the inaugural British female welterweight belt in May.

That is something Courtney, who has already fought on the undercards of Joshua and Katie Taylor fights, wants a piece of.

“One hundred per cent – it’s making history,’ she said. “I could be the second woman to fight for a British title and probably the youngest too. There’s a lot of history to be made and it’s an exciting time to be in women’s boxing.”

Don’t be surprised to see the South Londoner conquering all-comers in the years ahead – she’s only just begun. The British crown might be just a stepping stone to even bigger things for this Eltham girl.

PICTURE: MARK ROBINSON/MATCHROOM