Nicola Adams


Nicola Adams 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. 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.
Adams represented Haringey Police Community Club at boxing. 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. She also became the first openly LGBT person to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal, after her win at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Adams was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. She was educated at Agnes Stewart Church of England High School, Ebor Gardens, Leeds. She also went to Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale. In November 2012, she topped the list of The Independents 101 most influential LGBT people in Britain for 2012.

Career

Adams fought her first bout at the age of 13, but it was four years before she found a second opponent. In 2001, she became the first woman boxer ever to represent England, in a fight against an Irish boxer. In 2003, she became English amateur champion for the first time, and she retained the title at the next three championships.
In 2007, Adams was the first English female to win a medal in a major tournament, taking Silver in the 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, but she returned to success at the 2010 world championships in Bridgetown, Barbados, taking Silver again, competing now at. 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.
In November 2010, Adams was victorious in the first ever GB Amateur Boxing Championship at the Echo Arena Liverpool. In 2011, she won Gold at the European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in Katowice. In July 2011, the BBC included Adams in a feature on "6 Promising Britons to watch in the Olympics".
In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Adams defeated Mary Kom from India in the Flyweight semi-final. 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.
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.
At the 2016 Rio Olympic games Adams successfully defended her Olympic title, defeating Sarah Ourahmoune of France in the Final on 20 August.
On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Adams had turned professional, having signed with promoter Frank Warren.
Adams had a 40–36 point victory over Virginia Carcamo of Argentina in Adams' professional debut.
Adams announced her retirement from boxing in November 2019.

Honours

YearTournamentVenueResultEvent
2007European Amateur ChampionshipsVejle, Denmark2nd54 kg
2008World Amateur ChampionshipNingbo, People's Republic of China2nd54 kg
2010World Amateur ChampionshipBridgetown, Barbados2nd51 kg
2011European Union Amateur ChampionshipsKatowice, Poland1st51 kg
2011European Amateur ChampionshipsRotterdam, the Netherlands1st51 kg
2012World Amateur ChampionshipQinhuangdao, China2nd51 kg
2012Summer OlympicsLondon, United Kingdom1st51 kg
2013European Union Amateur ChampionshipsKeszthely, Hungary1st51 kg
2014Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom1st51 kg
2015European GamesBaku, Azerbaijan1st51 kg
2016World Amateur ChampionshipAstana, Kazakhstan1st51 kg
2016Summer OlympicsRio de Janeiro, Brazil1st51 kg

In 2012, she became the first female boxer to receive an award from the Boxing Writers' Club of Great Britain. Specifically, she was awarded the Joe Bromley Award for outstanding services to boxing. She was also the first woman ever to be invited to the club's awards ceremony.
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boxing and Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours, also for services to boxing.
In July 2015, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Leeds. In November 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.

Awards

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

Athletics

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
6Draw5–0–1 Maria Salinas1027 Sep 2019 Royal Albert Hall, London, EnglandRetained WBO female flyweight title
5Win5–0 Isabel Millan106 Oct 2018 Leicester Arena, Leicester, EnglandWon vacant WBO female interim flyweight title
4Win4–0 Soledad del Valle Frias1, 2:5919 May 2018 Elland Road, Leeds, England
3Win3–0 Soledad MacedoTKO3, 1:2616 Dec 2017 Place Bell, Laval, Quebec, Canada
2Win2–0 Maryan Salazar3, 0:3513 May 2017 First Direct Arena, Leeds, England
1Win1–0 Virginia Noemi Carcamo48 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."