Boxing champ Amy Andrew on “mum guilt”, opening a gym and winning titles

Written by Vicky Beckett, Tuesday 8th October 2024

“No, it was not the right time!” laughs Amy Andrew, a professional boxer and mum of a two-year-old. This didn’t stop her from opening Rival Boxing Gym King’s Cross in London, at the start of the year with her husband, Numan Hussain, and good friend and Coach Jon Durrant. “My husband is a pro boxer too and we have a small child, so it’s kind of busy! But the perfect location turned up.”

Amy left a career in journalism in her late 20s after falling in love with boxing when she took part in her first white collar fight. Since then, she has been part of New Zealand’s Olympic boxing qualifying team, was the English amateur champion and won the Commonwealth title as a pro boxer this April. 

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As if this wasn’t impressive enough, she gave birth to her son in September 2022 and then won a pro boxing fight in May 2023, while continuing to breastfeed. “I started sparring and training early after having him,” says Amy. “I missed being able to have my own focus and time after having a baby. After a week I had itchy feet,” she explains. She was fortunate to have a relatively straightforward birth and was back to running within three weeks.