Jade Pearce: “I am 27, and with women’s boxing going through the roof, now it is the perfect time to turn professional.”

Jade Pearce: “I am 27, and with women’s boxing going through the roof, now it is the perfect time to turn professional.”

It’s been over a year since I last spoke to Jade Pearce. A period on the sidelines was about to end. Pearce hadn’t fought since COVID-19 stopped the world from turning over in 2020. Injuries and the subsequent worldwide pandemic had left the former National Champion sitting on the sidelines with much frustration.

But her return was imminent last January, and thankfully, the comeback of the talented amateur became a reality.

“I’ve had four fights since the last time we spoke,” Pearce told me when we connected over Zoom once again. “But then I got a slight tear in my shoulder, so I haven’t had a fight since July because I had to get that sorted out. I haven’t really stopped training, but I have been a lot more careful.”

But the past year hasn’t been plain sailing. Pearce had a handful of fights, but sadly, her injury woes continued. The shoulder injury that has kept her out of action since last July was accompanied by another injury in the National Championships.

“I snapped my hamstring four weeks before the ABA semi-finals and still fought Lucy Kings-Wheatley in Rotherham,” Pearce told FightPost. “I was about 60% with my injury, and she only beat me on a split decision. But put it this way, I was given a Team GB select form straight after the fight. At the end of June, I am going to try and get a normal bout, and then in July, I am going to enter a competition in Scotland that I entered last year. After that, I will be turning professional.”

It was the shoulder injury that cut short her long-awaited return to the sport she had graced since she was eighteen. Although the interest in fighting was there many years before. Pearce has a history of trying to fight through pain, often ignoring medical advice in the process. Her desire to keep punching didn’t let the body have the recovery it so badly needed. But this time Pearce knew she had to listen, but it came at a cost but also a realisation she needed to seek pastures new.

“I was basically told to rest the shoulder and let it heal. Otherwise, my career would be over. So that was Team GB out of the window, and I couldn’t box in the ABA’s, and this year could be the last time boxing is in the Olympics. Also, with the way I box three rounds is enough for me.” The words of a fighter who knew now was the right time to turn professional.

Despite not quite achieving everything that her talents deserve, Pearce still has an amateur resume to be extremely proud of. A win over the favoured and now world featherweight title contender Raven Chapman to claim a GB title is the stand-out moment she says.

“Winning the GB title in 2019 is probably my biggest achievement. Those championships are set up so the GB boxers can win. I was the only one out of eleven other bouts that won against a GB boxer. There have been other fights where I have been more proud of myself, but I would say winning that is my proudest achievement. Although I have learned a lot more from the times that I have been beaten. You always come back from it, and it teaches a lot about yourself.”

Boxing runs in the family. Her father, John, won a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, and it was something that Pearce wanted to replicate also. But somewhere deep within, she knew the world of professional boxing was where she really belonged.

“My dad did what he did in the Commonwealth Games, so it would have been a nice sentimental thing for me to do it,” Pearce says. “But my dad’s biggest regret was that he didn’t turn pro. So I am losing one thing but gaining another in fulfilment. I have got longer and with the way that I fight, I can go for a very long time at that pace.
Deep down I have always known that if I was going to have success anywhere it would be as a professional. I am 27, and with women’s boxing going through the roof, it is the perfect time to turn professional.”

We have seen in recent times with the Amy Broadhurst controversy that a fighter’s future can be decided by factors far away from a boxing ring. Something that Jade Pearce is acutely aware of.

“When you box as an amateur, you are not always in control of your own career because you have to be picked,” Pearce told me. “Obviously, you haven’t got total control, but if you keep winning on the TV, it is inevitable what the next stage will be. But as an amateur, you could beat a girl, but GB might prefer the girl you beat. You could be levels above someone, but all it takes is your face fitting or not.”

Everything does seem to indicate the decision to leave the amateur ranks behind has come at the perfect time for a fighter who will be another welcomed addition to the professional side of the sport. Pearce will fight around the lightweight division. Her exact and true fighting weight will come in time when the body settles down with the strains of her new world. But with so much inactivity over the last five years or so, Pearce is a fighter who intends to make up for lost time.

“I want to make my debut as soon as possible. I don’t want to sit around waiting. I am ready to go. If I turned over and they said there is a fight in a couple of weeks, I would say yes straight away. I definitely want a fight before the year is over, but I want to be as active as possible. I don’t just want to be out two or three times a year. I stay ready.”

If everything goes to plan, Pearce will have a busy first year. But the plans are incredibly ambitious going forward. The amateur resume shows what her side of the sport could have on its hands. But the attitude is even more impressive than her obvious potential. A willingness not to engage in the act of avoiding the tough fights that are sure to come her way as her professional career advances.

“Obviously, you have to be realistic,” Pearce told me. “But I believe in and know what I am capable of. I don’t want to sit around waiting and be protected and only fight certain people. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I genuinely believe that I can go all the way. I am going in to win everything.”

The obligatory talks are ongoing to sort out her professional team. But when that professional debut finally arrives later this year, the sport will have another talented addition. Jade Pearce has won titles in the unpaid ranks. It’s fair to say that she expects to do the same as a professional.