Amy Greatorex: “When I first started I was 14 stone, a size 18-20, had no confidence and was not sporty at all.”

Amy Greatorex: “When I first started I was 14 stone, a size 18-20, had no confidence and was not sporty at all.”

By Lewie Laing

On December 9th in Barnsley, the professional career of internally amateur boxer, Amy Greatorex, will finally get underway. Many may well have walked away by now, following a drawn-out battle to obtain her boxing license, but for Greatorex, this was another battle in a list of many on the way to realising her dream.

Amy Greatorex’s professional license is dated April 2022 yet due to an administration error, the Chesterfield fighter has had to sit on her hands, rather than punch with them for the past seven months. It has been a challenging time, but nowhere near the biggest fight, Greatorex has been involved in to get to this point.

“I had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety in 2020, due to work, there was a lot of pressure and stress. I had told the boxing doctor but it hadn’t been put on my medical notes. I then had to go and see the board and explain I was no longer in that place, I was so much better, there were no lies or hiding anything, it was solely down to an admin error. I should have had a meeting with the board sooner but they had forgotten about me which dragged this out even further, it was a total mess. My license started in April, and I’m not fighting till December, it’s so frustrating. It will need renewing again soon!”

For Greatorex, nothing has come easy as far as boxing goes, the fact she ever started boxing was by chance. The odds have been stacked against her, every time she pushed for more. For every step forward, there has often been something or someone trying to hold her back. 

Greatorex didn’t have her first amateur bout until just before her 30th birthday, a sport she only started to keep fit and lose weight. Being an amateur, in which she competed 33 times, both nationally and internationally was not straightforward either, due to a coach that had little interest in Greatorex and her development. 

Her story is one of struggle and hardship but one of defiance and self-belief. Every sign has pointed to not continuing on a path within boxing, but Greatorex has focused only on herself, growing as an individual and following her passion. She credits boxing for the impact it has had on changing her life.

“When I first started I was 14 stone, a size 18-20, had no confidence and was not sporty at all. I lost weight myself but then joined a gym and started doing kickboxing for fitness. That put me on to a keep fit boxing gym and I realised I was quite good at boxing. I had my first amateur bout a few months before my 30th birthday. The feeling you get from boxing, you forget everything. You don’t think of anything else while you are training. It’s been massive for me, for keeping weight off, and for my mental health. It’s the best thing I think. 

“There are a lot of people who think I can’t do this. My coach didn’t push me as an amateur, even though I was his only international boxer, and wasn’t interested in women’s boxing. I was never pushed because he openly admitted he wasn’t bothered. One night he told me I best find another club to train at as he couldn’t be bothered to train me and take me to shows.”

Such a crushing blow to hear, one probably harder to take than a physical punch would have stopped many in their tracks. Greatorex for one was shocked and found how she was treated, sexist and wrong. There is no place for such behaviour in boxing, nor in any walk of life. 

As one door seemingly slammed shut in Greatorex’s face, she determinedly opened another, and what she found a bit of a surprise, but one that now, has set her up for December’s debut on an Outlaw Promotions show.

“I had put out on Facebook; does anyone want a female international boxer. Just by chance, because I didn’t want to go somewhere because they thought they had to have me, my coach had sorted something with another club but that didn’t sit well with me. Luckily, Gary, my coach now, saw it and messaged me. He said he’d been watching me for years and thought I had potential and had I not thought about turning professional. Within a couple of training sessions, I was offered a contract and here we are.”

Life as a pro while working full time as a personal trainer isn’t easy and a far cry from the lavish scenes the majority of us witness on TV on a weekly basis. Unless you are in the boxing bubble, you can be forgiven for thinking that once you’re a professional boxer, you’ve made it, because, from the outside, that is exactly how it looks. 

Greatorex and her coach, Gary, who is a serving police officer, have to work around each other and their day jobs. Greatorex is self-employed as a personal trainer and so feels the hit when she has to sacrifice work for training, along with the stresses of essentially starting from scratch in this professional game where there are many pitfalls, and many snakes praying on those mesmerised by false promises. 

Greatorex at times, trains herself, prepares all her nutrition and travels over 100 miles in a week just to train in Sheffield. Commitment and dedication can not be knocked for the lightweight debutant, knowing reaching her dreams takes this level of sacrifice. That does not, however, make it any easier to contend with.

“It’s difficult juggling everything. Full-time job, training, selling tickets, nutrition which I prepare myself, its amazing the money and time it all takes. I travel a lot for training which is another expense, these are all the things the majority of people don’t see or realise. I have to work around my clients but then my coach is a police officer who works shifts, it’s give and take. There are times when I have to miss out on paid work which is a stress and a worry, money isn’t everything, but you’ve got to be able to live. 

“People only see it from the big money side. There’s barely any return when you first start at this level, it’s nothing like what you see on TV. Then you have people wondering why boxers need sponsors, people don’t see what the reality is for the majority of boxers.

“At the moment I have two sponsors, which really helps but there is room for more. I have companies getting in touch, I get excited by what they say they can offer but then all goes quiet. I’m self-employed, and when I take time off for sparring and training, I don’t get paid so sponsors at this level and for fighters like me go a long way. It’s my dream, don’t get me wrong and I will skint myself to get there if I need to but you do need that bit of backing.”

While she contends with balancing life, work and boxing, Greatorex is finally where she wants to be in boxing, on the verge of her debut which could lead to more opportunities. At 36 years old, Greatorex knows she has to not only learn fast but move fast, to reach her dream of becoming a world champion. 

The lightweight fighter knows the position she finds herself in and is under no illusions that hanging around and building slowly is not even remotely an option. She is excited about the task in front of her but is not getting ahead of herself, knowing it still has to be one step at a time.

“I am gunning for my debut. A few nerves but that’s normal. It’s only just sinking in that it’s actually happening. Camp is fully underway, I’m absolutely buzzing. Camp is full-on but that’s how I like it. I struggle if I’m only there once or twice a week so being there all the time makes a big difference. I’m feeling stronger already, things are sinking in quicker. I’ve trained every day from being an amateur, the only difference is now the sessions are based on me, tailored to me. I train myself when I need to, I’d rather be doing something than nothing. 

“I know my team want as many bouts as possible until my license runs out and we have to renew it. Hopefully, three to five fights then going for a title. I can’t get ahead of myself, I need to look at the task at hand and get that right before I go to the next one. The idea for me is to go as far as I can, while I can, and hopefully injury-free. I feel like I need to fast-tracked a bit, I’ve come into boxing late. As much as I’d like to take my time, I need to get as much as I can under my belt and try and push for more quickly. I want to get my debut done and from there just see what comes next. I should hopefully be fighting on Fightzone TV quite a bit, which will be great for me.”

No matter how Greatorex’s career pans out, helping people is something she wants to keep doing. She has a story that a lot of people in today’s world can take inspiration from, highlighting no matter what place you find yourself in, you can come through it and change your life. Having been through struggles with weight, confidence and mental health, Greatorex knows first-hand that exercise and in particular, boxing, can work wonders because it also trains the mind, not just the body. 

“I would love to get to the point of fighting for and holding a world title. Just for the fact that a lass from Chesterfield, overweight and wasn’t sporty, low on confidence, it would be amazing for my story and hopefully inspire others. I love to help others in my job as a personal trainer. I train people physically but also mentally because it’s good to talk, I train my client’s bodies and also their minds. I’d love to inspire people, it’s almost a fat-to-fit story, which people can relate to. No matter how far I go, I think it will be something I continue to do because I love helping people.”