Katie Healy: “A win over Nina would be life-changing.”

Katie Healy: “A win over Nina would be life-changing.”

It’s been just over two years since Katie Healy made the switch from kickboxing to the world of professional boxing. A debut in May of 2021 in the early days of the world shuffling out of lockdown. It was also the embryonic days of Fightzone, a brave new venture that had the aim of bringing new eyes on fighters who would have been starved of the attention those further up the boxing food change often take for granted.

The spring weather hadn’t arrived yet, at least not in the Sheffield Arena Car Park where Healy was making her first professional ring walk. Rain was unleashed with a vengeance. I had managed to find some semblance of cover at ringside, but even the drips from the canopy above felt torrential. But in truth, I had a better experience than most. Even the rather large umbrellas Healy’s family had brought with them weren’t much of a help.

Healy slipped and slid around the ring, the rain lashing in drenching the canvas. But the Midlands bantamweight hopeful got her new career up and running with a routine win over four rounds over the perennial opponent Claudia Ferenczi. I have lost count of how many times I have seen the Slovakian fight, but every time I see her in a British ring I always think there must be someone else for the latest prospect to fight. But the more times she comes, there obviously can’t be. Ferenczi has fought over twenty times since her fight with Healy. There have been no wins. A hired hand paid to serve a purpose. But I now wonder what that purpose actually is.

From the wet and windy start in that Sheffield car park, Healy has advanced to six fights unbeaten. A trip to South Africa last year earned her the WBF super-bantamweight title. But with the greatest respect to the WBF, Healy has now landed a world title fight proper against Nina Hughes at Wembley Arena on June 10th for the WBA bantamweight title. Healy told me over Zoom that even though she suspected she would be moved quickly, a fight on a Matchroom show this early in her career is still a surprise to her:

“It’s been a very busy two years. I always knew women’s boxing progressed a lot quicker than men’s boxing and that opportunities would come knocking on my door a lot sooner. But just two years in did I think I would be on this show, this platform, I would have said no chance. But when the phone call came we had to jump at the opportunity.”

The call to fight Hughes came late in the day. Four weeks out, the intended opponent Shannon Courtenay withdrew citing a knee injury. Healy was one of several considered replacements, but without hesitation, she put her name forward for the big opportunity:

“I was going to a strength and conditioning session and Gavin Burrows rang me and said it’s not public knowledge yet but they are looking for a replacement for Shannon. We didn’t know what had happened at that stage we just knew that she couldn’t do the fight and they needed a replacement. I just said yes straight away, tell them I am up for it. They were looking at a few different options, so even though I said I was happy to take the fight I didn’t know they would choose me. But a few days later we got the good news.”

Healy was already in training camp. A Fightzone show in Liverpool the day before her fight with Hughes was scheduled to be her next fight. But with her fitness already there it was just a case of making a few minor changes for June 10th Healy told me:

“I’ve seen a lot of comments from people saying it is a really short fight camp, four weeks from the announcement. But I was in training for a fight in Liverpool on June 9th. So I was already in camp and it was just a matter of right, we are training for this now and we just tweaked a few things. It’s not far away now and it is just so exciting and it has given me that extra push and motivation.”

Before her WBF title-winning fight last July Healy told me she had a good feeling about that fight in South Africa. Healy was proved right and now she has that same feeling again:

“I have always believed in myself and I trust in my team. If they are saying the fight with Nina is the right fight to take then that fills me with extra self-belief as well. I really do have a good gut feeling about this fight. I am not a spiritual person but before the fight in South Africa, I was getting certain signs, like seeing my lucky number come up in odd places, and it’s been happening again for this fight. So hopefully, that is a good sign. I am feeling good, camp is going really well.”

Healy is busy fine-tuning her tactics. She is taller with the reach advantages that height differential brings. It seems obvious Healy will use those advantages to box on the outside. But the fighter was in no mood to let any secrets slip:

“I can’t give too much away. Nina and I have very different styles. I think our contrasting styles will make for a very exciting fight. But whoever has got the stronger style on the day will win. I am not going to say how we will do that, but it is pretty evident from the previous fights that I go into a fight with a game plan. I am very educated I always do something for a reason. So you might see something similar to my last fight or you might see something completely different.”

There will be no bad blood. Healy is just promising a good fight. There is respect for her unbeaten opponent:

“I think Nina is really talented. Her name has been floating around for about 12 months now. I have seen a few of her fights and I think she is a really talented fighter, and you can see that she has got the heart and got the engine. So I am really excited to share the ring with her. I have seen a few of her interviews and she seems a really lovely girl as well. Nina definitely works to her strengths and it will be a very interesting fight.”

The importance of the fight isn’t lost on Healy. A win changes everything. It brings a more recognised version of a world title. It will undoubtedly bring a contractually mandated rematch and possible unifications to follow. The excitement, even over Zoom, couldn’t be hidden:

“A win over Nina would be life-changing. It’s one of those opportunities that is a win-win for me. I am so early on in my career and even just having a fight on Matchroom gets my name out there and after just two years of boxing it is such a fantastic achievement. But if I do win it would be life-changing and the fights after that would go up a level. I am just so excited for the whole experience, travelling down and getting involved in all the fight week media. Everything about it excites me and not just the fight.”

Healy has talked about fighting the IBF champion Ebanie Bridges previously. A win over Hughes brings that dream fight of hers much closer. Almost inevitable. Again there is no fake beef, they know each other, and they have sparred before. Now Healy just wants to do it for real, but she has the utmost respect for the Australian:

“Throughout my career, I have never been one to shy away from fights. We have seen how much of a big name Ebanie is, and she is a good fighter and it is a fight that I would really like. It would be a similar fight to the one with Nina, we have completely different styles, and we’d have a clash of styles. There are some really big names out there, not just Ebanie. In the weight category, I fight at there are so many talented fighters. Winning the fight with Nina would open so many more doors for me with those fighters.”

There will be no rain on June 10th. That car park in Sheffield replaced by the iconic old building just off Wembley Way. The opportunity might have come by misfortune to another fighter, but Healy fully intends to take advantage of her golden ticket.