Lynsey Lockey: “I will always continue to hit these barriers.”

Lynsey Lockey: “I will always continue to hit these barriers.”

It’s extremely difficult not to get sucked into the enthusiasm and passion of Lynsey Lockey. The desire to change historical inequality and more just has to be applauded. Lockey knows it won’t be easy. It might be a bigger fight than many who lace on the gloves in the sport that she resides in will ever face. But Lockey is all in, and despite the odds seemingly against her, she is well on her way to making that change.

“I don’t want other women to walk into a room and feel like an outsider. I don’t want people to feel alone or that it is not possible, and I want to make sure the opportunities are there.” Lockey told me earlier this month. She had just launched Women in Boxing, a project that will offer opportunities for more women to get involved in the sport.

The Noble Art has been less than noble at times. A sport that has long been stuck in the dark ages. The fight that Jane Couch had just to have the right to box in her own country is still an embarrassment to the boxing establishment. When Couch bravely won her fight in a courtroom, the aftermath was even worse. But thankfully, albeit extremely belatedly, things are changing. Women’s boxing is now an accepted part of a sport that was long perceived to be a man’s world. It’s gone even further, the women often shine a light that their male contemporaries fail to do.

But despite that progress, Lockey wants to take it further. Much further. Women in Boxing will open doors on many levels for women in boxing. Lockey hopes that her new project will get more women involved in the sport on all levels. Jane Couch is involved in Women in Boxing as an Ambassador, as is the former world cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson. More will follow.

“Change and a level playing field,” is what Lockey wants from Women in Boxing. It’s been two years in the making. Big things are being planned. Lockey is the founder of Steel Sports Management and last night another little string to her bow was announced on talkSPORT. Lockey will now enter the promotional world, with guaranteed dates for female fighters on multiple platforms. The aim for change is coming along quite nicely.

‘For too long women in the boxing world have faced formidable obstacles, from limited resources and fewer opportunities to entrenched stereotypes and societal prejudices.’ Words that highlight plenty about a shameful history and the size of the challenge that awaits Lockey. But Lockey isn’t fazed in the slightest by what lies ahead. We have seen progress and plenty of it. Lockey you suspect will deliver the final nail to any remaining apathy and prejudice.

“I will always continue to hit these barriers.” Lockey is unlikely to stop until her fight is won.

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