Sophie Alisch: “I really liked the philosophy and vision of Summit Sports. They gave me a really great feeling, and I just said let’s all work together.”

Sophie Alisch: “I really liked the philosophy and vision of Summit Sports. They gave me a really great feeling, and I just said let’s all work together.”

There are many different stories of how a fighter finds their way into boxing. Linn Sandstrom, the Brazilian born former international table tennis star, will fight for a version of the world super-flyweight title later this month in Australia. In the coming years, Sophie Alisch will hope she mirrors the story of Sandstrom. Already, there are similarities.

Born in Berlin in 2001, Sophie started her sporting life in tennis when she was just nine, playing for the junior national team. But four years later, in a move designed to improve her footwork for her primary sport, she found boxing.

“Everything started with tennis,” Sophie told me over Zoom. “My tennis coach told my parents that I should do other sports besides tennis. There was dancing, boxing, and other sports. I was out for dancing, that wasn’t really my thing. So I went to my first boxing session and after four or five classes I told my mum can you talk to dad because I just want to box and I want to stop with tennis now. My father was really surprised at the beginning, but I just fell in love with boxing.”

Sophie was a natural in her new sport. Quickly developing into a highly promising elite amateur, in just thirty four amateur fights with just a handful of defeas, Sophie won medals at domestic and European level and was the youngest ever fighter to be selected for the German Olympic Podium squad. But with offers on the table to turn over, Sophie decided to turn professional when she was just eighteen.

The professional journey started in 2019, but her career hasn’t advanced as quickly as she would have hoped. Sophie has impressed and remained unbeaten, but those five years have only brought nine fights. A win over Gemma Ruegg on a UK visit last March was her last fight. Sophie knew she needed a change.

“My contract with 258 expired. We were looking and talking with other companies. But then we talked to Summit Sports, and it was really clear, and it was a family decision that they were the best people for me to sign with. It was clear that I wanted to work with Summit Sports,” Sophie says of her new venture.

“I really liked the philosophy and vision of Summit Sports. To be honest, I just really like all of the guys on the team. They are all lovely to work with. It was really important to me to have a family environment, especially when you want to work so close together. They gave me a really great feeling, and I just said let’s all work together. They are for the UK and also worldwide, which is important to me because I am currently a promotional free agent, and that really sucks. It’s obviously really frustrating to be a free agent, but my time will come. But I think Summit Sports will find me the right promoter. One that shares the same vision as me. It’s important for me to get some fights. We have had some talks with a few promoters already. So, I think in the next few weeks, we will have the right promoter.”

The hook-up with Summit Sports Sophie will hope gives her career a new lease of life. The inactivity of late has been a massive frustration for her. But with the former Sky Sports stalwart Adam Smith helping guide her immediate fighting future, Sophie does appear to be in safe hands for the next stage of her career. Smith has incredibly high hopes for their new signing.

“Sophie Alisch has all the ingredients we are looking for here at Summit Sports, Smith told FightPost. “She’s extremely talented both inside and out of the ring. Sophie was a stand-out amateur, an unbeaten and exciting young professional, and more than anything, is a lovely athlete who is super close to her family.

“With a huge social following and a wide range of hobbies and sporting interests, Sophie is highly marketable and has the width and versatility to become a major star. We are delighted to have signed her and will help guide her to the top on this exciting path to fulfilling her World Title dreams.”

At 22, Sophie has time and plenty of it, but the blue-chip prospect is intent on making up for lost time.

“Nine fights in five years is not a lot, and it has been a year since I last had a fight,” Sophie says of her career to date. “I wanted to fight more last year. I have to fight more to get the ring IQ and the ring experience. I am also training hard every single day, and I want to show myself. At the end of the day, I am a boxer, and I just want to compete. I need a promoter who gives me a fight plan for the year. I want to fight two or three times this year.”

The featherweight division is probably one of the deepest divisions in the female side of the sport. Amanda Serrano still sits proudly at the top of her division. But with Skye Nicolson recently winning the WBC bauble that Serrano discarded, and unbeaten prospects like Raven Chapman and Karriss Artingstall coming through as well, Sophie knows there are very big fights out there for her in the coming years.

“All those girls are great potential fights for the future,” Sophie tells FightPost. “The featherweight division is on fire. Skye is a really good fighter. She has great skills, but that will be one for the future. First of all, I need to get back in the ring and have some more fights, and then maybe in time a fight with Skye or any of those girls would be great.”

But before talk of what lies ahead, Sophie Alisch knows that she needs to just fight. The potential is obvious. Her resume tells us that. That promising career has stalled in recent times, but there is real hope that will now change. A fighter who just wants to fight. For now, that is the least that she deserves.