Ella Lonsdale: “Boxing keeps me disciplined, and it’s my life now. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Ella Lonsdale: “Boxing keeps me disciplined, and it’s my life now. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Even at 17, Ella Lonsdale is no stranger to success as a boxer. A two-time Tri-Nations Champion, a four-time National Champion, a European gold medallist plus a plethora of other titles, trust me, her fighting resume is already incredibly impressive. Lonsdale is seemingly destined to reach the top of her sport. That potential was demonstrated again recently when she was crowned the U19 Youth World Boxing Champion in America earlier this month.

“It’s an amazing feeling. It just didn’t feel real. It just didn’t sink in. It felt amazing,” Lonsdale told me over Zoom. The North-East native is in a rare club now. But she has now gone a little higher than a previous Sunderland fighter.

“There was only one other boxer from Sunderland to have won a medal at this level, Isaac Macleod, he got a silver medal, so I wanted to go one better and win gold,” Lonsdale says of her recent exploits.

“With me still being only 17, I have to do it again next year. I have got high expectations for 2025.” Words that tell you Ella Lonsdale is only at the beginning of her fighting journey. “I’m too young for Team GB at the moment, so that would be more next year. In 2025, I will be offered selection. I do training camps in Sheffield already and spar with the fighters already on Team GB. To get on Team GB, you have to go through various stages, lots of sparring. They watch everything before they let you on.”

I caught up with the young starlet while she was on a break from her normal routine of training six days a week which is coupled with helping her dad in the family business Keith’s Quality Coving, which is based in Hendon.

“I’m having a little time off now, and then I will get ready for the National Youth Championships in January,” Lonsdale told me. “I want to win the National’s and then hopefully get selected for the European Championships after that.”

The entry into the world of boxing came off the back of a sporting background before the noble art consumed her and took over her life.

“I was always picked for cross country and football and things like that. I’ve always been sporty,” Lonsdale says of what came before.

But boxing has given her something that other sports couldn’t give her.

“Boxing keeps me disciplined, and it’s my life now. It’s the best thing that could have happened to me. My dad took me to boxing to boost my confidence, and I’ve never really looked back from there. I used to be quite shy and now I like to meet new people. My nan used to take me to all the training sessions and take us running up all the backroads. She has been a big inspiration to me.”

Lonsdale has her idols. Former Olympic fighters who are now at various stages of their professional careers.

“Ben Whittaker, Natasha Jonas and Katie Taylor,” Lonsdale answered when I asked who inspires her. “Tasha went through GB and went to the Olympics in 2012 and then turned professional, and that’s the route that I want to take. Tasha also sent me a good luck video for the World Championships.”

There have been personal sacrifices already for a fighter who looks to have some future ahead of her. “I never socialise with my friends or anything like that,” Lonsdale told FightPost. “It’s boxing all the time. I do feel as though I am missing out, but it will all be worth it in the end.”

Ella Lonsdale has her whole career ahead of her. At just 17, her resume is already filled with glitter and gold. But she’s intent on going a whole lot further in a sport that has changed her life so much.

“I want to go as far as I can. I want to try as get as much experience as I can and win as many titles as I can. I want to get on Team GB and then go to the Olympics.”