Mae Astbury: “I want to be the best fighter that I can.”

Mae Astbury: “I want to be the best fighter that I can.”

Mae Astbury was seemingly always destined to have a sporting career of some description. Her formative years included spells in gymnastics, dance, hockey, basketball, and athletics. There was even a time when she competed in powerlifting. A sport that she found during those tough Covid times. But boxing was never remotely on her radar. But what started as a hobby for fitness only, soon morphed into something more.

“I’d always been athletic all the way through my childhood,” the Northwich fighter told me over Zoom. “I had always done sport. I did every after-school club I could. But boxing was never really an option. I come from a really small town, and boxing was something that wasn’t really pushed. There were only two boxing gyms in the whole area. Not a lot of people at school did it, so it was just something that I found when I was 19. I went purely for the fitness side of it. I wasn’t really competing at anything, and I wanted something to put my time into.

“Leading up to that first fight, something just switched in my head. It is so difficult. The fitness side of it, the physical side of it, and because it is so challenging, that is what drew me to boxing. When I won that first fight, it was just the best feeling. It was something that I hadn’t had in other sports. From that point, I was just hooked, and I haven’t shut up about boxing since.”

After a twenty-four-fight amateur career, Astbury decided to enter the world of professional boxing. The near-year-long process is nearing its completion. A problematic application for a British Boxing Board of Control licence that will hopefully end on a positive note and a professional debut in March. Astbury is inspired by the sport itself and the inspirational fighters who reside in it. It was only when her teenage years were ending that Astbury discovered boxing. That late entry into her sport came at a time when her side of the sport had finally started to flourish. Astbury has seen a change in the perception of women’s boxing during her time in the sport.

“I didn’t really grow up around boxing, so I was fairly new as a fan as well. So, over the last few years, when a lot of women have paved the way, it’s been really good to watch. People don’t just say that someone is a good female boxer. They now say that was a really good fight. You’ve got the likes of Skye Nicolson, Katie Taylor, Ebanie Bridges, and others. They are all quality fighters. They are not just female boxers. They are really good fighters. They have built a platform where female fighters are being recognised as just good boxers.”

That long-awaited professional debut should finally arrive in early spring. A fighter all in on her sport. Beyond ambitious, the aspiring bantamweight wants to go a long way in the sport. “All the way to the top,” Astbury said when I asked her just how far she could go in her sport.

“I would love to get world titles. I will put all the work in. I will give 100% to every single training camp. Having seen what we have achieved already, I can see what we can still achieve. But I am not in any rush. I want to take my time. I might have ten years, so I don’t want to rush the process. I want to be the best fighter that I can. The next few years will be about finding who I am as a professional boxer. By the time I am 28, I want to be at British, Commonwealth, or European level. I want to make those steps at the right time. By the end of my career, I want to have taken every single opportunity.”     

The 26-year-old has time on her side. The delay to her professional career, you sense, is just a little bump in the road. Mae Astbury is just waiting for the British Boxing of Control to sign everything off. The ongoing issues with her eyesight, which have delayed her application, appear now to be behind her. It was a beyond-difficult period that put all her ambitions on hold. But there has been no loss of focus. If anything, it has only strengthened her resolve and desire. Astbury is impressive. A passionate and dedicated fighter, but also incredibly level-headed about her sport.

March is an important month for her side of the sport. The Boxxer all-female card is being promoted as a relaunch of women’s boxing. If it does materialise, the professional debut of Astbury might not carry the same kind of headlines as that ever-so-important card in London, which will be headlined by Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price. But if women’s boxing is to keep growing, it needs a never-ending supply of new stars. Mae Astbury could be one of those fighters.