Joey Lee Paul: “The main reason I have stuck with boxing is to see just what I am capable of.”

Joey Lee Paul: “The main reason I have stuck with boxing is to see just what I am capable of.”

Joey Lee Paul is a chiropractor by day. The 25-year-old is also deep into her studies for a Master’s in strength and conditioning. Paul is also aiming high in her blossoming boxing career. Thoughts of qualifying for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and further down the line, there are hopes of making the Australian team for the 2028 Olympic Games.

The Wodonga-born fighter was hoping to be heading to Liverpool in September for the World Amateur Championships, but despite going incredibly close, Paul just missed out on a place in last week’s qualifying tournament in Canberra.

“Overall, the tournament was pretty good,” Paul told me over Zoom. “It was only my second national event, so we only went to see what we could do, really. But all those fights I had there were very winnable fights. I was really happy with my performances, and my last fight in the semi-finals was very close. I’ll come back stronger next time, and we are right there, and we are where we need to be.”

Marissa Williamson, who competed in last year’s Paris Olympics, beat her in Canberra, ending her hopes of making the Australian team for Liverpool. It’s not the first time Paul has shared a ring with the former Olympian. “I fought her two weeks ago at the Club Championships in Adelaide. I lost, and it was nowhere near as close a fight. I went into the second fight with a slightly different strategy, and it seemed to work, and all the feedback we got from everyone was how great a fight it was.”

“My biggest priority right now is to fight as much as I can and try to get some opportunities in development camps and fight internationally, and that would obviously be ideal and very beneficial,” Paul says of what is next for her. “Otherwise, it will be to fight as often as we can locally and keep banking all that experience.”

Like many, Joey Lee Paul came into boxing by way of another sport. “I was a soccer player growing up, and boxing started around two years ago. My whole life was soccer at one point. But it was in year twelve when I decided I didn’t want to play soccer anymore. I ended up coming to Perth to study, and I just missed competitive sports and challenging myself. So, I signed up for a charity boxing match. I was four weeks in, and I already knew that I had caught the bug. But I told myself I would see how I went on during fight night, and if I enjoyed fighting, I would stick with it. As soon as I got out of the ring, I knew I wasn’t stopping. I found my gym where I am now. I had about five fights in my first year, and last year, we had eleven fights, and this year, we have had six fights, so full steam ahead.”

“One of the coolest, and probably the most intimidating things about the sport, is that it’s all on your own back. It’s all on you,” Paul adds when I ask her what the attraction of boxing is. “But there is an element of control in that as well. You have to push yourself to see what you are capable of. The main reason I have stuck with boxing is to see just what I am capable of. Boxing has a way of making you find calm in all the chaos. You have to be completely present in that moment; if you aren’t, there are consequences. The development is addictive as well. Seeing yourself getting better every time you step in that ring is quite an incredible feeling.”

Paul is only at the beginning of her boxing story. Two years in, everything has changed. “When I first started, it was just to have a bit of fun and see where the sport took me,” Paul told me. “But over the last year, I now just want to see how far I can go. The aim is to have a really good crack at going to the Commonwealth Games and then have a real go at the Olympic cycle. But if any pro opportunities came up, I would definitely be open to taking them. But at this point, because I am so young in this sport, my main priority is getting experience. The only way to do that is to fight a lot and keep getting that time in the ring.

“When I first started boxing, I didn’t expect it to be such a high priority in my life. I was in my final year at university, and all I saw myself doing was knuckling down and just working. So, for boxing to become such a huge part of my life is crazy. Of course, it’s challenging at times. I am lucky that in my job, I can control the hours that I work. I work for myself now, so I am as busy as I choose to be. I can be relatively flexible around travel and training. I am also studying my Master’s in strength and conditioning as well. So there is a lot going on, but I am in love with it all. I also thrive on being busy.”

There is something so addictive about boxing. Joey Lee Paul is another fighter who has found that out. It was once just a bit of fun, but now it is something more. Much more. Her progress has been rapid. And incredibly impressive. Paul talks about seeing how far she can go. From what we have seen so far, she could go a very long way indeed.