Shannon Rose: “The sky is the limit.”

Shannon Rose: “The sky is the limit.”

It was just three months after losing her professional debut that Shannon Rose had her second outing as a professional boxer. But sadly for her, it ended the exact same way, in defeat. Ashleigh Heal edged a close super-middleweight contest earlier this month in Sydney courtesy of a split-decision.

“The fight didn’t go my way, and Ashleigh simply gave more on the night,” Rose relayed to me. “I think I showed a lot of improvement from the last fight three months ago, but I didn’t quite do enough to pull off the win.”

Despite suffering her second reversal, Rose is getting ever-closer to recording her maiden victory, and the Australian has no thoughts of giving up. “You haven’t seen the last of me yet,” Rose says. “I’ve had two hard fights with opponents that have had far more ring time than I have. I still have a lot to work on and a lot to prove, so I’m just heading back to the drawing board to come back even stronger.

“There are still definitely moments where I don’t feel the improvement. But looking back on my fight with Ashleigh compared to my first fight with Alana, I look like a completely different boxer, and that was with only two months of more consistent training.”

Shannon Rose is still new to her sport. A fighter with no amateur background whatsoever, and is very much learning on the job. But she is undeterred about her two setbacks and is already planning a swift return to the ring. “We are hoping to get two more fights in for the remainder of the year! I’m still in the process of locking them in, but we’re definitely jumping straight back into the gym, and I’ll be making myself as prepared as I can be.”

“The sky is the limit,” Rose adds. “I know I’m still a baby at the sport, and I know there’s still so much more experience to gain. Hopefully, I’ll end up on the world stage.”