Fran Hennessy: “I wouldn’t be in this sport if I didn’t think I could go undisputed at a few different weights.”     

Fran Hennessy: “I wouldn’t be in this sport if I didn’t think I could go undisputed at a few different weights.”   

We haven’t seen Fran Hennessy inside a boxing ring since March. It was a special night for her. Big-time boxing returned to the Royal Albert Hall. An all-female card live on Sky Sports, and the 21-year-old was the opening act. Hennessy impressed in her wide points victory over eight rounds against Gemma Ruegg. But the unbeaten prospect has been kicking her heels in frustration since winning every round against Ruegg over seven months ago.

“Of course, it has been frustrating, especially at my age,” Hennessy told FightPost over Zoom. “I just want to be active. But at the end of the day, I look at these things as a positive. I have had so much time to learn and get better, and to grow as a fighter, and I truly believe that is what I have done during this time. I have finally started working with a nutritionist as well, Scott Robinson, and that has brought my game to a whole new level. This is the best I have ever felt.

“I have used it for a good time, but I just want to fight now, as boxers get itchy knuckles. I have had those for a few months. I feel it will bring out the best in me. I have kept my head down and kept focused. But finally, a fight came through, and what a platform to be on, the BBC, the first time in twenty years. They say good things come to those who wait, and I believe this will be one of the best fights yet for me.”

But those itchy knuckles will get to do their thing this weekend in Derby. Fabiana Bytyqi (22-2-2) will be in the opposite corner on Saturday night. “I’m extremely excited. It’s been a little bit of time since my last fight, so it’s fair to say that I am more than ready,” Hennessy says of her seventh professional fight. “I have been waiting for a fight to come up, so I am really excited. I am in my best ever condition. So, I am just ready to get in there now.”

It will be a different platform for Hennessy. Boxxer and Sky Sports have parted ways, and her promoter Ben Shalom has secured a new TV deal with the BBC. The prospect of showcasing her talents to a much wider audience is clearly exciting her. “That is what is so exciting about it. It’s mainstream TV, and there will be so many people who don’t know too much about me who will be watching it. I am going to be giving entertainment from start to finish. I am going to make sure of it, from the ring walk to the performance in the ring. I will make sure I give the BBC what they deserve.”

Boxing is a sport that has consumed Fran Hennessy from an early age. It was very much a family affair. “I first stepped into a boxing gym when I was nine,” Hennessy relayed to me. “I was overweight when I was younger. I was in and around my brother, who was always boxing, and my dad used to be a promoter and is now a manager. So I have been around boxing my whole life. I kind of followed my brother and my dad to the gym. At first, my parents saw it as a good way to be healthy. But I just fell in love with the sport, I was begging my mum and dad to let me box. Boxing has always been in and around my life. I just love boxing, it’s my favourite thing ever.”

Hennessy was very different from the confident ‘dancing queen’ we see today. Her school days were very different. “At school, and I still do, I had Dyslexia. So at school, I wasn’t very confident in my work in the classroom. So I was the class clown, having jokes and stuff. I didn’t really want to do my work because it wasn’t for me, the writing and the reading. I found it all quite difficult. I believe if I had put the same amount of work into my school work as I do into my boxing, it could have been different for me. But I was in that mindset that I just wanted to box. In the boxing gym, the confidence was so different. It brought out so much confidence in me. It brought out my personality. As a young girl, I was quite insecure. Boxing has changed everything for me.”

“When I sit and look back on my old videos, I realise I have come a long way,” a reflective 21-year-old told me. “I am doing that young girl proud, hopefully. So yes, I have come a long way, but I am nowhere near where I want to be. I still have a long way to go.”

Boxing can change lives. It can even save lives. Hennessy knows boxing has given her so much. “Boxing has given me everything,” Hennessy admitted. “I don’t know where I would be without boxing. I have been brought up so well by my parents. They have raised me so well, and I am so grateful for that. But at school, I wasn’t interested in anything. But boxing was like my playground. I used to go there with my brother, but I enjoyed putting the gloves on and having a go. It ended up being my playground, and I really don’t know where I would be without it.”

Fran Hennessy is well-known for her ring walks. Dancing her way to the ring, a far cry from the shy schoolgirl who lacked confidence. She actually attributes some of her current persona to her dad, Mick, maybe to the surprise of many. “In the gym, I have always been the one who, when the old-school tunes come on, I have a dance and try to get all the others to join in. But actually, it’s probably from my dad if I am being honest. He might not show it, but when an old-school tune comes on, and when nobody is watching, he will have a little bop.”

With Hennessy now doing her thing on the BBC, there will obviously be speculation that she will one day end up on their flagship Saturday night show, Strictly Come Dancing. Hennessy is up for swapping her fight attire for sequins. But not yet. “It’s definitely something I would want to do, but I have a lot of other things in my sights before I do anything like that. I want to go undisputed at multiple weights, and then maybe we will get the dancing shoes on for Strictly.”

Fabiana Bytyqi has only lost two fights in her career. Only Serin Cetin and Tina Rupprecht have beaten her. On paper, Bytyqi should represent her toughest challenge to date. Hennessy knows her next opponent can’t be overlooked, but she is a fighter with very big ambitions. “I have got this fight ahead of me, which I am taking very seriously,” Hennessy says. “I have got a tough opponent in front of me, and that is where I am at the moment. I want to do a good job, and get through this girl, and then I am setting my sights on a bigger scene and more belts. I want another step up after this. I want to be an undisputed champion of the world, so after this fight, it is definitely stepping up for me.”

“There is no limit to my ceiling, I don’t think,” Hennessy added. “I want to go as far as I can go. I want to be one of the greats. I wouldn’t be in this sport if I didn’t think I could go undisputed at a few different weights.” 

Photo Credit: Chris Dean/Boxxer