Carys Mainwaring: “I am proud of myself for what I have done and achieved.”
It came as somewhat of a surprise when the elite amateur Carys Mainwaring announced her retirement from boxing a few weeks ago. At just 25, Mainwaring was seemingly heading into her peak years. “I kind of fell out of love with it a little bit,” Mainwaring told FightPost over Zoom. “So, I think it’s just time for something a little bit different. We’ll go from there and see what happens.”
The decision to walk away from boxing has been coming. “I’ve felt like that probably for the last two years. I’ve been boxing for five years. But it’s over the last few years that I have started to lose the love for it a little bit.”
With her love for her sport slowly dwindling away, it has undoubtedly had consequences inside the ring. “100% it affected my performance,” Mainwaring says. “2024 was my best season. I felt like I was on a roll. I think I had twelve bouts that season and won ten of them. I did the England nationals that year. I lost in the semi-finals. That was a big one. I don’t tend to think I win fights, but I was confident with that one. That was maybe a bit of a turning point.”
The last dance came last month in the Four Nations Championship. A majority decision defeat to the up-and-coming prospect Ella Lonsdale. That result didn’t affect the retirement call.
“I had made my decision before that fight,” Mainwaring relayed to me. “I went into that fight enjoying myself. I knew that would be my last competition. So I tried enjoying it the best I could. And I did, to be fair. I had watched Ella a lot before, and I knew a lot about her. I knew she was a really good girl, and she was tricky. I just went in there thinking I had nothing to lose. I went in and gave it a go, but I lost on a split. It was a good fight, to be fair. I enjoyed it, and that was the first fight I had enjoyed in two years.”
There are no regrets. The boxing career was relatively short. But incredibly successful. A two-time national champion. Her career ended with a bronze medal at the Four Nations with that wafer-thin defeat to Lonsdale. “I can’t complain,” Mainwaring says of her career. “I won two national titles. I have done well in a short space of time. Not many people can say that. I am proud of myself for what I have done and achieved.”
Like many, the boxing career started by way of another sport and a family connection. “It was in the family. My dad is a high-level kickboxer. His twin sisters were as well. So I have always had that kind of background. My auntie talked me into boxing when I was about 12. I trained and just did a bit of boxing training. I had my first fight when I was about 15. I said I would never do that again. I didn’t enjoy it for some reason. My next fight wasn’t until the end of 2021, just after Covid. I then went to university in Cardiff, and I guess I enjoyed it from there.”
“The dedication you need for the sport,” Mainwaring added when I asked what was the attraction of boxing to her. “You live and breathe boxing. You have to live the lifestyle if you want to do well. I knew I was joining the military, and that dedication and discipline go hand in hand.”
You sense that it might not be the final chapter for Carys Mainwaring. The door for a potential return is being kept ever so slightly ajar. “The love might come back. I don’t know. But at least for now, we’ll turn that page and see what happens.”
If Mainwaring does return, it could be as a professional. “I never thought about turning pro. But never say never.”
“I will miss it in some ways,” Mainwaring went on to say. “I still have my coaching, which will keep one foot in the door. Boxing is like a big family when you go to the gym. As much as it’s an individual sport, especially in the RAF, it’s also a big team sport.”
Life goes on for Mainwaring. A career in the Royal Air Force continues. Time will tell if the love does return for her sport, and a comeback materialises at some point in the future. But if the final bell has indeed chimed, Carys Mainwaring can look back with immense pride on her boxing career.
