THERE isn’t enough time in the day for Julia Lee.
The 33-year-old balances her job as a police detective, running her own amateur boxing club and life as a professional boxer. The latter of which rolls on to York Hall on Friday night when the bantamweight faces Hungary’s Sara Orszagi on a show featuring some potential domestic stars of the future in George Liddard, Jimmy Sains and Karol Itauma.
Lee’s unconventional lifestyle suits her perfectly. The unrelenting desire to compete and to help others blend together to reflect an individual who is unique to a sport full of one of a kinds.
This week Boxing News chatted to the unbeaten Lee, 2-0 (1 KO,) over the phone and wanted to know what drew her to the fight game.
“I always say boxing is the most misunderstood sport in the world,” Lee answered.
“I think what initially attracted me to it was there’s something in me that was drawn to something combative. I come from a culture where martial arts is quite ingrained in us. And I’m by no means kind of experienced in any kind of martial arts.
“I dabbled in a bit of taekwondo type sort of mixed martial arts, like East Asian, when I was about six or seven. But that’s like doing ballet when you’re five and putting it off to a couple of years. But maybe it’s something in my blood.”
Lee didn’t take up boxing to save her from going down a dangerous path or to get her off the streets and do something life-changing. Instead, at 18 years old, she dipped her toes into Box Fit. The more she learned, the more her appreciation grew for the sweet science.
“It’s such a technical art form,” she says. “And there’s always some fine tuning you can make that makes you more powerful and faster. And I loved unpeeling those layers like an onion, where you’re just discovering more and more about the technicalities of body mechanics and how to train to perform better.
“And that journey of learning and discovering and learning about myself as well as an individual has been so rewarding. I think that’s kind of what keeps me in the sport.”
Boxing cliches are not part of Lee’s phrasebook. Even when discussing her next fight, there were thoughts towards the event’s production – the card will be shown live on DAZN from 7pm – the attention it will draw, and the calibre of fighters competing on the evening.
“So it’s really exciting,” she says. “It’s kind of like the moment I guess I’ve been waiting for. And a little bit daunting for that reason as well. I need to perform, and I’m confident, but there’s all this stuff around it that I’m having to think about. But yeah, generally very excited.”
Lee does not bring big statements and ego to a conversation. World title dreams aren’t even mentioned until BN asks her about long-term goals for the future.
“The only thing I would say about that is that any kind of world titles or the biggest title is a means to an end, like means to a greater purpose,” she says.
“Although it would be an amazing achievement, I’d love to be able to do that. And that’s what I aim to do. I never do anything kind of half-hearted or thinking that I will go as far as I go and then stop.”
Becoming a world champion, should Lee reach that summit, is not the end game. Should her profile and reputation grow then she plans to use that platform to help others. Lee sees a connection between her work as a Detective Constable at Metropolitan Police and her life as a boxer and running a gym.
“It’s a platform for me to inspire a younger generation,” she says.
“I’m really kind of submerged amongst young people. And the reason I box as well is because I want to live the same lived experiences as the young people and lead by example. And also to kind of be able to live through their experience with them.
“And when I train and the kids are there, I want to perform for them. A lot of the kids that I work with and train at the gym, like coach at the gym that I run, are coming to the fight. So it’s a real fuel for me to try and show them that all of this is possible because you know how hard I work.
“And if you put in that work, this is where you can be. And I want to use that if and when I do that level of titles and achievement. I want to then be able to stand on that platform and reach wider audiences to be able to inspire and do some more work on that platform.
“So it’s really another step to what I can do which is a bigger goal and a bigger purpose.”
In the beginning, however, Lee’s ultimate ambition was to become a police officer. Something that she believed was an inevitability and describes as a “calling” and a “childhood dream.” Working in Corporate Law postponed the inevitable, and now Lee is a Detective Constable in The Met working in child exploitation teams, as she explains.
“I work with young people aged 11 to 17 who are being exploited by gangs, knife crime, robberies, all of that stuff, and sexual exploitation as well. So one of the things I’ve found was that when we’re always telling them what not to do on the streets, like don’t carry knives, don’t get sucked into county lines, there was often a lack of an alternative that we can say, but do this instead.
“And a lot of the programs were publicly funded and depended on public funding. They’re often kind of time prescribed, so you could do it for a summer camp for four weeks, but afterwards, where do you go from there? So I was kind of frustrated by the lack of real immediate options for these kids. And so the whole boxing thing also came about as a result of running the Rebels boxing gym that I run. It was a real kind of tool for me to say, right, I’m a police officer, and you shouldn’t do X, Y, Z, but do this instead.”
The gym has become a happy place for Lee. Interactions with those who train and change their lives is a boost for everyone at Rebels Gym. Inspiration is everywhere, and Lee does her utmost best to provide an alternative to the life they are used to.
“It’s really nice to see them turn things around and feel down to their bones the power of boxing.
“And the energy that I get from the young people in the gym really gives me faith in young people. So when I’m doing my work, and I’m seeing over and over again broken homes, and kids who might not want to engage with police officers, because I’m a police officer in my role. And sometimes when I shed that job title in a boxing gym, I can connect with young people a lot better.
“And they see the person behind the job title. And that really opens them up to me. And that energy also, then I can take back to work.
“The energy feeds off and knowledge kind of crosses over. A lot of people have said, oh, you know, if you make it as a boxer, will you leave the job? But to me, kind of, one cannot exist without the other because one fuels the other and one makes me a great police officer. It’s an amazing synergy that I wouldn’t want to get rid of.”
