The Derbyshire boxer recently chatted with BoxingNews about the fights that got her heart racing and her love for heavy metal music.
Sixty-Seconds: Amy Greatorex
Age: 38
Twitter: @AmyGreatorex
Instagram: amygreatorex
Nationality: British
From: Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Stance: Orthodox
Record: 1-11
Next fight: Watch this space
When and why did you start boxing:
I started about eight years ago. I originally started for fitness. I’d always wanted to do it, but I was too overweight, and I lacked the confidence to even set foot in a gym before then. I started going to a class at my local gym, a kickboxing for fitness class, but we mainly focused on boxing, and I realised I enjoyed it.
So I found a boxing-based gym. I then moved to an amateur gym and became carded just before my 30th birthday. I wish I could’ve had the opportunity to start at a younger age, but it wasn’t really something available when I was younger, especially for girls locally.
Favourite all-time fighter:
I always remember watching the likes of Frank Bruno, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, and Prince Naseem Hamed, but I always go back to Lomachenko. I think he is technically brilliant! There are so many female boxers that I look up to. They all have had their part in paving the way for the likes of me, and I think that is amazing.
Best fight you’ve seen:
I don’t know. I know the one that really got my heart racing was George Groves vs. Chris Eubank Jr. I lost my voice for a while after that, and I only watched it at home.
Personal career highlight:
Boxing in Sweden in the Golden Girls Championships as an amateur was amazing for me. From the very start, I never thought I would get those kinds of experiences after stepping into the sport so late.
My first away win against a WBC champion and fighting for the Midlands Area title, showing those who didn’t believe in me, that is what I can do. I would have to say, though, my whole professional career so far is a highlight, from the help I got at the start to get to my debut, to now. It’s all a dream to me and amazes me every single day. The best is yet to come.
Toughest opponent:
Vaida Masiokaite. That was definitely a tough debut! Especially after the drama of the run-up to it. I think I was a bit shell-shocked, but she was strong and has great experience! I don’t think she gets the credit she deserves often enough.
Best and worst attributes as a boxer:
The best is probably my fitness and my determination, and my motivation to better myself. I’d say the worst is that I’m a perfectionist… and I don’t mind taking a punch.
Training tip:
Make sure you put in all the work you can, as you get out what you put in. Take as many opportunities as you can to get extra experience with sparring. But rest is important (and I do need to listen to myself with that one).
What do you get out of boxing:
I absolutely love it. I live and breathe boxing. There probably isn’t an hour in the day that I’m not thinking about boxing somehow. It relaxes me, weirdly. I get a sense of accomplishment, it gives me confidence and definitely a stress reliever! It’s given me friends that are like family, too, and for that I’ll forever be thankful.
Favourite meal/restaurant:
Give me a Sunday roast any day (especially my mum’s!). But I do like a ‘spoons. I’m a cheap date, obviously. I think I’m a strange one because I do actually enjoy eating all the stuff I have to while making weight, so much so that I do miss it when I’m allowed to go and eat out.
Best friends in boxing:
I met my best friends through boxing, Becky and Lauren. But they don’t box competitively. It’s been great making new friends through my move to Riley’s Boxing and Fitness Centre, people who genuinely want you to do well! I met Bianca and Grace through boxing and Riley’s, and it’s always a great spar when we’re throwing love taps, and it’s great being able to share experiences with other females in the gym.
Have you ever been starstruck?
Many times, but usually when I’ve met bands I really like. I always talk rubbish, though, but there’s nothing new there, that’s just my everyday life. I was a bit starstruck when I met Hannah Rankin before her fight against Terri Harper. Hannah is so lovely! She even messaged me after my debut to see how I was and if I ever needed any advice, to get in touch. I thought that was so nice of her.
Last time you cried:
I’m not sure. To be honest. I do cry out of frustration. I know I cried after my debut when my sisters told me they were proud of me. Anything like that, if someone genuinely means it, gets me going.
Best advice received:
Probably all the advice I’ve received since moving to Riley’s, most before that, is null and void. Don’t focus on what’s happened before. Focus on what’s to come. In and out of the ring.
Worst rumour about yourself:
I don’t think any. I’m relatively unknown, so people don’t talk about me, I don’t think well, not that I know of. One of my friends that I used to work with once told our new manager that I used to be a stripper (I worked in a nursery).
He also announced the same thing over the speakers in a club he used to DJ in, too. So, it’s not necessarily a rumour, but some people did believe it, I don’t know why, though. I don’t particularly have the assets to be a stripper.
Something not many people know about you:
I love metal and can play drums (probably badly nowadays, though).
What one thing would you change in boxing:
At the moment, I’d probably make every fight have three judges instead of the referee scoring the fight. I feel the ref, although he’s at the centre of it, can miss a lot if he’s only seeing one side of the fight.
