TWENTY years after she poked her head through the back-stage curtains of a smoke-filled working menโs club in Saxton Gardens and began her ascent to boxing greatness, Nicola Adams is set for a rather different reception in her beloved home city.
Those one hundred or so club show diehards will be replaced by up to 10,000 cheering supporters as the double Olympic champion faces Mexicoโs Maryan Salazar in her second professional fight at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
Adams has seldom fought in the city since her debut as a precocious 13-year-old, although Yorkshire Evening Post archives reveal she sustained a standing count en route to a points win at the local Irish Centre in December 2000.
Fight Night is closing inโฆ????????@J_Warrington vs Martinez@NicolaAdamsOBE vs Salazar@JazzaDickens10 vs Ward@joshleather91 vs Sutcliffe Jr pic.twitter.com/FKEkhHqRcS
โ BT Sport Boxing ???? (@BTSportBoxing) May 11, 2017
If such reports serve to dismiss the much-promoted notion of this being Adamsโ first return since her debut, they also indicate how far she has come since the days when she first stepped into the ring inspired by images of Muhammad Ali and Prince Naseem Hamed.
Adams told Press Association Sport: โMy mum took me up to the gym and I didnโt feel nervous about being the only girl there at all โ it was when Naz was near his peak so I just saw boxing as another form of showmanship.
โI had always been pretty confident at school and taken part in shows and stuff, but I just needed another way to channel my energies. I took to it straight away and it never really seemed like an unusual thing for a girl to be doing.โ
.@NicolaAdamsOBE: 8st 2lbs
Maryan Salazar: 7st 13lbs pic.twitter.com/lk4TQzCXnu
โ Frank Warren (@frankwarren_tv) May 12, 2017
Adams is no longer in contact with her first coach, Leroy Brown, who was in her corner for her first fight and stayed with her for around 10 years until the pair parted on not exactly the best of terms.
Brown, who still runs his โSharkyโsโ gym in the city, told Press Association Sport this week: โShe turned up at the gym with her mum one day and she was messing about a bit, but I stuck her in with the lads and she seemed to get to grips with it straight away.
โShe didnโt really like the discipline and she would get a little bit too nervous at times, but we settled her down and set her on the path to where she is today. When they get to a certain level they move on and youโve just got to move on too.โ
Saturday Fight night, almost time to shine ????????#lioness ????#FightNight ???? pic.twitter.com/pM9K7cKKcl
โ Nicola Adams (@NicolaAdamsOBE) May 10, 2017
Such issues will be the last thing on Adamsโ mind as she prepares to fight over three-minute rounds for the first time against Salazar, an 18-year-old novice who won her first five fights before losing her sixth on points in February.
Promoter Frank Warren is already hopeful of steering Adams towards a shot at the WBO womenโs flyweight title before the end of the year.