Katie Riddle: "I do the sport because I just love it."

FightPost: MMA & Boxing News

April 1

"I do the sport because I just love it and not for any other reason at this point." The words of the Australian flyweight hopeful Katie Riddle.

Fighters fight for many reasons. Many are attracted to the bright lights and the lure of fame and fabled stories about untold riches that are supposed to litter the sport. They don't by the way. Unless you are one of the privileged few. But some just fight, because they simply just love to fight. Katie Riddle is one such fighter.

Riddle may one day be one of the few. But you suspect her journey isn't about that. That's not to say Riddle is not without talent. She most certainly has ability to go with that passion for her craft.

"I think I had twenty-five fights with eight defeats. I won five State titles, and last year, I won the 48kg Australian title." Riddle told me over Zoom. A winning record in the amateur code says plenty. Trust me, it isn't easy to have one.

That love for fighting came early in her life.

"I always had an interest in combat sports. I did Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a few years," Riddle told FightPost. "But I had always wanted to box. It had been in my family, but my mum wouldn't let me box basically while I was living under her roof. I moved out at sixteen, and the first thing I did was join a boxing gym. So I guess that's where it all took off."

In one of those strange coincidences the sport often throws up, an estranged side of her family had a history in the sport that Riddle was totally unaware of.

"I was born in Hamilton, Victoria in Australia, which is where I live now. I actually didn't have anything to do with my dad's side of the family. So, at that time, I didn't know that all of my dad's side were boxers. It wasn't until I moved back to Hamilton and joined the boxing gym and reignited with that side of my family that I found out that I had this big line of boxers in the family. So, it was just meant to be." Riddle says of her early upbringing that hid her family's involvement in boxing from her.

But once boxing did enter her life, it didn't let go.

"I fell in love with the sport straight away," Riddle says of those early days in the sport. "I remember my very first spar. The girl was about 25kg heavier than me. But I still did quite well because she never came back to the gym. From that day on, I got the nickname Pocket Rocket."

With a nickname quickly formed, Riddle quickly found her passion consumed her. The training continued and it eventually led to her first ever fight. But unfortunately, it didn't go well for her.

"In my first fight, I got stopped," Riddle relayed to me. "I was actually winning the fight with about a minute to go in the final round. But I was so exhausted. I could not throw another punch, and I just stood there with my hands up, and the referee just called it off."

But despite that early setback there were no thoughts of Riddle giving up her new sport.

"A lot of people asked me that, lots of people give it up after their first fight, but it never crossed my mind, I just love the sport. At that point, I actually didn't like the fight day. I liked everything else that came with it. My nerves used to get the better of me. Actually, they still probably do. Fight day was just a bonus basically. It was everything else that I loved."

Like many former amateurs that I speak to, the run in the amateur code was ended by the lack of opportunities at Olympic level.

"My division isn't an Olympic weight class," Riddle says of her decision to turn professional. "I am getting older now, and going pro was something I had dreamed about earlier in my career. But as it went along, it just seemed out of reach. But when I won the Australain title last year, I thought I had taken the amateurs as far as I could, and I just thought have a few pro fights and have a bit of fun."

Boxing came even more of a family issue for Riddle. This time even more personal. She met her future husband, Jayden, also a professional boxer, through the sport.

"He was coming to the gym for a bit of fitness and playing football," Riddle says of she met her husband to be. "I sort of said to him you should come over and do a bit of sparring. He wasn't bad, and that it was."

Katie Riddle has learned the hard way that boxing is rarely simple. A planned debut last year was delayed when her opponent pulled out at late notice, and when her debut was rescheduled it was against the unbeaten Australian champion Jemma Peart. A fight that ended with Riddle being stopped inside a round. In many ways, it was a nightmare introduction to the professional side of the sport.

"Everything had gone to plan," Riddle says of her the initial training camp that ended without reward when her opponent pulled out of the fight. "It was the perfect prep. I had gone away and got the most amazing sparring. But one week out, my opponent pulled out on me, which was obviously pretty devastating. We tried to find another fight straight away because we had a ten-week prep. But basically, the only offer we had was to fight the current Australian champion. It was always the fight that I wanted, but not for my debut."

But despite that nightmare start to her professional career, there are no regrets. Only lessons learned.

"I don't regret taking the fight, even with what happened. But going into that second training camp, everything went wrong. I snapped a ligament in my ankle on the very first day of my fight camp. I got gastroenteritis three days before the weigh-in. Everything that could possibly go wrong did. But I'm still very grateful for the whole experience in itself. The bright lights and fighting with no headgear I thought might affect me, but they didn't. So that is a good thing, that that is out of the way. I do want to challenge her again, and next time, I will know what to expect. I was perhaps a little naive because in the amateurs, I had never been stunned or hurt, so I was a little naive with how much difference the smaller gloves would make. I had an attitude of no girl at 51kg would ever knock me out. But it turns out, that they can."

Riddle is back in training, but the lingering effects of her ankle injury could potentially delay her return to action. But the fighter is hopeful she can return before June.

"I'm assesing to see if I can get away with not having surgery on my ankle. So, I have been doing pretty extensive rehab. Hopefully, I will start looking at planning my next fight in a few weeks for about eight weeks time."

The sport is very much a family affair for Riddle and her immediate family. There is a refreshing attitude from the Australian. No false bravado, just a fighter taking one day and one fight at a time. Everything she does in the sport is a bonus now she says after an amateur run that exceeded her expectations. Now all she wants to do is have some some fun and hopefully, get her maiden professional victory. The hope is, she gets a preparation that will allow her to do exactly that.