Shona Whitwell: A New Beginning

By FightPost: MMA & Boxing News on 18th Aug 2024

It's been a tough year for Shona Whitwell. It started with dreams of Paris and a place on the Olympic podium. Those hopes were cruelly extinguished when the Amy Broadhurst saga began.

Whitwell was a victim of the sometimes heartless search for medals and funding. The powers that be thought Broadhurst was a better option to secure what was needed. In many ways, it was always a flawed decision. The mechanics and the reasoning of it always had the look of a decision that would end with regrets on all sides. If there are lessons to be learned, the importance of doing the right thing should be prominent in those Olympic wash-up meetings.

There will be many trying to analyse what went wrong in Paris. Just that one solitary medal that Lewis Richardson achieved would have been at the low end of the pre-games expectations. Some of the damage was undoubtedly done prior to GB Boxing travelling out to France, and more than one fighter will now have to pick up the pieces of their career and seek pastures new.

For Shona Whitwell, there was no way back. In seriousness, how could there be? The way that she was treated guaranteed that Whitwell would have to move on and seek that pivotal new beginning.

Whitwell is a highly decorated amateur. The inevitable decision to leave the amateur ranks behind guarantees the professional world has another immensely talented addition waiting to be unleashed once Whitwell has decided on which promotional company will guide the next stage of her career.

There are suggestions that the women's side of the sport has levelled out, and that interest is declining. But that feels like a viewpoint that is incredibly short-sighted and almost certainly formed by the attention being diverted to the Saudi million-dollar circus that is currently the flavour of the time.

While fantasy matchmaking of this new era brings riches to the few, the many are left behind. The UK market flounders along in comparison to what it could be as a result of potential main events falling on one super card, and more often than not, ending up outside of UK soil. The lack of interest in women's boxing on those mega cards can't be hidden. Or excused.

There does seem to be a shift in priorities. But the progress of recent times shouldn't now be lost because of the new money show in town. Fighters like Whitwell can play an important part in securing the future of women's boxing. Someone who can help to reignite that declining interest. There could even be a little help closer to home.

Harli Whitwell, the younger sister of Shona, is already five fights into her professional career. Already, she has the look of a potential star. Surely, one of the bigger promoters can see the potential of having two talented fighting sisters on their roster. It is, in truth, an easy sell.

The eldest of the Whitwell sisters is currently in the process of having meetings with prospective promotional suitors. The loss of the chance to go for gold in Paris hinders that process somewhat. Another little dynamic in why the decision to go elsewhere was so cruel to Whitwell. But she is a fighter who is ready to go and put all the recent woes behind her. It's not that difficult to envisage Shona Whitwell progressing far in the world of professional boxing. All she needs is the opportunity.