Ebonie Jones imagined her first professional fight would be in a small hall, not the Wembley Arena.
Such is the nature of women’s boxing, rising female stars are rarely afforded the opportunity to fight at such established venues so early in their career, but Jones boasts an impressive amateur record and new promotional company BOXXER have taken a chance on the young fighter.
Jones will fight as a featherweight against Lithuania’s Vaida Masiokaite on the undercard of Liam Taylor vs David Avanesyan on Saturday night. Speaking to GiveMeSport Women, the 23-year-old emphasised she felt lucky to have been given this chance and was looking forward to stepping in the ring.
“I’m more excited than anything,” she said. “I can’t complain, I’ve got the best debut. I haven’t got to have a part-time job anymore, so I’m really grateful for that.”
Indeed, Jones gave up her full-time job back in July, having been in the Royal Engineers. She was just about to start her tank course when she decided to turn pro –– a decision vindicated when BOXXER came calling.
“I was buzzing. When I left the army I knew there was going to be no income coming in, but I took the risk because I knew I wanted to pursue a professional career. I got out of the army in July, so this was perfect timing and I was over the moon.”
The Portsmouth born featherweight has been open about the struggles she’s faced in the past. Having missed out on Olympic qualification for Tokyo, at one stage Jones considered walking away from the sport entirely and can hardly believe how far she has come since then.
“This time a year ago I’d never have imagined this, it’s crazy, I’m a completely different person. I’m back boxing and back to my normal self.”
Forgotten is the disappointment of missing out on Tokyo as well. Jones was in the middle of two weight classes between 51kg and 57kg but struggled to maintain that weight. The English star has no hard feelings anymore though and watched her teammates in action this summer.
“It’s all in the past now. I’m more excited to turn professional. I just think it suits me a lot better. There are a lot more opportunities now for women in the professional game. If anything I was just happy for my teammates watching them.”
It’s been almost three years since Jones last fought, but she is determined to make a statement on Saturday night and wants to do more than just win.
“I want to showcase myself and prove what I’m about,” she stressed. “So yeah there’s a little bit of pressure because I want that to come across. Obviously, I’ve trained as hard as I can, so It just comes down to what happens on the night now.”
While Jones’ amateur record speaks for itself with 60 wins from 65 fights –– there are still some who judge her from her appearance. The fighter is a self-confessed ‘girly girl’ and isn’t afraid to wear whatever she wants. For Jones, this just goes to show that stereotypes don’t matter in boxing and you shouldn’t have to conform to any norms.
“Why should I have to wear a tracksuit, If I don’t want to,” she exemplified. That’s not what I wear outside of boxing and you shouldn’t have to be a certain way. I think people will see me now and then on Saturday and it’ll be like two different people.”
Some of those who do know Jones well are her squadron, who are currently serving out in Estonia. The former Royal Engineer hopes they’ll be able to watch and will be repping her army cap badge for all to see.
“My squadron is in Estonia at the moment. Some of the old lads in my troop are coming to watch me and the rest are out in Estonia, where I’d have been.
“They’re going to try and watch it out there I think. I’ve got the cap badge on my shorts so hopefully, they’ll see that as well.”
The first event of the new Sky Sports Boxing era, promoted by BOXXER, begins at 19:30 GMT live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Showcase.