She went to reception armed with vouchers for her long-awaited meal. But an incident before the Geiger fight provided a stark reminder of just how far away real change was.Īfter starving herself for the weigh in, all Couch wanted to do was eat. I knew by beating her and bringing the world title home it would change."Ĭouch did win the belt, and it altered perceptions of her in the UK. "I was convinced I would beat her," she recalls. She had very little money, but a growing reputation set up a world title fight against Frenchwoman Sandra Geiger in Copenhagen, in 1996. Shields' two-fight deal with Sky Sports, which included her win over Ema Kozin in February, is also worth a reported $1m (£870,000).īefore Couch knew it, 'the Fleetwood Assassin' had four fights and four wins to her name. It is a far cry from the $1m (£870,000) each Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano received in April for their undisputed lightweight fight at Madison Square Garden. "I knocked a copper out and got paid for it," Couch says. "You become labelled with this horrible label, just because you want to take part in a 'man's sport'."Ĭouch's first bout was in Wigan against a policewoman called Kalpna Shah. "You'd read articles in the papers saying, 'she must be a lesbian, she must be this, she must be that, she's a freak'," Couch recalls. In Fleetwood she found both.įrank Smallbone took her on in a local gym where she was for a while able to train in secret. The sport was unlicensed in the country but, still, fights were taking place.įirst though, if Couch wanted to fulfil her ambition of being a female boxer, she needed a gym and a trainer. Couch was 26, and boxing was illegal for women in the UK. I have to be allowed to box like the girls in the documentary." Couch, pictured training at a gym in Birmingham in 1997 "I thought, I've got to pursue this, I have to. "The next day I went to the gym, but was told that women couldn't box in this country. "Women are allowed to box! I couldn't believe it," she says. It's how Couch's journey in the sport began. It all started with a Channel 4 documentary about two female boxers, the American Christy Martin and Ireland's Deirdre Gogarty. After spending three months in prison, something had to give. She doesn't know how many times she was arrested, for jumping through a jewellery shop window, for scrapping on the street or driving without a license. After pulling pints in pubs during the week, she would return to Fleetwood to meet up with friends and the street brawls continued. I just don't know what it is.'"Ĭouch moved to London at the age of 16, following her punk rock brother.
"I used to tell my mum all the time," she says. But there was something else going on too. She has described the years that immediately followed as "a life of booze, drugs and street fighting". As a teenager she would often brawl in the streets. Thanks to her, British women can now walk into a boxing gym and feel accepted - they no longer need train in secret.Ĭouch paved the way for fighters like Marshall.īorn in 1968, Couch grew up in Fleetwood as one of four siblings. Future generations might skip the chapter about what she achieved, but they shouldn't.
She stuck it out and could now become a household name if she beats the seemingly unstoppable 27-year-old American Shields.īoxing is a fight, but Couch had to fight just to box.
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Marshall considered walking away from pro boxing several times, fearing her talents would never be recognised or properly compensated. Now 54 and retired for nearly 14 years, she is a massive fan of Marshall - a big-punching 31-year-old from Hartlepool who has had to overcome many of the same challenges Couch did, despite the decades separating their careers. Jane Couch was the fearless driving force behind that.
It is a landmark moment, 24 years on from another - the legal battle that allowed women the right to box professionally in this country.
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