The Leeds flyweight Nicola Adams, who makes her professional debut on April 8th on a stacked card at the Manchester Arena, is looking to follow in the footsteps of Rousey who helped popularise women’s fighting in the UFC and became a huge crossover star as a result.
British hero Adams is already a well recognised personality and is the perfect fit to help establish women’s boxing to a mass audience in the same way Rousey has done with the UFC.
“I would love to be able to do something similar with women’s boxing to what Ronda Rousey has done with the UFC and headline my own shows and have big fights in Vegas – that’s every boxers dream,” said Adams.
“I think Ronda Rousey has done an amazing job for the UFC and taken the UFC to a whole new level in the women’s game.
“In the UFC they have women headlining and they get paid just as much as the men do. She’s a big reason for that,” she said.
34-year-old Adams has constantly broken the mould, having become the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing at the London 2012 Games.
She now features as part of thrilling fight card next month, which also sees lightweight ace Terry Flanagan defend his world title against Petr Petrov and a blockbuster showdown between former champion Liam Smith and the undefeated Liam Williams.
Adams, however, will be out to steal the limelight and hopes to continue to change perceptions as she progresses through her professional career.
“I would love to change some peoples perspective of women’s boxing and women’s sport in general, and to help raise the profile,” said Adams.
“Breaking down barriers is something that’s been happening as I’ve gone along with my career. I love to be able to break down barriers and I’m thankful to have achieved so much to be able to do that.
“It’s always good to be able to inspire the next generation to get involved in sport,” she said.
Olympic Gold Medallist and women’s boxing icon Nicola Adams OBE fights for the first time as a professional and as part of an unmissable evening of boxing headlined by Terry Flanagan defending his WBO World Lightweight Title against tough Petr Petrov; plus Liam Smith vs. Liam Williams in one of the most eagerly anticipated fights of the year, with slick South African Zolani Tete facing Arthur Villanueva in a final eliminator for the WBO World Bantamweight strap; also GB Heavyweight monster Daniel Dubois makes his highly-anticipated professional debut along with a talent packed undercard.
