Nicola Barke excited to take on risky opponent in pro bow
Debutant Nicola ‘The Burmese Python’ Barke, 28-years-old from Luton, makes her professional boxing debut on Boxing Connected’s November 6 show in Maidstone.
The super-lightweight will tackle Czech Republic’s Tereza Dvorakova (4-5, 1KO) over six two-minute rounds at Maidstone Leisure Centre this Saturday night.
From adorning a tutu to lacing up leather gloves, the talented female fighter revealed, “I did ballet for 16 years, I know a lot of boxers use dance to supplement or improve their footwork in boxing.”
However, Barke readily admits she wasn’t a natural ballerina and yearned to do the total opposite, and that was to swap pirouetting for punching.
“My combat career started in Taekwondo, where I won a world title; then I moved on to kickboxing and became the UK No.1 and British champion,” she continued. “From there, I moved to Lethwei Burmese bareknuckle boxing and reached No.2 in the world.”
Barke only turned to professional boxing just this year and signed with manager Victor Smith. Now trained by Terry Steward at the Essex Fight Academy, she revealed the exact reason for switching to boxing after competing in sports that consist predominantly of kicking.
“I turned to boxing after sustaining a damaging knee injury when I tore my ACL, my MCL, my hamstring and dislocated the joint. I was sparring a guy a few stone heavier than me and when he tried to sweep my standing leg, he accidently just spun it away from the rest of my body.”
Despite the horrific injury that saw her confined to wearing a medical boot for a lengthy duration, she continued to go to the gym but concentrated on the upper part of the body instead.
“I always had a passion for fighting and wanted to continue pursuing my dream. Sometimes things happen out of our control and I didn’t want to give up fighting, so I started training in boxing with Terry and fell in love with the sport and for the first time in a long time I felt at home at the Essex Fight Academy with Terry and the team. I knew it was my next venture.”
Not only did Nicola travel the world to impressively win championships in places like Canada, but she also gained a first-class degree in biomedical sciences from the University of West England.
The talented pugilist describes her style as “aggressive and fearless” and aims to make a statement against her risky opponent, who only just upset a British debutant from the away corner in her last fight last month.
Nicola looks up to fellow female fighters Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron, who are undisputed and unified world champions, respectively.
She added, “My initial goal is to win my debut then move on to winning titles and developing my craft with Terry.”
Barke is joined on the card by a host of local fighters from the county of Kent, including Southern Area title contender Martin Hillman (14-6, 2KOs); heavyweight Dave Jones (8-2-1), back from retirement; promising lightweight prospect Martin McDonagh (8-2); as well as two other debutants in Sittingbourne’s Tyrone King and Chatham’s Robert Caswell.
Doors open at 6pm, boxing starts at 7pm. You can buy tickets from Boxing Connected directly.
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