Sonia Sophia Randev isn’t a boxer, but she is undoubtedly a fighter
“When you mention women’s boxing, you make sure you mention my name too,” – SSR
Sonia Sophia Randev isn’t a boxer, but she is undoubtedly a fighter. One who has demonstrated copious amounts of courage, resilience and strength when taking on an adversary as formidable as any opponent in the ring – alcohol addiction.
However, like many of the boxers that she so admires, she too credits boxing as her saviour and her attention is focused with raising the profiles of female fighters, encouraging South Asian women to follow in her footsteps into sports media and finally gaining the respect she feels that she deserves.
Now working as a marketing and public relations professional as CEO of Slick Sports Consultancy for brands such as Under Armour and Boxraw, her interest in sports dates back to when she was at school.
“It was my dream from the age of ten to work in sports. I loved playing sports at school and was really good at track and field. I played basketball, netball and football. It was just natural for me to work within the industry.”
Being from a South Asian background meant that working in the sports industry was not the norm, however, the passion Randev exudes for sport was recognised by her father who encouraged her to pursue her dreams. “He asked me what I wanted to do career wise and I said to be a sports journalist, he took a moment to think about it and then said, ‘if that’s what you want to do, then go and be the best.’”
Taking her father’s wise words to heart, Sonia achieved a first-class honours degree in Journalism, then working in regional and national press and becoming a pioneer by being the first South Asian woman to write for Boxing Monthly. She is now buoyed to see a number of South Asian women being represented within the sports media world.
“Watching how the industry has changed over the years brings a smile to my face. We are seeing so many Asian women reporting and presenting sport. For me, that is real progress but there is still room for improvement. I’m at an age now where as hard as it was for my generation breaking barriers, we have made it that bit easier for the ones after us. I want to see more Asian women in sports business and marketing. I want more to take the plunge and look at me and be like, ‘Sonia has done alright in boxing, so I can do it too.’”
Just as Randev was progressing with her career, the breakup of a close relationship proved to be the catalyst that triggered her struggles with alcohol addiction. “At the height of my addiction I drank from 7am until whenever. I didn’t care about my health or my looks. I often didn’t bathe, brush my hair or clean my teeth,” she says.
Through having a strong support network of friends and family, Randev managed to haul herself from her deepest struggles and onto the path of sobriety but asserts that more must be done to support those suffering from addiction.
“Addiction doesn’t discriminate. It picks who it wants, when it wants, and it will destroy your soul if you let it. It’s important that people educate themselves more on this topic. We need to normalise conversations,” she says adamantly. “The government has never really supported charities as much as they should in terms of providing sufficient funding. We have a big drinking culture in the UK, that has been spiralling out of control for years but there is no help out there. Whenever there is, resources are lost again due to a lack of funding.”
Boxing has often provided a sanctuary for lost and broken souls and Randev found peace and purpose within the most crazy and chaotic of sports. She is also grateful for many industry stalwarts and is quick to cite Natasha Jonas, Warren Haughton, Tunde Ajayi, Spencer Fearon, Andy Clarke, Ed Robinson, Luke Williams and Eddie Lam who supported her as she progressed her career.
“Those are good people that inspire me and have had a real positive effect on me.
“Working in sport as a whole is a healthy distraction because it’s my passion so I don’t think about my issues with alcohol as much. When we have too much time on our hands, or we don’t keep busy, that’s when it gets dangerous.
“Working with the girls, creating campaigns like the ‘No Means No’ campaign supported by Sky Sports Boxing and just in general dealing with media has been one of my proudest achievements.”
If you scroll through Randev’s Twitter page her passion for sport, particularly women’s boxing, is evident. There is tweet after tweet expressing her pride and encouragement for every achievement made by female boxers. What you cannot see however, is the how that same passion has often led Randev going above and beyond in support of those female boxers who she feels deserve an opportunity to be heard on prominent platforms.
“Many people are jumping on women’s boxing now, they waited for the sport to grow and for certain fighter’s profiles to be bigger.
“But I was there since before 2012,” says Randev of the year where women’s boxing caught the attention of the general public during the Olympics when women competed in boxing at the Games for the first time.
“It was when I was writing for Boxing Monthly, I interviewed pretty much all the female boxers and then assisted and supported many of them before they became world champions, with media to raise their profiles and put them in front of a sports audience as opposed to just a boxing audience. I was there, pushing all of them as much as I can.
“I was working for free, working late at night, reminding them half hour before their interviews at times and taking time off to attend interviews with them to make sure they felt supported.”
Therein lies the irony. Despite Randev boundless generosity in committing her time and effort to helping many women to accomplish their ambitions and requiring no reward, she received little support from them when she suffered from numerous relapses with alcohol.
“I barely heard from any of them apart from Natasha Jonas, she’s the only one who really checks in on me.
“A ‘hello, how are you?’ is just a simple gesture (but I didn’t even get that). To be quite frank, it’s a sign of disrespect to me”
Randev’s pain and disappointment is clear as she continues, “Some of them took advantage and as soon as I stopped doing work for them, they no longer bothered with me.”
It was a lesson learned about working in an industry which can be as cruel as the sport itself and although she feels her support and efforts had not been appreciated, she can’t help herself from offering one last bit of advice to others that want to work in the sport.
“My advice would be don’t go out of your way when you are not getting paid. You are running a business not a charity. They won’t appreciate it.
“Everyone I work with is now in a contract and they value what I bring to the table.”
What Sonia Randev brings to that table is refreshing within a sport and industry which is too frequently associated with unsavoury characters with questionable motives. She is a woman who has fought through adversity to become a pioneer and role model within the South Asian community, to women in sport, and to those suffering with addiction. Better yet, she has achieved it with a unique and admirable combination of passion, honesty and integrity.
If that doesn’t make her name positively synonymous with women’s boxing, I don’t know what will.
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