SEA Games Medallist Leona Hui Is Looking To Make Women's Boxing More Well-Known In Singapore
Leona Hui wants to continue paving the way for the future of women's boxing, as well as increase its visibility and find local talents to represent Singapore
A retired boxer and SEA Games medallist Leona Hui may be, but she’s just getting started. Previously, she made her mark in the sport representing the country locally and regionally in the SEA Games and more. Now, Leona is a fixture in the local boxing scene a trainer at two gyms and the founder and president of the Singapore Women’s Boxing Community, which aims to increase visibility for women in boxing.
The Singapore Women’s Boxing Community is the brainchild of Leona and another prominent ex-Team Singapore boxer, Muhamad Ridhwan, who is the Head Boxing Coach there. Born out of their love for boxing and a desire to elevate the sport here, the community connects women and provides a space for them to train together regardless of gym affiliation. It has grown significantly over the years, starting out with just a handful of women to over 40 members now.
Outside of boxing, Leona works in events, so between juggling her work and her boxing pursuits, she has quite a bit on her plate. But the grind never stops.
Just last month, the inaugural Legacy Women’s Boxing Championship jointly organised by the Singapore Women’s Boxing Community and Legends Fight Sport debuted at Legends Fight Sport (Tampines), pitting local boxers against regional boxers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
It was Singapore’s first all-female boxing tournament that saw local names — including national champions — up against decorated boxers from the region.
We catch up with the SEA Games medallist to chat about her boxing pursuits and how she’s paving the way for other female boxers in Singapore.
Where do I even begin? To me, boxing is both a beautiful art, and an extreme sport all at once. It’s addictive!
It is probably one of the hardest, most challenging things I’ve ever done, but has taught me so many great lessons about life. You start learning that consistent hard work is the only way to improve, but even when you’re at the top, someone else out there is working even harder than you. Boxing is a constant pursuit of progress, not perfection. And amongst the many things I’ve mentioned, boxing also teaches you commitment, discipline, respect, and humility. The list is endless!
In the ring, boxing truly reveals who you are and what you’re made of, and forces you to handle pressure and confront your fears and anxieties head-on. And at the end of the day, you’re aware of the holes in your game and it’s back to the drawing board to improve and progress from there. It’s a never-ending process of wanting to get better, and much akin to life — you just always have to get back up no matter how many times you fall or fail.
What spurred you to set up the Singapore Women’s Boxing Community (SGWBC), and what do you hope to achieve with this community?
The idea of setting up a group like the SGWBC was actually discussed between my then-teammates Danisha, Rafhana and Sabrina (all three are still competing today) and myself back in early 2020. We were only a small competitive group back then and wanted to get more training partners and help organise sparring and training sessions for like-minded ladies.
We figured from our own individual gyms that there were a handful of ladies here and there who were keen to spar with more partners, so why not gather everyone together at a go?
We put the word out there and organised a few informal sparring and training sessions. The turnout was surprising — close to 20 ladies from different gyms in Singapore turned up. But shortly after, the pandemic hit and our plans had to be shelved. However, I knew from the two joint-training sessions we organised that there was a huge pool of women boxers in Singapore who could benefit and learn from each other if we could get more training sessions in together.
So, I contacted Ridhwan and proposed the idea of setting up a training programme where we could gather these ladies weekly and build their skills.
It started with that small goal in mind, but the overall aim was always to increase the visibility of the sport and search for talented boxers who could eventually potentially represent Singapore.
When I was still competing, I remember saying many times how I wished we could have more girls in training, and how I wished we could have more sparring and training partners. When I made the decision to retire from competitive boxing after the 2019 SEA Games, I realised I was now in a better position to help manage everything behind the scenes and push for the changes I wanted to see.
With the SGWBC, I hope more women will realise that boxing is for everyone, no matter what age or background, and have the courage to try it and see for themselves what a wonderful sport it is. I also hope with the support of a strong community that we’re able to build the next generation of competitive women boxers who will go on to represent our country well and fly our flag high!
What are some challenges you have faced as a woman in a male-dominated sport, and how did you overcome them?
I think it’s quite a common occurrence for females in a male-dominated sport to have to “prove” themselves more as an athlete, but I’ve been quite fortunate to receive encouraging support from everyone in the community so far. In fact, people seem to be more in awe of a female taking part in a combat striking sport and doing something different, because this isn’t common especially in Singapore — I guess there is the general perception that it takes a lot more out of us than a male counterpart to participate in a combat sport.
There will, however, be the random naysayers and attention-seeking keyboard warriors who make irrelevant comments about females and not the sport itself, but the key is always just to ignore them and rise above.
What are some restrictions you faced when boxing in Singapore? For example, finding resources, coaches or a gym that suited your needs?
Quite a large part of my training days happened when boxing was still quite an uncommon sport amongst women, so one of the challenges was actually getting adequate training partners and competition. The boys had consistent tournaments, but I could train for weeks and months and prepare for competitions only to find out that there’s no opponent, or an opponent in a few weight classes above me.
So to me, having something like the SGWBC and Legacy Women’s Boxing Championship where so many girls are participating and boxing at very competitive levels, is something I’m extremely excited for and proud of. I can’t wait to see women’s boxing in Singapore grow — the future is looking bright!
Text: Natalie-Elizabeth Tan/HerWorld