'I like boxing and I like my nails being done'

One of England's leading female boxers says she had to punch through lazy stereotypes while growing up in the sport.

Gemma Richardson, from Scunthorpe, has won five national titles and a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

"When I was younger, I had a lot of the stereotypical thing: oh, you must be a lesbian then, you must be this, you must be that – you've got to be butch if you're a boxer," the 23-year-old says.

"They put me in a category just because I chose to do a sport. They'd say you're too pretty to be a boxer.

"I like my boxing and I like my nails being done."

Gemma, who will make her professional debut next month, believes opinions have now changed because of the rise in popularity of women's boxing.

The super-featherweight returned to her old school this month to tell pupils: "Be ok with being different."

At the Outwood Academy Brumby, a "Wall of Fame" is dominated by a huge image of Gemma boxing for the nation.

Her nickname there was "Jekyll and Hyde" – one day she would be "loving it" and the next struggling with the "pressures of trying to fit in" and "having dreams and aspirations".

"I had to sacrifice a lot," she says of the time she devoted to training and competing.

She started boxing after her father Ricko, himself a coach, took her to the gym to keep fit.

But she says sometimes she was treated differently to the boys she trained with – a situation she found challenging.

She remembers thinking: "Why am I in this boxing gym if I'm not getting the fair shot that all the lads are getting?

"I can't go to this show because girls aren't allowed to box in it, or in school I'm getting looked at different to a lad that will box.

"It was hard. I'm lucky I had my dad and my mum who didn't care and said, you can do it and you're just as good as the lads."

Her perseverance paid off when she went on to become one of Britain's most successful amateurs, winning 60 of her 67 contests.

Her former PE teacher, Kate Simpson, has been a part of her journey for the past decade. She says Gemma's story is an inspiration to today's pupils.

"Some of our students don't always think that there's a success out there for them, so it's really nice to see that we've got one of those successes," Kate says. "It's not just what you see on the TV – it is in your local area."

Despite her success, "down-to-earth" Gemma says she is "just your typical 23-year-old Scunny girl".

While she now trains in Hartlepool, she has stayed close to her roots and "loves" her home town.

The feeling is mutual. On her return to Scunthorpe, a fan stops her in the town centre and calls her "a champion".

Gemma hopes she will give the steel town more success to enjoy. Having signed with Steve Wood and 11:11 Management, she will make her pro debut on 8 March at the Toughsheet Community Stadium, Bolton.

She says times are different now for female boxers thanks to household names such as Nicola Adams and Katie Taylor, who have helped to make a career in the sport viable.

"They say the amateurs is like an apprenticeship and I feel like I've had a tough, hard apprenticeship," she adds.

"The big dream now is to get all the belts. I want to win as many world titles as I can, get – hopefully – some money, and then get out.

"I don't want to be getting punched in the head for all my life."

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.