All language subtitles for Lioness.The.Nicola.Adams.Story.2021.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG-English

[crowd chatter]

[announcer] Ladies and
gentlemen, bout number six

is our senior female contest
of three by two minute rounds.

It is one of the star
attractions of this evening.

It's between and introducing,
in the red corner

from the Arrow Amateur
Boxing Club, Michaela!

[cheering]

In the blue corner, from
the East Leeds Amateur
Boxing Club,

Nicola Adams!

-[cheering]
-[woman] Come on, Nikki!

[dramatic music]

[cheering]

[Nicola Adams]
When I was a kid,

I was happy
just looking at the stars...

thinking about my destiny...

If I had a destiny.
Can your destiny be changed?

[crowd cheering]

I even used to make wishes
and wished that one day
I'll be able to

be in a better place
and have everything
that I've always wanted.

If you haven't come from
the kind of place
that I come from,

you'll never be able to get to
that top high level,

because you just haven't got
that kind of desire

and that drive
and determination.

You need to have
that hunger.

And it is really,
it's just about

how much do you want it?

-[cheering]
-[dramatic music]

I was fighting for
everything.

And I think that was
the difference between me

and anybody else
that was in the ring.

I always wanted it more
than anybody else did.

[crowd cheers]

I was fighting to survive.

[scattered cheers]

[bell rings]

[announcer] Round one.

[indistinct crowd chatter]

[interviewer] What do you think
about women in boxing?

[man 1] Well, I think
they're very nice when

they're walking around that
ring, holding them cards.

[man 2] Why can't they do
something else that ladies do?

That girls do?

[man 3] I really am
against women boxing.

[man 4] I've had torn eyes
and busted nose

and you wake up the next day
and you're aching

and I just don't think a woman
should put herself through
that.

[man 5] They don't understand,
they're never gonna achieve
the heights that men achieve.

[man 6] I don't like watching
women punching each other.

[man 7] It'll never be
mainstream boxing.

It will always be
a novelty value.

And the novelty will wear off
at the end of the day.

Women are not men,
and they just won't have

the same attraction
as men fighting.

[Steve Franks] In 1994,

women's professional boxing
had been banned

and there was no such thing
as female amateur boxing.

It just wasn't allowed.

[background gym chatter]

The majority of coaches
wouldn't allow girls to train.

Or even in the gym.

The Yorkshire Division
in particular were run by
ex-miners

and steelworkers
from South Yorkshire

and they were dead set
against any women
being involved in boxing.

They were encouraged to
stay at home and cook meals

for the lads when they
got home from work.

And that's their exact words.

[Nicola] I first started boxing
when I was 12.

My mum couldn't get
a babysitter one night

and she took me
and my brother down to

an after-school boxing class
that they had on

at the same time
as her aerobics.

There wasn't any other girls
in the boxing gym.

It was just me.

And when I saw everybody
running around the gym

and all the kids on the bags
and the pads

and people sparring
in the ring,

I just absolutely loved it.

[crowd cheering]

There was no
female boxers on TV.

The only women in the ring
were the ring card girls.

I wasn't aware
that women didn't box.

I just loved watching boxing.

She told me she wanted
to be world champion.

I didn't tell her she couldn't.

[upbeat funky music]

[crowd shouting]

[Nicola]
I was born in Leeds in 1982.

My parents were from
the Caribbean,

which was very rare
at the time in Leeds.

When I was a kid, I was
really, really sensitive.

I was a little bit of a geek.

I had eczema and I had asthma

and I was pretty much allergic
to the whole world.

I was real kind of soft.
Like I'd have never have

stood up for myself
or anything.

I should have been doomed.

I grew up in an estate
called East End Park.

Me and my friends,
we didn't have money
growing up.

And a lot of the time,
we wouldn't be able to eat.

Some of the times,
we were just bad

but a lot of the time ,
we did stuff

because we were just hungry.

These was kids there
that my mum'd say

you're not allowed to
hang about with.

And it was the same
for me as well.

Their parents used to say,
"You can't hang about

with Nicola. She's bad."

But we were just
all in the same situation.

We all had the same struggle.

I could've easily
gone down a different path.

On my estate, there was
a lot of racism as well.

There wasn't many Black people
or people of color.

So...

you would get into quite a few
fights just because of that.

And I remember going home
and saying to my mum, like,

"Why do the kids
call me these names?"

I came out to my mum
when I was 13.

And it was the scariest thing
that I've ever done.

I thought I was
gonna be disowned

or kicked out
of the house.

So I was so relieved and happy

when she said that she'd known
for a long time anyway.

I always knew I was different
from a young age,

but boxing gave me the place
that I could really belong.

At the gym, Steve never made
me feel any different.

He said to me,

"I have one rule--
everybody listens to me

and we're all boxers."

No, no favouritism.

No, or because she's a girl.

She did everything
that they did.

Sometimes she liked it,
just got on with it,

sometimes she didn't.

[narrator] Boxing has produced
many champions...

[Nicola] My dad was a boxing
fan and I used to watch
the boxing with him.

It was probably one of
the times when he was
at his happiest.

We'd watch the reruns of...

Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson,

Sugar Ray Robinson.

But...

he didn't support
my boxing at all.

-[bell dings]
-[crowd chatter]

The boxing ring
was less dangerous

than being at home.

I was very desensitised
to all kinds of violence

because I used to see it
all the time at home.

[Jade William]
Nikki's witnessed a lot of
violence in her life.

From the moment she got
into the gym

and started boxing
at a very young age,

it was one of the aspects
she was able to control.

You could always tell when
there was something wrong
with Nicola,

because she was a happy
smiling kid most of the time.

Apart from if there'd been
a problem or something
had happened at home.

And she'd come in
with her head down.

Boxing always made me
feel safe.

I feel like literally
as soon as I was born,

I just had to rely on myself.

So that's probably why
I only trust myself.

[crowd chatter]

[woman] Come on, Nicola!

[Nicola] My first fight was
when I was 13 years old

against a girl called
Clare Newton

in a working men's club
in Leeds.

Real old school.
Had great atmosphere.

I remember running around
everywhere

and the coach telling me
to sit down and relax

and not to use
too much energy.

But I was so excited.
It was my first boxing match

and I just couldn't wait
to get in there.

[crowd cheering]

With all the noise
and the cheering and shouting

and screaming
and bawling going on,

it's a lot for
a kid to take in.

She were nervous at first.

It took her maybe 30 seconds
to actually settle down

and do what she could do.

[Nicola] I remember going into
the ring and thinking to
myself,

"I'm going to do
the Ali shuffle.
I'm gonna switch here.

I'm gonna do all these little
moves in the ring and..."

I absolutely,
absolutely loved it.

There's some kids at that age
that are clumsy on their feet

and some are pretty nimble.

You know, like the difference
between ballet dancing
and clog dancing.

And she were definitely
a ballet dancer.

[crowd cheering]

[woman] Come on, Nikki!
Go for it girl! Whoo!

[Steve]
She wanted to be a boxer.

Regardless male or female,
she just wanted to be a boxer.

You've gotta live and breathe
boxing if you're gonna make it
to the top.

Without a doubt.
And Nicola has--has that.

You know, Nikki really, really
lived and breathed for boxing.

Chin up. Okay?
You can relax now...

[Amanda Coulson]
When we first started boxing,
to find an opponent to be

your age and weight was
impossible as a female boxer.

To the point where, you know,
sometimes you'd only have
one bout a year.

Maybe two bouts a year
if you were really lucky.

No other gyms in Leeds
and the surrounding area

had girls training
at that particular time.

They didn't want them
in the gym,

let alone training.

I were contacting people
from Bristol ...

and Cornwall. London.

Did they know anybody who had
female boxers in the gym?

There'd be ones
that'd come up,

but then we'd find out
they'd be...

too old or too heavy.

All the guys were able to
fight because there was

a lot more
male boxers out there.

Some of the boys would be
going out boxing 7 years old.

So to keep me occupied
and keep me focused,

if the guys went on
training camps or anything,

I'd go as well, to be able
to participate and join in

and just to be able to
feel a part of something.

[Steve]
She were ready to box anytime.

If somebody had
come out of the crowd
and offered her a fight,

she'd have jumped in ring.

[Nicola] It was really tough,
going to support the guys

and not being able to
get in the ring myself.

And every day,
I'd be saying to Steve,

"Oh, is there anybody
for me to box?

When can I fight?"

And he's like,
"You'll just have to wait."

I found it hard trying
to keep her interested

and keep her going.

I couldn't give her
a target date,

like I could with
other boxers.

It did get really
frustrating at times

because I just wanted to
go out there and compete.

[indistinct chatter]

Finally at 17,
I got my second fight.

I was super happy.

It had been maybe four-five
years since I last fought.

And I'd just been waiting
all that time to box.

[announcer]
And in the blue corner,
Nicola Adams.

East Leeds
Champion Boxing Club.

Thank you.

[crowd cheers]

[Nicola] I was speaking to
a coach before I boxed

and he was like, "Oh ,
there's women boxing tonight."

And I was like,
"Yeah, that's me."

And he was like,
"Oh, why--why do you
wanna box?

Like, women--
women shouldn't box."

And I remember
thinking to myself,

"I'll show you,
I'll show you what we can do."

I got into the ring
and boxed this girl.

Won by a knockout.

And I think that was
just purely because

I'd been waiting for so long.

[announcer]
Winner by KO,
Adams in the blue corner!

[crowd applauds]

Let's hear a nice round of
applause now for Jamie then.

[cheers and applause]

[Jade]
When I met Nikki,
I was 17.

She was just about to turn 19.

She was working in a warehouse
at the time, then she was like,

"Oh I'm a boxer."
And I was like, "Oh, okay,"

That's quite-- quite strange
for that time.

She was training
five days a week.

We'd go out
and there'd be like,

"Right, I can only have
this much to drink.

Like, I have to stop here."

And I remember thinking
that at the time,

especially around
that age, like,

"Oh, she's really
serious about this."

The training session
would happen

and we'd all be involved
in this group session.

And then afterwards,
she'd be over in the mirror

looking at herself,
watching herself.

Watching the angle
that she's moving,
her foot movement.

She'd be doing extra--
extra little bits.

She'd always be
practising Ali shuffle.

Be practising
a special combination

that she's gonna do
in a tournament.

She would just literally
perfect everything.

[Ella Baig] I don't think
she finds it easy

to quiet her mind.

I think it's always active.

And she likes to keep
really busy.

Her ADHD is...

very noticeable if you spend
more than ten minutes with her.

We used to train
three times a day.

So probably when you weren't
training, you were eating.

If you weren't eating,
you were sleeping.

But Nikki never slept.

That was the thing.
She was either...

banging about downstairs,
had her music blasting.

She just could...
never switch it off.

Nicola was very competitive.

She had a bit of a war
with one of the traveller boys

that we used to train.

She caught him
with a good shot.

He didn't like it so he--
he gave her a decent shot

and it hurt her.

She went to war
and just beat him up.

And put him through
the ropes, out of the ring.

[laughs]

[woman] I'd met somebody
for the first time

who had ambition and drive.

Even at that young age,

you could see that she
wanted to be somewhere else.

[Paul Allen]
Nicola's coach contacted me

and he'd heard I was
gonna go to a tournament,

which was in Hungary.

And I said,
"Yeah, I'd take her"

if they paid
all their side of it,

'cause we had to finance
everything ourselves.

We were getting
no support from nobody.

When we actually got there,

we didn't really know what

the standard
was gonna be like,

because Nicola and Amanda

had only had
a few competitions.

They'd never boxed
internationally.

We were boxing like
the European champions,

the reigning champions.

We were boxing girls
that had had, you know,

50, 60, 70, 80, 100 plus bouts.

Teams like Russia and USA

and China were already
training full-time.

They've already got
so many coaching staff

and we didn't have
anything of that.

It was just me,
Amanda and Paul.

It was like we were here

and they were there.

[Paul Allen]
When I was warming her up,

she'd gone from this bubbly,

"Oh, let me get in there,"

to basically nearly
a nervous wreck.

You know,
she's absolutely flappin'.

That was the weakest
part of Nicola.

The confidence.

She needed
her confidence building.

[Paul Allen]
But once she got in that ring,

and that bell went,
all changed.

Then you could see her.

[Amanda] Lovely.
Keep it up, Nikki!
That's perfect!

[Steve]
There were no such thing
as an easy fight in boxing.

You've got to conquer
your own demons
before you get in.

[Amanda]
Boxing's definitely 60/40.

60 psychological, 40 physical.

You've gotta hide away
the fears and the doubts

and bring out the confidence
and the self-belief.

And she definitely
had that about her.

[Paul Allen]
You could see there was
something there.

And I think there was a lot of
people from other countries

that took notice of what
was in the ring then.

That was one of the best
competitions or contests

I'd seen for a long, long time.

I unfortunately
lost my contest 31/32.

Um, Nikki won a gold medal.

Now that for me was
a massive, massive achievement.

For Nikki,
but for female boxing.

So that proved to us that we
were able, we were capable

of going out there
and performing on
the international scene.

As soon as I got back,
I was on the computer
sending an email.

"Thank you very much for
giving us the opportunity."

You know,
"This is the results."

You know. "What next?"

She was like fists. You know.

She was the one producing
the wins, the goods.

And I was more of the brains
behind it, I suppose.

Sending the emails
and the letters.

[Amanda] Yes!

Nikki spearheaded that start

of the international success
that we had.

[announcer] Ring in
the red corner, representing
Yorkshire and England,

welcome to Nicola Adams!

[crowd cheering]

[Nicola] The next few years
was a complete 180.

[announcer]
Adams in the red corner.
Conti is in the blue corner.

[Nicola] I went from being
a council estate kid

with no hope, no future,

to travelling the world,
just because of boxing.

It was a really big
eye opener for me.

I was doing
more and more fights,

I was going
to more tournaments.

I was starting to get
a bigger reputation

on the boxing scene.

I was starting to win medals.

[announcer] Nicola Adams.

[announcer 2] Nicola Adams.

[announcer 3] Nicola Adams.
[indistinct]

[woman] Come on, Nikki!

[man] Go on, Nikki!

[Nicola] It was the first time
as well of me seeing

lots of other female boxers
that I'd never met before.

I've been able to train
two or three times a day

and get my studies in as well.

I'm gonna be studying sports
and Spanish as well.

[Nicola] I was doing
everything that I could do

to just try and further
my boxing.

To get more experience.

To be able to be amongst
the best, and beat the best
in the world.

[crowd cheering]

[woman] Whoo! Yes! Come on!

[Steve]
She don't copy anybody.

She tried to copy Muhammad Ali

and his style
when she were younger.

That were a good base
to build on.

But Nicola boxed like Nicola,

not like somebody else.

[Amanda]
She was a switcher,
she could do orthodox,

which is right hand
at the back.

That was her strong hand then.

Or she'd do southpaw,
which she'd switch

and her left hand
would be at the back.

She was as powerful
with either hand.

You're either one
or the other.

Very few become that
universal switcher.

[Savannah Marshall]
Nikki's very light
on her feet.

She makes you miss,
she makes you pay.

Jab, catches ya, she's gone.

That is Nikki's strength.

And she'll make you
look silly,

she'll pick you off,
she'll move.

She's like a fly.
You can't swat her.

[Nicola] Around this time,
I met Alwyn Belcher.

He's very good with footwork.
He's the footwork master.

And that's when
I realised that

I didn't have to just use
my gloves for defence

or my head movement.

I can use my feet as well.

I think that's when I started
to really realise

that my footwork was
a big key to my victories.

I wanted to prove to him
that I can be

the best boxer
you've ever seen.

And I will be the best boxer
that you've ever seen.

[commentator] She's opened up
a fairly impressive lead,
Nicola Adams.

And I somehow
don't think this is gonna
last too long.

Good right hand
once again by Adams.

[gasps and cheers]

[referee] ...Two...
three... four... five...

[announcer] The winner in
the red corner, Nicola Adams!

[crowd cheers]

[Nicola]
It wasn't until I got older,

that I realized that boxing
was completely different

for the women
than it was for the men.

Because we didn't get
nowhere near

the same amount
of funding.

To get funding,
me and the girls,

we wrote letters
to MPs, to UK Sport.

We wrote letters
to anybody and everybody

to try and get funding.

I sent letters off to
the CO of England Boxing,

I sent letters off
to Sport England,
who were the funding body.

I attended a meeting with
the Board for England Boxing.

And part of the response was,
well,

it's invested in boxers
that's male and female.

So I made them aware that
no it wasn't,

it was just going purely
to the men.

I mean,
going away with ten girls

and you've got
two sets of boxing kit

for everybody to compete in.

It was ridiculous.

[Nicola]
We were washing and wearing
somebody else's kit.

And if you don't have time
to wash that kit,

the next person that
needs to wear that

has to just get in
the sweaty kit and box.

You could at least give us
all our own sets

of shorts and vests each.

Like, I don't think
it would have been

that much of
an expense to anybody.

Especially when you saw
the boys go away

and they had their own kit,
physios, they had doctors,

they had nutritionists.
They had everything
you could think of.

And for us, we were lucky
if we even had a kit
to compete in.

As an athlete, you want
everything to be right.

You want to feel focused

and not have to worry
about everything else

and we were only ever sent
away with two coaches.

That meant that if there was
one of the other girls

that was on straight after
the next bout,

there was no coach
to warm them up.

There was no coach to sit with
them, to see how they're doing,

if they--if they needed water.

like anything--
anything at all.

We weren't treated
like athletes,

we were treated
like a nuisance

that just wouldn't
go away.

And they were hoping
if they treated us bad enough,

that one day we would.

There was a team of girls
that out there,

they were absolutely dying

to get on
the international scene

and--and represent
their country.

There was always a barrier
being put in front of us.

There was always
a door blocking us
and it was really hard

tearing down those doors
and fighting our way through.

And just having to do
everything ourselves

and funding everything
ourselves.

[Amanda] She'd pay for
herself to go to tournaments

and she was working full time.

Which was quite hard to do.

Explaining to an employer that,

"Oh, I need time off
for training

or to go to tournaments."

The boys got
funding and support

so they were able
to train full time.

And just be able to
focus on training.

And that's what we wanted
to be able to do, too.

[Amanda] The men obviously
got a lot of the investment,

because they were
an Olympic team.

But because the women
didn't have an Olympics
at that point.

Funding obviously got invested
into the men more than it did
the women.

We were down the bottom of--
bottom of the list.

They said to us,
"If you go away
and you win medals,

you'll get more funding.

And everything'll be great."
So I was like, "Okay."

We'll go away
and we'll get those medals.

We got to go to the
World Championships in China.

But they were expecting us
to go away

two days before
a tournament in China,

bearing in mind
the jet lag, win a medal,

so you can all get
more funding.

I just thought, I'm not gonna
complain about it,

I'm just gonna do it.

You can put all of
the odds against me

and I'll still come back
and medal.

All the girls went out
in the quarterfinals

and I was left in.

I remember sitting down
with the girls

and they were like,
"Hey, Nik, like...

you need to win this for--
for all of us."

We just needed a medal,
any medal.

Just to secure some
type of funding.

-[bell rings]
-[crowd cheering]

[man] Come on, Nikki!

[woman yells indistinctly]

[man whistles]

[bell dings]

[Nicola] I got to the finals.

Managed to get a silver,

so I was super, super happy.

Especially when
I thought back to how much

was against us in the start.
[laughs]

We thought we were gonna
receive loads of funding.

Everything was gonna change.

But when we got back...

they were like, "Well, no."

[crowd chatter]

I was so heartbroken
and so angry.

It was demoralising.

Especially when we'd see
Ireland receive

the world of funding
when Katie Taylor

was winning
in major tournaments.

They'd tell us that
if we win medals

in these tournaments,
that we'll get funding.

And then when we
finally achieve that goal,

then you just move
the line even further away.

[Amanda]
At the end of the day,

we're there because
we deserve to be there.

Female boxing's there
because it deserves
to be there.

You know, it's not a case of
"Oh, well, we're threatening
the men."

We're not here
to threaten the men,
we just want to be accepted.

We just want to be given
a chance like everybody else.

Every other boxer
that walks through the door.

Regardless if they're
male or female, you know.

Just give us a bit of equality.

[Nicola]
There was a few times
where I thought,

"You know what,
maybe boxing's not for me.

There's not enough funding,
there's not enough support.

People just aren't
getting with it."

[Jane Couch]
Instead of the
struggle getting easier,

it's getting harder.

So you're just fighting
to fight your whole career.

There is so much negativity
in the boxing world
towards women.

It just makes the fighting
ten times harder.

You're fighting outside
the ring as well as in it.

And it does grate and it does
have an effect in the end.

[various voices]

[Nicola]
I've had to deal with
a lot of criticism

as a female boxer.

And seeing so many
successful boxers

who I look up to
say such horrible things

is really hard to take.

It's just really
hurtful to hear

some of the things
that they say.

[woman] No, I think
we're all talking together.

I normally don't do
interviews with women

unless I fornicate
with them.

So you shouldn't talk anymore.

I think women
are there for sex...

every night. Hard sex.

I think they're very nice,
when they're walking around
that ring

holding them cards.

Cleaning, cooking, washing...

When you get two women
fighting each other to beat
each other up, you know,

it's, it's a bit,
it's a bit cruel really.
It's a bit tough, ain't it?

...a body punch and I hurt him.

Actually, he was crying
in there.

Making woman gestures
like [moans]. I can't...

Why would I wanna see that?

I believe a woman's
best place is...

in the kitchen
and on her back.

And I think once that
novelty value has ended,

I don't think it'll be that
successful anyway.

I think all this talk
about girls

not boxing is
old-fashioned.

Girls aren't the delicate
flowers they used to be.

[Nicola] Up until 1998,

women's boxing was actually
illegal in the UK.

It was women like Jane Couch

that were able to make it
so women's boxing

was legal and we could fight.

[Jane Couch] I just went
to the local boxing gym

and asked if I could join.

They said no. [laughs]

'Cause it was, like,
the early 90s,

so there was no such thing
as women boxing.

"No, you can't come here,
you're a woman,"

and I just kept on and on
and in the end,

they eventually let me join.

I was fighting on
the unlicensed circuit.

So I was already
an established

two-time world champion.

I was boxing abroad,

I was defending me titles,
winning titles

successfully in America
and Germany.

In the UK, the Boxing Board
didn't want women's boxing.

Well, nobody really wanted it.

The media,
they was all against it.

So I just think it was like
the last male bastion that

they just wanted
to keep women out of.

And so I took
the Boxing Board of Control

to court to get women's
boxing legalised in the UK.

[Nicola]
The reason why it was illegal

was when women have
their menstrual cycle,

it makes them unstable.

So we were too emotional
to be able to box.

[laughs]
When I found out that reason,

I was like,
"What? Are you serious?

Like did you speak to
a doctor about this

or is this just your opinion?"

Because I know there was no

scientific evidence
that said that.

They just assumed that
women were unstable

and would be unfit
to get in the boxing ring.

And I think it came up
in the court case that,

well, if I was on a period

and I was getting up the steps
to get into the boxing ring,

that I might fall over.

[laughter]

[chuckles]

Some of the logic
behind some of the decisions,

it just-- it really
just baffles me.

Like you--you just
have to take a moment

and actually think, like,

"Is this for real?
Like, someone said that?"

[laughs]

They're to make you
bleed.

If they can knock you out,
that's the key,

of what boxing is about.

And to have two young girls

doing that type of sport
as well...

[Clare Balding]
They will quite often hide

behind a perception of care.

What would be nice
is wouldn't it be better

if they
just didn't hit each other?

[Clare Balding]
"We don't think
girls should do this

'cause they might get hurt."

If you look at the ban on
women's football back in 1921,

it was banned for 50 years
because it was deemed

unsuitable for women
and it might be a health risk.

And you want to go,
"Hang on a second,

you do realize women
give birth, don't you?

You do realize women
go through the most painful

and potentially dangerous event

to perpetuate the human race.

You are aware of that?"

[Jane Couch] We won the case,

but it was just like
everyone was so against it

that it was quite hard
to continue the battle

'cause it was hard enough
training to fight

and compete without having

all that going through
your head as well.

It was--
it was a terrible time.

You was called like
a monster, a freak,

a sicko-- "You're a psycho."

It was just nasty

and made you feel
worthless in yourself.

You-- you're females
and you're supposed to
be females

and you know,
you got like...

-Well, we are females.
-Nice features...

[Nicola] Despite the fact
that I'm a Black woman,

I'm a lesbian, being a female

was way more offensive
to the boxing community

than anything else.

[Savannah Marshall]
When I was about 13,

I went to a boxing club
in Sunderland to spar

and I remember walking in

and the coach pointing at me.

He went to my coach
who brought me,

"What's that?"

And like I just pretended
I didn't hear him.

My coach went,
"Oh, it's our female boxer."

He went, "No, no girls
allowed in here."

And I literally
had to sit in the van.

I wasn't allowed in the gym.

[Nicola] It was the same thing
in the amateur boxing world.

A lot of the male coaches
were really sexist.

And they used to say
some horrible stuff to us.

And it was hard to think
that those people

were even in charge
of women's boxing.

A lot of them
were just really mean to us.

And they made us feel like
we didn't even deserve
to be there.

Being treated like that
is nothing new to me.

[Nicola]
My Dad always had this rule

that I had to be home
before it got dark.

When I'd walk through
the door from playing out,

he'd be sat on the sofa,

just waiting for me
to come in.

And if I was late,

I'd be just waiting to see
how angry he was gonna be.

And hope that...

he'd just use his hand
to beat me

and not anything else.

If you hit an 8 or 9 year old
and you're a grown man,

that's gonna really hurt.

[clamouring]

There was one particular time
when my dad

was trying to beat up my mum.

I was only 3 or 4 at the time

and I had
a little plastic sword

and I tried to
get in front of my mum

to try and help her
and try and stop him.

And he just pushed me
out of the way.

[clamouring continues]

It was almost like I just
got used to living that way.

Feeling scared.

A lot of the time feeling sad.

I just tried to be as good
as I possibly could.

There was nothing
I could do about it,

and I wanted to
do something about it,

but I didn't know
what I could do.

It didn't even cross my mind
to even tell somebody at school

because I was so scared
of what would happen

if my dad found out.

I'd been watching a TV show

and the family

was in pretty much
the same situation that I was.

And they ended up killing him

and putting him
in the back garden.

I remember going up
to my mum

and she was crying.
And I said to her,

"It's okay, because
I've seen a TV show.
We can get rid of him."

I just don't know what to do
with the body,

because we didn't have
a garden with grass.

The garden was concrete.

It was at that point
where my mum was like,

"Something has to change."
Like, "I'm...

I'm gonna get out
of this situation."

[Amanda] She wanted to be
strong-- physically, mentally.

She wanted to have
that self-discipline.

The ability to protect
herself, protect her mum,

you know,
who she loves dearly.

She's seen her mum being hurt.

And 'cause she's
been hurt so bad,

she's just put a massive wall
up to protect herself.

When I was at the gym,
I felt stronger

and I felt like
I could protect myself.

I could protect me,

I could protect my mum
and my brother.

And sometimes
I used to think like if,

if my dad was ever
to try anything again,

it'd be okay because
I'd be strong enough now.

And I'd be able to
protect everybody.

We tried to get women's boxing
into the 2008 Olympics.

But there were just
so many different excuses.

"We don't have the facilities
for female boxers."

The standard of
the women's boxing

wasn't high enough,

there wasn't enough female
boxers to participate...

So it took the entire
community of female boxers

to come together and fight.

We had to get women's boxing
into 2012 or we were done.

[Sirpa Makkonen]
We really have to act.

This is the time when
the decisions are made.

And we need to
promote women boxing.

We need to tell everyone

that women boxing is ready.

[Nicola]
I still dreamed of,
you know,

being like the top fighters

like Muhammad Ali
and Sugar Ray Leonard.

You know, they all
went to the Olympics
and got gold medals

and I was like, "Yeah,
one day that, you know,

I want that to be me as well."

Boxing is the only sport
in the Olympics

that doesn't have
a male and female event.

We are training
just as much as the guys are

and we still
don't get any money

because it's not
an Olympic sport.

For women's boxing
to be included,

the number of men
competing will have to reduce.

And you can imagine
the resistance
that will happen then.

[Nicola]
Everything I've trained for.
All the ups and the downs

and the injuries
and the tears, you know.

It'd be like, I'd be able
to sit back and think,

"Yes, like this is... this is
what I've been fighting for.

This is the thing I've been
waiting for all my life."

Things were doing really well.

The campaign for getting
women's boxing

into the Olympics
was just looking up.

And then all of a sudden...
boom.

My whole world fell apart.

I was getting ready
for a competition.

I was packing my bags.

I'd left my bandages slightly
hanging out of my bag

and I've tripped over
the bandages.

I've gone
falling down the stairs.

And it wasn't until
a couple of weeks later

that the pain
wasn't going in my back

and it was getting worse.

I went for an MRI scan

and the doctor told me
I'd broken my back.

It was the worst thing

that could have
possibly happened

at the worst time.

I didn't know how long
I'd be out of boxing,

if I'd be able
to even box again.

Even if she tried to box,
maybe, like,

she wouldn't have been able
to move as good as she could.

She wouldn't be able
to get the power.

And like any injury,
would it keep coming back?

She was so frightened that
she'd never be the same.

[Jade]
Walking was a struggle,
let alone

getting back into the ring
and boxing.

She struggled to see the end,
I suppose, at that point.

[Nicola]
I was in bed for three months.

Just complete bed rest.

Whenever I walked around,
I had to wear a back brace

to keep my spine in line.

And it was so hard to think,

"How am I gonna get back
to where I was before?"

[crowd cheering]

I've gone from being
a world silver medallist

to not being able to
lift my shoulders off
of the floor.

I was just laid there,
so sad and--and depressed.

And I just wanted to do more
and I just couldn't.

There were so many times
where I thought to myself,

"I'm never gonna be able
to box again."

I've never been tested
mentally and physically

so strongly in my entire life.

For the first time,
I was physically weak.

And that hasn't happened to me
since I was a kid.

I felt like
I couldn't protect myself.

That was the moment
that really crushed me

and hurt me the most.

Men have been
boxing at the Olympics

since the modern games
began in 1904.

For the first time ever,
this summer,

women will step into
the ring at the London games.

[cheering]

[Nicola]
Oh, man, it was amazing.

I was so happy.

Keep, keep, keep it up!

I just can't believe that
it's actually in the Olympics.

I'm--I'm so happy, I just,

I don't think words
could describe how
I'm feeling right now.

And all the girls
jumped up on the chairs,

clapping, cheering.

[Amanda] You know,
it was like, unbelievable.

We all kind of...[sighs]

Let us in.

I was so happy.

I could be going
to the Olympics.

And then I was thinking...

But I have a broken back.

How am I gonna go now?
What am I supposed to do?

They started doing their
selection

for who was going
to be on the GB team

to go to the qualifiers
for the Olympics.

There was only three women's
weight divisions

and there was ten male.

So that made it
twice as hard to qualify.

I'd be there every week and
watching the girls training,

doing different fitness tests
and I'd be just

either sat on the sidelines
or I was getting physio.

Nik was coming to the
assessments

as part of the squad,
with a back brace on.

You know, completely injured.

She couldn't do anything
apart from watch.

[Nicola] They were going
through, selecting girls.

Some of the girls
weren't making the cut.

And it was just getting down
to the last few.

Got to the final assessment.

I think her back brace
had been taken off

and Rob McCracken,
the Performance Director

was like, "You know, we're
gonna have to see you
in action here."

It was at the point where,
well, she hasn't tried,

we don't know
if she's good enough,

so how can we have her
on the team?

[Nicola] Up until that point,
I hadn't put on any gloves

and I was like,
"Right, what can I do?
What can I do?"

Because this is too painful.
Just walking around's
just painful.

So how am I gonna start
throwing punches?

And I decided to just stick
three or four morphine patches

on both of my arms.

Chug some Oramorph

and then put my wraps on
and I was like,

"Right, I'm gonna go
do some boxing."

[intense music]

[Amanda] She wanted so badly
to get back in the ring.

She loved boxing,
boxing's her life.

[Nicola] I couldn't move.

It was really, really painful.

But it paid off.

I got a letter in the post
a week after

saying that I'd made the team.

I just remember
breaking down in tears

and just being like,
"Wow, like, I did it.

Like, how the hell
did I get there?

How did I manage to do that?"

To actually qualify
for the Olympics,

I had to go to the
World Championships in China.

[commentator] From Leeds,
29-year-old Nicola Adams.

The number one
and the number two seeds

have come through
two sides of the draw

to meet in this final
once again.

[Nicola] In the finals,

I came up against my nemesis
Ren Cancan from China.

The rivalry was so big because

she was the only person that
could even come close to me

in terms of technical skill,
speed and power.

[woman] Cancan was
her Achilles' heel.

[Steve]
Some people's idea of boxing

is two people standing
toe-to-toe

knocking lumps
out of each other.

Other people see it
as like a game of chess.

Trying to outsmart,
outthink, outmanoeuvre.

If you can exploit an
opponent's weaknesses

and find an opening,

then that's all part
of the game.

There's a hell of a lot
of thinking going on

that people don't realise.

[commentator]
Quick look at our five judges.

Round one of four.

[Nicola] Some people I think
go in there and think, "Right,

just power shots all day
and I don't need to do
anything else."

Whereas with her,
she's thinking all the time

like I am,
so if I'm catching her

with a certain shot,

the next round
or the next 30 seconds or so,

she's gonna change
what she's doing

and do something
completely different.

And that's what made our
rivalry and our matches
so intense

because you never knew
which way it was gonna go.

-[commentator] Counting the
clock down here. What a match.
-[bell rings]

[commentator 2]
What a performance
from both boxers.

[commentator] World class.

But was that enough...
from Nicola Adams?

The red corner,
2008 World Champion,

2010 World Champion
is Ren Cancan of China.

[Nicola] I was stood in
the middle of the ring.

And then they raised her hand

and I just couldn't
believe it.

I just had a sinking horrible
feeling in my stomach.

And I didn't even
want my medal.

I just wanted to throw it out
of the window.

For me it was just like,
yeah, I'm just the first best
loser.

Like, it's not good enough.

When I was
winning all the time,

I felt invincible,
and then when I lost,

it was just taken away
from me.

[Frank Warren] There are
only a few winners

compared with
how many boxers there are.

Some can deal with losing,
some can't.

And it can damage them
probably mentally.

Their ambitions
weren't fulfilled.

[Nicola] The doubts
started to creep in.

It's just that thought of...
"I'm not good enough."

[Frank Warren]
It's like, if she got beat,

then how would she handle it?

[Nicola] It was ten weeks
before the Olympic Games.

The one thing
that tournament did do,

it gave me an unreal

determination and motivation

to beat Cancan.

I literally spent the next
ten weeks

just preparing for her.

[Amanda]
She's got the fear of losing.

So much so that she'll make
sure that she does

double in the training
beforehand

to get it right on the day

you know,
and it's a real drive.

[woman]
I've seen Nikki lose fights

and when she does,
she's a shell of herself
really.

It reverts her back
into a past feeling

of not being where
she wants to be.

[Nicola] I literally had
the guys that I sparred with

mimicking her style.

Alwyn was working
on my foot position.

[woman]
She was back in the gym.
She was flying.

She was asking the coach
for extra work.

[Nicola] I was watching reruns
of me and Ren Cancan boxing.

Her boxing other people.

Watching the styles that
worked the most on her.

Going through the analysis
of her boxing style,

it was almost like
an obsession.

To beat her,
I had to study her,

I had to know
everything that she does

so that I was ready for when

I had to see her
again in London.

Welcome to London.

[triumphant music]

[Nicola] It was incredible.

I was so happy to be there.

I was just overwhelmed.

All the fireworks, the crowd--

I couldn't believe
it was all for us.

I was walking around
with all the other athletes.

And all the female boxers were
so happy to finally be there.

I'm a part of this now.

I'm an Olympian.

When the opening ceremony
had finished,

the following day,
the boxing started.

You could literally almost
sense the mood change.

That was it, it was go time.

Going into the Olympic Games,

I didn't care who I faced.

I wasn't bothered as long
as I got her in the finals.

She was the only person
that I wanted to beat.

I think most people'd
be like, "Well,

she's the world number one,
so if somebody else
beats her,

then that's cool.
I don't have to deal with her,"

but I feel like
to be the best,

you have to beat the best.

So I wanted to beat her.

-[bell rings]
-[cheering]

I got through
the quarterfinals...

and then the semifinals..

and then I found out
that I was going to face Ren.

[bell rings]

The night before the finals,
I was talking to my coach

and he said to me,

the other two girls are out
of the Olympics.

No medals.
And it's up to you now

to get this gold medal
to secure the funding
for women's boxing.

[crowd roaring]

[Clare] When she walked out
for her gold medal fight,

that was the first time
I'd heard a roar like that

ever in my life.

[Nicola] You can see
in the footage
how big the crowds were

and how excited everybody was.

And I just couldn't believe
that so many people

had taken to women's boxing
in the way that they did.

[Clare] There wasn't just
a gold medal on the line.

[dramatic music]

There was a place
in the history books.

[Nicola] At that point, I knew
that I was fighting for

more than myself.

I was fighting for every
female boxer in the UK.

Anybody that watched
that footage'll see

Nicola oozes confidence
going into the ring.

But deep down inside,
she's a nervous wreck.

On the outside, they might
be the most confident,

self-assured person
in the world.

But actually deep down inside,
you're gonna be worried.

[Nicola] Her poker face
is very good. She's like me.

None of the games,
none of the tricks.

They don't work
on a seasoned athlete.

This is it.
The moment of truth.

Having pressure like that just

really brings out
the lioness in me.

The kill or be killed,

if you don't make this hunt,
you don't make this kill,

you might not survive.

We stepped into
the centre of the ring.

You can see in the footage

that she was throwing some
really good shots

and catching me
with some good jabs.

My tactics were:
stay behind the jab.

Go first and third.

So I'd throw a punch first,
say a jab.

Knowing that that's
gonna fall short to try

and encourage her
to throw,

so then I can come back
with a very fast counter

to score the points.

That was working really well.

And what I did this time,

instead of following her
around the ring,

I was just edging more
to my right-hand side.

'Cause she always edges
round that way round the ring.

So the game plan was
to cut her off

and then catch her
as she comes in.

And in the second round,
it worked to a T.

[crowd cheering]

She went down.

The crowd was roaring.

You can see in the footage
I couldn't believe that
it happened at first.

[dramatic music]

She's the type of fighter
that likes to sit

on the back foot
and move around the ring

and have a lot of time to think
as you're coming in.

But because
she was down on points,

she had to come to me,
which completely

took her out of her game plan
and it played into mine,

so I had all the time
in the world.

And I was just waiting
for her to come inside

to pick her off.

I remember going back
to the corner

and the coaches
saying to me like,

"Right, okay,
you're doing really well.

You're just
a couple of points off.

Keep focused.
Stick to the game plan.

That last round for me
was the most focused

that I think I've ever been
in any fight.

I was actively trying
to stay away from her,

stay around
the edges of the ring.

It was like a game
of cat and mouse.

I've got to be
very smart, agile,

light on my feet.

and not standing still
for a second.

And when the final bell went,

I felt I'd done
everything I could.

I think there's a doubt
in someone's mind

when they come
back to the corner

and you don't know whether
you've won or lost.

And you're waiting for
the decision to be made.

That anticipation.

All the thoughts
going through your mind.

You're almost praying,
please, please,

please give me it,
please give me it.

And I've seen that look
in her face before.

[Nicola] I was standing there
so nervous.

[announcer]
Ladies and gentlemen...

[Nicola]
Listening to the announcer

[announcer]
...the winner by a score
of 16 points to 7...

[Nicola]
I couldn't stop moving.
And then it happened...

[announcer] Olympic champion
in the blue corner,

[crowd cheering]

representing Great Britain...

Nicola Adams!

[Nicola]
I was just so happy.

And it wasn't until I got
to the end of the fight

and I heard
the points at the end

and I was
so many points in front.

But they said they did
that to keep my focus

all the way through the fight.

Yeah, it was good.
I didn't know
about that game plan.

[laughs]

It's hard to put into words
how I felt that day.

I just created history.

All those days
of tears and crying

and setbacks and injuries
and wondering

if I'd chosen
the right career.

Wondering if women's boxing

was ever even going to be
an Olympic sport.

And then knowing
that you've done it

and you've stood there
and you've got
the first-ever gold medal.

I felt like I'd been through
that much,

it almost felt like
it had to be me.

[Clare] When you look
at the medals ceremony,

and the chanting is so loud
and the cheering is immense.

And Nicola actually steps up
onto the podium before her
name is announced.

-[announcer] Nicola Adams!
-[crowd cheering]

[Clare] She's up there
and she's like,

"Yes, this is my place."

[Savannah]
I was just so happy for her.

For how she won that fight.

All them years and everything
she'd been working towards

just falling
into place like that.

And that was it,
her dream had come true.

She told me she were
gonna be a world champion

and she did it.

[Savannah]
I think it was just destiny.

Everything that
she'd worked hard for,

everything that she'd done,
all built up

for that moment.

She just wouldn't let anyone
take it away from her.

Not Ren Cancan, not anyone.

[woman] When I saw her face,

then her eyes tear up,

I just knew
that was it for her.

That moment, she had made it.

And everything she had worked
for was for that reason.

It's still, you know,
all sinking in.

I just can't believe
what I've--

what I've achieved today.

You know, it's--
it's a, definitely

a childhood dream come true.

[cheering]

After I won the Olympics,

my life completely changed.

Everybody knew who I was.

[Savannah] That was it.

Nikki was a household name.

She was just everywhere.

I remember my gran
was ringing me like that,

"That girl's got
such a beautiful smile."

Gran didn't say
nothing about the boxing.

[radio presenter]
Nicola Adams, everyone!

[Nicola] I tried to go
do a food shop

and literally
I just got mobbed.

There was just people wanting
autographs and photographs.

The security had
to take me out.

I had to leave my shopping.
Everything.

[Jade] Everywhere she went
at that point,

she was recognised.

You know,
people just wanted to

stop her in the street
continuously.

And you'll always get that one
drunk person that,

usually a male,
that kind of wants to,

you know, challenge her.

[Savannah]
Me, Nik and Chantelle
used to share a house.

I remember,
we were going on a night out

and I remember she'd
got some fan mail

and she'd just open it
and people were just
sending her money

just because of who she was,

because of what she'd done.

It meant so, so much
for female boxing.

For boxing, but for
female boxing
more than anything.

There's a lot of boxing fans

that didn't even know that
women were in gyms boxing,

because all they'd ever see
is male boxers.

As soon as she won that fight,
it was boom--

female boxing, Nicola Adams.

Seeing Nikki
win the Olympic gold,

amateur clubs were opening up
the doors to women.

And it gave everybody a face,
a name, a profile.

It gave a role model to,
for the next generation
to look up to.

A pathway clear.

I knew I wanted to create
a path so girls could follow

and they wouldn't
have to struggle.

And mums like mine
wouldn't have to work so hard.

-So I worked and--
-[crowd cheers]

I worked.

The power of representation
is so important

for the next generation.

It really changes what people
perceive a Black woman to be.

Because I'm Black
and I'm a boxer,

everybody expected me
to be very aggressive.

And I'm actually
not like that at all.

For me, it was more about
people being able to see

that just because of
the colour of her skin

or her sexuality,

it hasn't stopped her
achieving the goals

she wanted
to achieve.

The future's female.

-[crowd cheering]
-Enjoy your drinks!

[Clare] She is a Black woman,
who is gay, who boxes.

For Nicola, it is an
important part of who she is,

but she was always very keen
that it wasn't

the one thing
that defined her.

That doesn't change the fact
that for lots of other people,

she is a pioneer
on that stage.

[Nicola] It meant a lot
to be recognised

for doing what I love.

But it did come
with its downfalls.

Everybody wanted to be
involved in women's boxing.

Everybody wanted
a piece of women's boxing.

It was almost like overnight
everybody had a female boxer

that they'd been
coaching for years

and I'm like, "Oh, really?"

Where'd...
Where did you find them?!

[laughs]

Nikki is hypervigilant.

She's always
on the lookout all the time.

[Amanda] Nicola Adams,
the boxer, we all know.

She loves the limelight.
She loves the attention,

she loves to get in the ring
and showboat

and be the best
that she can be.

Nicola Adams, the person,

I don't necessarily
know completely.

She has this boxing,

and she'll talk about boxing
with anybody, you know, 24/7.

But she'll very rarely talk
to you about her life

and things that are going on
in her private life.

[Ella Baig]
It's a constant battle
with trust for Nikki.

You could be the closest
person to her

and you might do something
and it'll unsettle her.

She doesn't even trust people
close to her completely.

She only trusts herself.

You know, given the fame
that she's got now,

that probably, that trust,

that faith that
you have in people

probably gets questioned
even moreso now.

And I'm still fighting
for that trust.

[Frank Warren]
She has a little bit of
vulnerability about her.

I don't mean
vulnerable physically.

She has this grin,
this smile on.

You can see her,
she's on camera,
she's talking...

and the camera switches off
or whatever, then, you know,

she'll glance over
and I remember noticing
at the time

and I looked over and she just
went from being this bubbly
person to sort of...

a bit, you know...

went inside herself.

[Nicola] For me sometimes,
I prefer when people

don't know who I am
when they first meet me

because I get
a true reflection

of who that person really is.

There's been
plenty of times like that,

when someone
hasn't recognised me

and I've been sat next to them

and they've moved
their purse away

or I've been followed
around a store

by security guards.

They've treated me badly

and then somebody's
told them who I am

and then all of a sudden,
they've changed.

[Ella Baig]
It makes me very
protective over her.

I'm always
very careful about

who she surrounds
herself with.

I always second-guess
everything everyone says,

'cause I see the hard exterior

and I also see all the pain
she's been through

and how it
actually impacts her.

I'm very cautious
of anyone trying to use her

or have ill intent
towards her.

Especially her dad,

who showed up
to the Olympics to try...

and basically take credit
for all the work...

she did without him.

I've always, always
loved the boxing

from when we used to watch it
at home with my dad and...

I saw my dad
at the 2012 Olympics.

That was a big shock because

I wasn't expecting to see him

after I'd won my medal.

Especially because
we didn't really talk.

I didn't really see him.

He never really asked
about my boxing.

And he thought that I
shouldn't even be--be boxing,

so the fact that he turned up
there was like,

"Well, that's random."

He came up to me and hugged me

and asked for a photograph.

I just remember telling myself
to just put on a brave face

and not let him
ruin the moment.

After the fight,
might have been maybe

a couple of months or so,

I spoke to him on the phone.

And I asked him about
what he did

when we were growing up.

And he said I was crazy
and I didn't know what
I was talking about.

He was just in complete denial.

When we moved to Ebor Gardens,

my mum had another boyfriend.

At first, he was really nice.

I thought, "Oh, great,
this, this could be cool.

You know, we'll have
a nice little family."

And as the relationship built,

he gradually became...
became violent.

[foreboding music]

I'd just had enough.

I used to sleep with
a hammer under my bed.

So I went upstairs
and I got the hammer.

And I said to him,
"You need to
leave the house now,

otherwise I'm gonna use it."

He got into the car
and I told him not to
come back.

There was a brick
on the side of the road

and I just picked it up

threw it and it went through
his back window

as he was driving away.

Being aggressive scares me,

but I was almost
forced to be

to protect myself.

[Ella Baig] Nikki's scared of
turning out like her dad.

When she ever gets angry or...

gets riled up,

erm, I think it scares her
a little bit.

She's always quite scared
to act like him.

[Nicola]
I used to say to my mum,

"Why would you let people
treat you like that?"

We've just left my dad
and then ...

you go into these
relationships

and it's the exact same thing.
And I used to get so angry.

I'd be like, "Why, like, why?
Why do you let them do that?"

I suffered a lot of abuse
with my dad.

And then...

it's just continued
with my mum,

but in a different form.

It's normally on an evening

and then
the text messages will start,

threatening to expose me
to the press

and bring up God knows what.

She'd just say
really horrible stuff,

like how much
of a horrible person I am.

Or the fact that...

everybody around me now
doesn't care about me and...

they're the only people
that care about me.

So if I don't have them,
then I'll be alone.

Me and my mum both suffered
at the hands of my dad,

but my mum is just
perpetuating it.

She just can't seem
to find a way out of it

and it's just ruined
our relationship.

I feel like I've
lost my mum now.

It just makes me feel alone.

[Frank Warren]
To be a great fighter

you've gotta have
natural talent and ability.

But talent only gets you
that far.

The rest has to be dedication,
hard work, grit

and you have to put
the blinkers on.

It's a team job
up until they get in the ring,

then you're on your own.

You might be in with your team
when you're training

and you're having a bit
of banter and, you know,

you're getting switched on,
but as soon as that--that

bell goes and you're
all alone in that ring,

it's a lonely old place.

[Nicola]
I take that loneliness
and I focus

and it means that
I can completely

put everything
into my boxing.

[intense music]

I don't see myself
as a victim.

I never want to be
seen like that.

One, two.

One, two, three.

Good! Jab. Stick and body.

I'm Nicola Adams, the Lioness.

The Queen of the North
from the UK.

I'm here to do the most,
be the best,

be number one.

I can't wait to operate,
get in that ring... [laughs]

I don't know what else
to say now. [laughs]

When I decided to
turn pro in 2017,

there was very few women
in the pro game.

It was like starting female
boxing again from scratch.

In the amateur world,
I'd conquered everything.

I had won everything
there was to win.

And then going to
the pro game now,

I was a small fish
in a very big pond.

I spoke to
all the top promoters.

And the surprise for me was
actually getting a call

from Frank Warren.
[chuckles]

[Frank Warren] I was still
pretty much anti-it,

but my kids work with me

in my business now and they
drove me mad about Nicola.

[commentator]
The reigning Olympic
champion...

[Nicola]
He told me he watched me win

my second gold medal
at Rio 2016.

And he said
he was really impressed.

[Frank Warren]
And all the cab drivers.

That's my litmus test,
you know, when the cab drivers

are talking about someone.

Everybody was
talking about her.

[interviewer]
You've retained that title.

Do you realise just how proud
Britain is of you?

Yeah, just, just literally
coming through the airport

and seeing everybody cheering
and wanting to take pictures.

It was amazing.

Now, this is a person that
pretty much the whole time

I've been boxing
has been against it.

And now he's ringing me.

So I was like,
"Okay, you know what?

-I'll hear him out,
see what he's got to say."
-[bell rings]

And he said,
when he watched my fights,

he couldn't believe
the skill that I had.

And I changed his mind.

[announcer]
Nicola Adams, OBE MBE...

[Nicola] I thought he was
completely against
women's boxing

so I just figured, you know,

there'd be no point in even
speaking to Frank.

And then lo and behold,

he ends up being my promoter.

I was the first woman that

Frank Warren's team
ever signed.

[Jane Couch]
When Frank signed Nicola,

I mean, let's be honest,

it was just for money,
for the TV.

He never signed Nicola
because she was a great amateur

and she's a great person
and she's a great boxer.

He, in my opinion,

signed just because
BT Sport said

"We have to have
a woman on."

And it was just
a token gesture.

So she was brave doing that.

But with that,
it also brought an opportunity,

an opportunity
for Nicola to prove

that she deserved to be there.

That female boxing deserved
to be on the professional scene

and that it should be taken
as serious as the men's.

[dramatic music]

[Nicola]
My debut fight was against

Virginia from Argentina.

You could see in the footage

that I was still getting used
to the pro game.

I'm still throwing
a lot of punches

and I'm not focusing
on the accuracy.

I was boxing without a
head-guard for the first time

and we both caught
each other with some
good shots to the head.

Amateur boxing is
more about point scoring

whereas in
professional boxing,

it's more about power shots.

First couple of fights,
I struggled in training

to try and slow my work down,

because I was so used to just
going a hundred miles an hour,

punching non-stop
all the time.

In my second fight,

I managed to take her out
in the third round.

I was feeling stronger
and stronger

and I felt unbeatable.

[commentator]
In the third round,
Nicola Adams

gets the stoppage win
that she wants!

[Nicola]
When I'm getting ready
to fight,

I want my opponent
to feel my presence.

I want them to feel that I am
so confident and unbeatable

that in the ring,
I have the power to do

anything I want.

[commentator]
Really good left hand.

[Nicola]
There was a point
in my next fight

where I threw
a couple of body shots.

A left hook to the body

and you see her
just wince down in pain.

[commentator]
...right on the bell!

After I found out
that I'd actually

broken
a couple of her ribs.

Isabel Millan was
an aggressive
come-forward fighter,

but she was also
very messy as well.

You can see in the footage
that she was throwing
big swinging punches,

but she wasn't landing
many of them.

[announcer] Nicola Adams!

[Nicola]
It was a tough fight,
but I won.

And I got
the WBO Interim Title.

So that put me in a position

where I could challenge
for the world title.

When I got into the
professional boxing world

and I saw how female boxers
were being treated,

it was almost like
going in a time warp

and going back to the days
of when amateur boxing

on the women's side
wasn't accepted.

It was so, so backwards.

I've been in contact with
people in the pro world that

I wouldn't trust as far
as I could throw them.

I believe that it's very rare

that you come across
someone who...

wants you to do well.

Nicola was treated so much
different when she turned pro

because she was a woman
and it was as simple as that.

I mean, had Nicola been a male,

like Anthony Joshua won
the 2012 Olympics gold medal.

The difference with the
promotion for Anthony Joshua,

and the difference in
promotion for Nicola Adams
was... massive.

[Nicola]
I feel like because
I was a female boxer

I wasn't given
as much attention

as some of
the male fighters

even though I knew that I was

bringing in more of a crowd

than some of the top
male fighters that they had.

I think there's always been
a few issues

blocking women's
progress in sport

and interestingly if you're
lesbian, or gay, or bisexual,

that has not helped matters
historically, you know.

Martina Navratilova
for example,

says she didn't lose sponsors
because she was out,

but she certainly
didn't gain new ones.

[Nicola] You've got a double
Olympic champion right here,
home grown.

They could have literally
done the most.

I think that she realised
in her career time

that it might not be
all the way

a given for women's boxing,
but a step further,

a step closer to that goal,

to get that same recognition
that the males got.

[Nicola] Things didn't change
until the likes of me,

Katie Taylor and
Claressa Shields came along.

And then we started
speaking out

about the injustices
in women's boxing.

Boxing is so sexist.

And these men
are fighting for...

multiple millions.

They haven't
accomplished half

of what I've accomplished.

I think they just put in a...

a locker room for the women.

And it was a tiny one
in the back.

And the trainers there didn't
wanna train any of the females.

[Nicola] They weren't given
a proper room

to warm up in and get changed.

Some of them weren't
even getting 5K a fight.

And after you deduct
all the training expenses,

you're probably
looking at about

five hundred to a thousand
after you've boxed,

which is ridiculous.

If you don't fight,
you don't get paid.

I went a full year
without a fight.

So I had no income.

One of my fights kept getting
pushed back

and pushed back and pushed
back and I thought,

"Look, am I even gonna
fight this year?"

I've got bills to pay,
I've got rent to pay.

So I ended up applying
for jobs, supermarket jobs

and I'm a world champion.

I applied for Aldi.

Lidl, I didn't even get past
the application stage.

I failed that.

Nicola has never
earnt a third

of what Anthony Joshua
probably earnt
in the first year

of his boxing career.

He got all the glory,
all the money,

all the sponsorships.

And it was like, well,
she'd just achieved

exactly what he's achieved.

Nicola won a gold medal
as well.

[Nicola] On top of that,
the problem we faced

was that female boxers
just weren't getting
enough fights.

And I don't think I was active
enough in my pro career.

I think I should have
definitely been boxing
a lot more.

My sixth pro fight
was my hardest fight yet.

I box at flyweight and...

I had a day to get
from 127 to 112.

Normally for a fight,
I'd lose ten pounds

and then just put it back on.

This fight, I lost over
a stone in 24 hours.

Sometimes the promoters
don't give you enough time

to be able to make that weight
before the fight,

so you have to crash it.
And that's what I did.

Her nutritionist said

he's never known a fighter

to ever be able to lose
that much weight.

And it would be impossible

and he would not advise it.

[Nicola] Because I'd lost
so much weight,

my body had to restart itself

to be able to start
taking in water

and start taking in
food again.

So I really, really struggled.

[Ella Baig]
Her eyes were sunken in.

Her skin had gone grey.

You could see all her ribs.
Everything was caved in.

She looked emaciated.

And now as a professional...

[Nicola]
When I went to the weigh in,

couldn't really hear anything

because I'd lost
so much fluid around my brain.

It was horrible.

My coaches had to help me
get undressed,

because I didn't have
the energy to even
take my tracksuit off

to get on the scales.

They helped me walk over
to the stage where
the scales were.

I was so scared,
because I was like,

I don't know if I've even got
the energy to hold myself up.

[Chantelle Cameron]
If she's struggling
really bad,

maybe she should
have been like,
"Look, let's do

the world title
the weight above.

Because in
professional boxing,

you can go through
the weights.

So maybe that
communication there,

if that was spoken about,

the weight wouldn't have
been much of an issue.

[Nicola] I knew my opponent

and their coaches knew exactly
what was wrong with me.

And I just tried to put on
a front

and pretend that
everything was okay.

After the weigh in...

I went back to the hotel.

Tried to eat,
but I couldn't eat anything.

We rang the nutritionist
and spoke to him

and he explained
it's because her organs

had started to shut down,

'cause her body
was so malnourished.

Like, at that point,
everybody was

pretty, pretty worried.

There was
a couple of times where

my coach and the nutritionist

were saying that
I should pull out.

But I just wanted
to do the fight.

[cheering]

[Frank Warren]
Boxing is a microcosm of life.

It's filled with blood
and it is an art form.

Some people are born to fight.

It's a natural instinct
within them.

They come alive in the ring.

Your mindset is
you've gotta be a winner.

You know, you feel at
the end of the day,

you're unbeatable.

Nicola's mentality
is no different.

[Nicola] By the time
we got to the arena,

I think it was eight,
nine o'clock at night.

You can see in the footage
that I just don't look right.

I don't have the same spark or
energy that I normally have.

Even walking into the centre
of the ring to touch gloves

was horrible.

[announcer]
Seconds out. Round 1...

[bell dings]

[Nicola]
The bell went. I started okay.

I was doing everything
I could.

I was switching southpaw,

I was working behind my jab.

I was keeping my
defence tight.

Anything I could do
to survive the fight.

[bell dings]

[Frank Warren]
I felt that night

things weren't right.

She didn't seem to be herself
in the ring.

And I actually remember
sitting there thinking
to myself,

"I wonder if she's gonna
carry on doing this?"

I remember saying to the guys,
I said,

"She didn't look comfortable."

[Nicola] Each time I went
back to the corner,

I was exhausted.

My trainer was trying his best
to keep me focused.

Telling me what round
I was on.

Telling me how many rounds
there was to go.

I just needed this to be over.
I just need to survive.

There was a lot of talk about,
you know,

"She didn't perform as good
as she normally does.

It was boring."

The commentators were
saying I was moving

a lot slower than normal.

And I was throwing a lot less
punches than I normally would.

But the whole time,
nobody actually knew

why I was performing
the way I was

and what I'd actually
been through.

During the first round,

I received an eye injury.

My opponent caught me
with a thumb in my eye.

I was seeing two people
the whole way through

the rest of the fight.

So to try and focus
on my opponent more,

I had to try and close
the eye that was injured,

so I just had one person
to look at.

But that was really hard
to do as well,

because I had punches
coming from

all different angles.

So instead of aiming
punches at her head,

you could see in the footage
I was aiming for the middle

of the blur, for her chest.

'Cause it was a bigger target.

I don't know how I did it.

I've never had to dig
that deep in a fight,

ever before in my life.

I had some kind
of higher power

helping me through that.

The coach was saying
he's never known anybody

to lose that much weight
and still perform.

It was very dangerous,

but I didn't want
to lose my title.

There was points
in that fight where

I could have easily
just gone back to the corner

and just told them like, no.
Just throw in the towel.

But I've got
a warrior's heart.

I'd rather go out
on my shield.

[commentator] 95 to 95.
This bout is a split draw.

-[crowd boos]
-[commentator]
Well, how about that?

[Nicola] When the draw was
announced and the crowd
was booing,

I felt really bad because
I know they expected

a lot more from
my performance.

I can see now watching
back at the footage,

how uncomfortable I looked.

I just wanted to
get out of the ring.

Straight after the fight
I ran to the toilet

and I just threw up.

I'd worked so hard
in that fight

and it just took
a really big toll on my body.

I went to go see
an eye specialist

and that's when he told me

that I'd torn my pupil
in two places.

So the main question
for me was, well,

"Is--is it fixable?"
Like...

"Can I keep boxing?"
Like, what's the deal?

And he said to me,

there's a chance that
if I did get caught

like that again,
I could go blind.

It was a risk that
I wasn't prepared to take.

[Ella Baig]
She wanted to fight again.

She wasn't ready to retire.

She said if she'd have
lost her vision,

just for the feeling of

coming out on a positive note,

it just wouldn't have
been worth it.

And I think she realised
it was time to move on.

[Nicola] Boxing for me has
always been my safe space

since I was 13 years old,

so making the decision
to retire

wasn't an easy choice for me.

When she decided to retire,
I was, you know,

from a financial aspect
you can say, look,

we put a lot of investment
in this getting it,

getting her into the
position where she is.

And, which we did, but...

at the end of the day,
you've gotta respect her
decision.

As I say, she's the person
getting in the ring

and I respected it entirely.

I never--never sat her down

and tried to talk her
out of it at all.

You know, just wished her
the best for the future.

[Jane Couch]
I do think that she probably

wasn't the best advised
on the pro side,

which for me is sickening
to watch because

I fought so hard

to get women's boxing
licensed that,

so that they didn't
have to do what I had to do.

[Nicola]
I'd see so many female boxers

come and go over the years

that could have been
really good now

that had to just give it up
just to survive.

[Jane] I just feel
with Nik that she was
just badly promoted.

She should have been on the
same level as Anthony Joshua,

who'd done the same
as her at the Olympics.

So why wasn't she?

Why wasn't she?

[Nicola] When boxing
was taken away,

it meant that I was forced
to face other problems that

I have with trauma
from my childhood.

It was quite overwhelming.

I could feel like,
my heart start to race

and I remember
saying to Ella like,

"I don't know why
I'm feeling like that

because I've never
had to deal with

any of those feelings before."

I'm starting to let
my guard down now

and I don't have to fight
to survive anymore.

[Steve] Last words I actually
said to Nicola before the last
training session,

"It's gonna take off soon

because it looks like
they're gonna be first

to accept female boxing
in the Olympics.

And then it's
all go from there.

The world's your oyster."

And she just laughed at that.
And I said, "No, seriously.

It's gonna be massive.

It really is gonna be massive.
Make sure you're ready for it."

She said, "Ready for what?"

I said, "Whatever it is,
just ride it

till the wheels come off."

[Virgil] First she had
to acknowledge that
she's a winner.

She had a great sense
of who she was

and what she was capable of.

She was a pioneer in the sport.

[Savannah]
Whenever I go anywhere,

and start talking
about boxing,

people say, "Oh, I know that,

I remember that girl
from Leeds."

She's still in their minds.

Everyone remembers
that girl from Leeds.

[Amanda] Her winning those
gold medals at the Olympic
Games

have propelled these girls
to be inspired

to wanna, you know, reach
the, the heights that she did.

Her impact on the sport
I think'll be

truthfully felt
in the years to come.

[Amanda] The team now that
we've got involved in England
boxing,

when I ask them you know,
what inspires them, you know,
why are they boxing,

quite often,
Nicola's name comes up.

"I wanna be
the next Nicola Adams."

The Olympics is
a pathway now for girls.

Team GB, there's girls
on the team and there's
boys on the team.

The girls get sent away
to the tournaments

the same as the boys get sent
away to the tournaments.

And that's because
of Nicola's gold medals.

[Clare] She will continue
to change

people's view to what
women can be.

[Nicola] Boxing or
any fighting sport

is a completely different view

of what women
are perceived to be.

People need to know that
it's very empowering.

Every girl should know what
it feels like

to feel invincible.

[Chantelle] Nikki's fight is
gonna make things

a lot easier for
the girls coming through.

It's all been like a path.

And it's always
leading the way.

[Clare] She projects
enjoyment and happiness

and positivity and I think
for many, many years

we have struggled with
what's felt like a burden.

Not just a burden of shame
for the LGBTQ community,

but a weight we've felt
dragging us back,

and what I love about Nicola
is she powers forward.

[Nicola] I shouldn't be
where I am now.

I had so many people
telling me,

"No, you'll never be a boxer."

I just didn't want them
to project

what they see
as a future onto me.

I knew their limitations
weren't mine.

If I could tell
the 8-year-old me anything,

I'd tell her to not be afraid.

That life's gonna get better.

And I know there's times
when it's gonna be scary.

But you're so much stronger
than you realise.

[interviewer]
Okay. We're done.

[punches hitting pads]

[upbeat hip hop music]