Boxer Kaye Scott Has Earned The Right To Fight

Before Kaye Scott left to compete for Australia in the IBA Women’s Boxing World Championships in India last night, she took time out to celebrate the progress her sport has made since her historic first fight in 2009.

Her exhibition bout against Ramona Stephenson is considered ‘historic’ because it was the first female bout staged in NSW after the government legalised the sport under the Combat Sports Bill of 2008.

“It’s so refreshing to see the progress and increased numbers of participants,” said Kaye, who was encouraged to take up boxing after showing good form during boxercise classes at a gym.

“[Women’s boxing] is now recognised and normalised. Back then, it was considered an odd thing to do. Before 2009 you had to fly up to Queensland to fight [where it was legalised in 2000].

“You’d turn up to the shows and some people didn’t want a bar of you – you were ignored. You were the first fight on the card when there was no crowd; there weren’t separate rooms for us to weigh in. It’s very different now.”

Kaye, 38, and a 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, admitted even her parents struggled with her choice of sport, hoping it was simply a ‘phase’ she was going through.

“But I became quite good . . . I won a state title . . . and they’re now my biggest supporters,” she said. “They were of that generation who thought: ‘I don’t want to see my daughter get hurt’. They now get that it’s a sport . . . an artform.

“So, back then you were an outlier, and the opportunities to develop as an athlete weren’t really there. I fought Arlene Blencowe – she’s now a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter with Bellator and is one of the highest-paid fighters in that sport –nine times because there was no-one else to fight.

“That meant your ability to progress as an athlete was limited. Women’s boxing is going forward, and we need to keep going in that direction. It’s exciting to see the young guns coming through. It makes me so happy.”

While Kaye has a trophy cabinet crammed with awards, she nominates one of the greatest honours bestowed upon as being named captain of Australia’s 2014 Commonwealth Games boxing team. Having a woman named as the team’s skipper proved to her – and others – the sport was changing.

“I didn’t realise the significance in the moment, it’s more in hindsight that I go ‘oh wow’,” she said.” It was special.”

“I believe [I was made captain] because we had a young team and I’ve always been professional as an athlete. I think our coach realised I’m always on time – I’m punctual – and while I’m not always the most talented fighter, I’ll arrive early and finish late. I pride myself on that. It was special.”

Kaye, who sold chocolate bars to fund her first overseas trip, credited her NSWIS scholarship for allowing her to compete against the world’s best boxers in such far flung places as Russia, Morocco, Bulgaria, and now New Delhi, India where the world championships will run from March 14-26.

“Boxing isn’t well funded,” she said after a session in the NSWIS gym with strength and conditioning coach Billy Macklin. “As athletes we don’t have a centralised program where we’re based in Queensland or Canberra.

“The majority of us work. I do personal training and teach classes. However, having access to NSWIS’s team of professionals; having a strength and conditioning coach, and being able to see physiotherapists for injuries is imperative.

“When we travel overseas, we compete against athletes from the USA and Britain who are fulltime athletes – and paid a wage. However, I’m so grateful for my NSWIS scholarship because I remember when I won my spot to my first world championships it wasn’t funded. I sold chocolates to pay my way.

“Now it’s fully funded and I’m super grateful for that.”

Daniel Lane, NSWIS