Boxing buddies: Hedda Wolmarans & Shaun Ness.
I’m ambivalent about women’s boxing. But there’s someone on the scene who could make me a believer.
Tonight Hedda Wolmarans makes her professional debut in Secunda. I’ve seen her spar and work out. She looks damn good. Others who have seen her in the amateurs reckon she’s the real deal.
“You should see how she hits her boyfriend to the body,” swoons Boxing South Africa’s Archie Nyingwa, who has been around the fight game for over 30 years.
It’s not a line you hear every day, but it makes sense: Hedda’s boyfriend is Shaun Ness, the number one contender for the junior-welterweight title. Man-beating goes on all the time in their relationship.
Wolmarans only spars with men on account of her strength. The SA women’s champion refuses to entertain the idea and word is Wolmarans has roughed up more than a few blokes between the ropes.
A wise guy tried his luck last year. He inflicted a black eye on her, but she quickly sent him packing.
Hedda Wolmarans in action as an amateur in 2012. “I just don’t wanna die without a few scars,” says her Twitter bio.
She’ll certainly look the part tonight. When I saw her in the gym last weekend she was lean and ripped; less than 10 percent body fat.
It’s no surprise she is eyeing a career of sorts in sport. She was once ranked sixth in her agegroup for tennis nationally and played a couple of Futures tournaments. She also played cricket and soccer, but the boxing bug bit five years ago when her older brother dragged her off to a boxercise class in Randburg.
“I got tired of hitting tennis balls,” she says wistfully. “I loved the feel of boxing.”
She won two SA championships as an amateur, with 16 wins in 19 fights. She also twice won the inter-varsity championships and was named Wits Sports Woman of the Year in 2012.
She was studying engineering at the time, but is now in the third year of a sports management degree at the University of Johannesburg.
“It would be cool if I could make a living from boxing, but that’s naïve,” says the 26-year-old.
“I can’t understand why people say it’s too physical [for women]. I go balls to the wall.”
So to speak.
Colin Nathan trains her. He’s not known for half measures. He likes what he sees in Wolmarans.
“She’s hard-working, committed, a good listener. She’s worked hard in the gym for eight months. I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes,” he says.
They’ve already worked out a nickname together: “Hedda the Shredder”. It’s brilliant.
Tonight she goes to work.
(Lousy) post-script: Hedda’s fight is off. Her opponent got cold feet. Damn.