Esther Phiri (born June 14, 1987) is a Former World Female Boxing Champion Zambian boxer. Esther was stripped of her title after her retirement. Esther is the first female

Zambian Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are th ...

boxer to get international recognition and accolades. She became world champion after defeating

Belinda Laracuente Belinda Laracuente (born 1980) is a women's boxing competitor from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where she lived from 1989 to 1998. Her nickname is ''Brown Sugar''. Laracuente debuted as a professional boxer on 12 February 1997 in a match against Kar ...

Biography

Phiri was still a teenager when, after the death of her father, she made a living selling fruit and vegetables. She became a mother at age 16. Boxing was a way for her to escape poverty and support her own child, and the children of her older sister, who had died. She was encouraged by

Anthony Mwamba Anthony Mwamba (8 August 1960 – 21 January 2021) was a Zambian boxer. He competed in the men's light welterweight event at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Mwamba won a bronze medal in the welterweight (67 kg) division at the 1990 Commonwealth ...

, a former boxer she met in 2003. Her first fight was in 2005. She won the GBU (Global Boxing Union) intercontinental belt for lightweights on June 30, 2007, at the expense of Radostina Valcheva and then retained it by beating

on 1 December 2007. The following year, she won the same belt but in the lower super-featherweight class. Phiri became WIBA welterweight world champion after beating

Duda Yankovich Duda Yankovich ( sr, Душица Јанковић, Dušica Janković, born September 27, 1976) is a Serbian-born former boxer and mixed martial arts fighter. She has been living in Brazil since 1999. Yankovich was the Women's International Bo ...

, May 29, 2010. Other important fights won by this boxer are those against Lely Luz Florez, in 2011, and Monalisa Sibanda, in 2012. She also invests in real estate.

Documentary film

The documentary film '' Between Rings'', released in 2014, was created by her cousin Jessie Chisi. It tells Phiri's story, how she left her marriage to pursue a career in boxing, and remains torn between her own goals and her family and societal expectations.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phiri, Esther 1987 births Living people Zambian women boxers World boxing champions Sportspeople from Lusaka Bantamweight boxers