Natasha Jonas (born 18 June 1984) is a British

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

female

junior-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA a ...

title since February 2022. Since September 3rd 2022 she has held the WBC female super-welterweight title. Since November 12th 2022 she held the IBF

Light middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA a ...

title. an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

, she won a bronze medal in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division at the 2012 AIBA World Championships; bronze in the

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

division at the 2011 European Championships; and silver in the light welterweight division at the 2014 European Championships.

Amateur career

Jonas took up boxing in 2005 and by 2010 she had won five

ABA Championships The England Boxing National Amateur Championships previously known as the ABA Championships is the premier boxing tournament hosted annually by England Boxing. The Championships are 'open' class: any boxer who is registered with a club register ...

in the 64 kg Division for

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

club Rotunda ABC. In November 2009 she became the first female boxer to compete for GB Boxing. In the same year she claimed gold in the 64 kg division at the 2009 Women's European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik i ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, after she overcame Csilla Csejtei of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

in the final. Jonas another gold medal in the inaugural

GB Amateur Boxing Championships The GB Amateur Boxing Championships is an amateur boxing tournament, founded in 2010, in which boxers from England, Scotland and Wales compete over a two-day period. It is hosted by the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA), which was es ...

in 2010, when she pipped rival Amanda Coulson by one point in an exciting bout in front of her home fans at

Echo Arena Liverpool Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the M&S Bank Arena, and previously Echo Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The venue hosts live music, comedy performances and sporting events, and ...

2012 AIBA Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

Jonas made history in

Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao (; ) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population during the 2020 national ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in May 2012, when she reached the semi-finals of the

2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships The 2012 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships was held in Qinhuangdao, China from May 9 to May 22, 2012. For the first time, this world championship served as a qualifier for the 2012 Summer Olympics. 305 boxers participated from 70 countri ...

to become the first ever female British boxer to qualify for an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, she then went on to take the bronze medal and a place in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

back to Liverpool with her.

2012 Olympic Games

Jonas became the first ever British female boxer to compete at an Olympic Games. Jonas faced Quanitta Underwood of the United States in the round of 16, Jonas emphatically beat Underwood, 21:13 winning three of the four rounds boxed. Her wins set up a quarter-final bout with four-time World Champion, and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

's flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremony,

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the ...

. Jonas lost heavily to Taylor 26:15.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Initially intending to be a footballer, Jonas spent eighteen months at St. Peter's College in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on a football scholarship. After suffering an injury that ended her football career, she returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and studied media studies at

Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male stu ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. She was employed for five years by

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor J ...

and was a mentor for the Youth Sport Trust for four years, helping to promote sport and healthy lifestyles to school-age children. Jonas is an older sister of footballer

Nikita Parris Nikita Josephine Parris (born 10 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester United and the England national team. She previously played for Division 1 Féminine club Olymp ...

In the media

In July 2012, Jonas appeared alongside

Tom Stalker Thomas Lee Stalker (born 30 June 1984) is an English professional boxer who challenged for the Commonwealth lightweight title in 2017. He won multiple international medals while competing for England as an amateur, including gold at the 2010 C ...

and James Dickens in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary, ''Knockout Scousers'', which followed her to

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

on her pursuit for Olympic qualification, a production which she also narrated.

References

External links

*
Natasha Jonas (Official Website)
''natashajonas.co.uk''
"Natasha Jonas’s weight of expectation"
''The Times'', 16 August 2009
Natasha's exclusive training diary in the build up to London 2012 for Livefight
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonas, Natasha 1984 births Living people English women boxers Boxers from Liverpool Black British sportswomen Alumni of Edge Hill University Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Great Britain Boxers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships medalists Southpaw boxers Super-featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers World Boxing Organization champions World Boxing Council champions International Boxing Federation champions The Ring (magazine) champions World light-middleweight boxing champions