South Tyneside boxer Bobbylee is in training for Team GB

Shields Gazette

Hebburn fighter Bobbylee Burns is an inspiration to the members of fitness studio KW Fitness, where she coaches.

Transcript

00:00So we're here today to tell you about Bobbie Lee Burns, who's from the north-east of England.

00:08She lives in Hebburn, our local town, and she's an up-and-coming boxer. I used to go

00:12into the boxing gym that she used to train at, like, when she was 12 or whatever. And

00:17my dad once had us in, and he was like, oh, do you want to come to the boxing club and

00:20do some circuits? But I would never step in the ring. And he said to us, I always tell

00:25everyone this, he was like, you should see this little lass in the ring, man. She's got

00:28hair down her legs, and she's boxing all the lads, doing them all in. And then I walked

00:32in, and there was this bonny little kid, long, blonde hair, just literally in the ring, like,

00:37jumping around like this. And then she had fights. And long story short, we were on the

00:40lakeside one time, like, literally two and a half years ago. And she served with drinks,

00:45and my dad was like, oh, do you know who that is? And I was like, oh, who? And he was like,

00:49do you not remember our little Bobbie Lee, the boxer? And I was like, eh, she's like

00:52a little woman now. And then it dawned on us, I was like, I wonder what she's doing

00:55now? And my dad was like, oh, I think she's PTing. Then when I was thinking about opening

00:59the gym, I was like, I need to have a coach who, like, knows what they're doing, who's

01:02fit themselves. And then that was when I basically, like, reached out to Bobbie, and dragged her

01:07into the gym to start training the girls. I used to do jujitsu before it, which, and

01:12then I told my mum, I actually want to, like, punch people. So that's how I started boxing.

01:17I just didn't like girly sport. Well, I went into it because of my mum's boyfriend.

01:22He, um, he coached and trained at the gym I went to first, which was Perth Green.

01:27And then where do you train now?

01:28Eh, Kenton. Kenton Boxing Club.

01:32In Kenton, Kenton.

01:34When was your first actual amateur fight?

01:36My first one was, like, Perth Green home show.

01:38And then you got an award for it, didn't you?

01:41Best boxer of the night.

01:42My second fight, I had Cyrus give us his top.

01:45Cyrus Ramone.

01:46Well, I train with him now, actually, at Unit 29. Well, I go there at Unit 29. He's there

01:50every now and then.

01:51So he boxed for GB?

01:53Aye.

01:53He'd give us, like, a GB top and then says he reckons I'll go far.

01:58Go, like, go far and should get on England one day and then, like, I'll want it, so.

02:02That, like, gives a push when I lost, because that was my first loss, that one.

02:05So currently, for, um, when you're being scouted for the development team of GB,

02:12what happens after that if, like, you progress?

02:14If I keep going on and then, obviously, do international competitions all around the

02:20world, really, and then I'll hopefully go to the Olympics, but I don't know about that.

02:27Just have to see.

02:28I work in two jobs.

02:29Yeah.

02:29Work here, um, work at the Lakeside, which is a local pub. It's around the corner, like,

02:35five minutes from the gym. Um, they're also sponsors as well. So that obviously helps

02:41pay for my kit, my travel down Sheffield, pay for my boxing sessions.

02:46So I wake up probably half six in the morning, quarter past six, come here half past seven,

02:50train people to, like, half eight, half nine, quickly go home, come back for my boxing class,

02:56and then after my boxing class, go home, get ready for work, work at the Lakeside.

03:00Mostly half eleven till five, get changed in the toilet at the pub and then go straight to

03:05Kenton. Box day till, like, half seven, quarter past seven. Sometimes come here on a Tuesday at

03:12half six and then train again, like, classes. And then, like, every couple of weekends, you go down

03:18to...

03:18Oh, down to Sheffield, aye.

03:20So the facilities that you train at for GB in Sheffield, what are they like in comparison to,

03:27like, a little, a little boxing gym in the North Beach?

03:30Solid, like.

03:30And, like, the way that Bobbi boxes, this is just my personal opinion,

03:34she's so clean and slick and technical and she listens and she's calm and she's clever

03:39that something, someone like GB's looked at her and thought, well, we can train here

03:43because that doesn't come in guns blazing or anything like that, you're dead calm and

03:47collected. But I feel like having someone in the gym like Bobbi Lee is so inspiring for me

03:51and for the girls.

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