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Leeds policewoman is Thai boxing champion
Sophie Hawkswell.
Her day job sees her pounding the streets of Leeds as a policewoman, but Sophie Hawkswell is making a big impact in the ring too. Grant Woodward reports.
CRIMINALS of Leeds – take a long hard look at Sophie Hawkswell’s face and commit it to memory.
Trust me, it’s in your best interests.
She may be only 5ft 4in tall and weigh just over eight stones, but this is one policewoman you definitely don’t want to tangle with.
That’s because Sophie is the UK’s national Thai boxing champion.
It’s her second major prize in the tough sport, having walked away with the British title three years ago.
She has also fought at the amateur world championships in the sport’s spiritual home of Thailand, picking up a silver medal.
Sophie, who’s 26, took up the sport as a teenager as a way to get fit. But she liked it so much that she hasn’t looked back since.
“It was a friend who invited me along and in the beginning I just went along for a bit of exercise,” she says. “I found that I really enjoyed it and so I kept going back.
“When I’m in the ring I find that everything just clicks. You can be so nervous before a fight but when it starts it all seems to come together. And winning is the best feeling in the world.”
Sophie originally fought at the Golden Team Thai Boxing Gym in Hunslet and is now part of the Pegasus Thai Boxing Gym in Farsley.
A policewoman for three-and-a-half years, she’s based at Horsforth Police Station.
And she reckons the gruelling training regime for her sport helps her in her day job too.
“It can be quite handy,” she says. “I’m on the response team which attends 999 calls and I absolutely love chasing people. I’ve got a pretty good record for catching them too.
“Obviously if people are bigger than me they might be initially faster, but I will never give up.
“The policing fits in well with my training too. Because I work shifts I can fit the training in around it.
“There’s a 24-hour gym at Weetwood Police Station that I use. If I’ve just finished work and it’s two o’clock in the morning I can still go in there and do a workout.”
Sophie trains twice a day, three times when she has a day off.
Typically she will go for a long run before work and then train at the gym in the evening.
“The other day I went for a 10-mile run at four in the morning, then went in at seven to do my shift before doing some Thai Boxing work in the gym at night.
“The training is intense and the people you do it with become like a family – you’re all in it together.
“When you’re going through the pain with other people it makes you stronger together. Our gym is a laugh a minute and my trainer Simon Crockford is a real character which certainly helps.”
Sophie won the UK Muay Thai Federation title in the 52.5kg category at the championships in Kent a few weeks ago.
It adds to the England Muay Thai Federation British Bantamweight title she won in 2008.
And if you ask her for the secret behind her success she is very clear that it’s all down to positive thinking.
“You always have to go in there thinking you’re going to win. 95 per cent of the fight is in your head really. I’ve seen a lot of fighters lose a fight before they even get in the ring.
“If you lose your head, you lose everything. So you’ve got to believe you’re going to do it.
“I may not be the most skillful fighter but I’m pretty solid and strong. There’s nothing like winning because you’re not just doing it for yourself but your family, friends and everyone who supports you.”
However, there’s one person who’s always missing from the ranks of Sophie’s ringside supporters.
“My mum doesn’t come to watch me because she gets too nervous. I think she would like me to do ballet or something instead!”
As for injuries, Sophie, who lives in Wortley, has escaped relatively unscathed up to now.
“I dislocated my knee in training so I couldn’t fight for most of last year. Other than that I’ve had a few fractured ribs and a couple of shin injuries where the impact causes them to swell and the blood collect under the bruise.
“But I’m grateful that I’ve still got my nose intact after 18 fights.”
As for the future, Sophie is confident more success lies ahead.
“I would definitely like to travel and do some more fighting overseas. I’m fighting on May 7 in Ireland and then hopefully back in Leeds in June at Savile Hall at the Royal Armouries. Then I might be challenged for my title in July.
“At the moment I’m really enjoying it and the future looks bright.”
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
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