Mia Holland doesn’t just want to be a champ – she wants to be an inspiration to the children she works with
The 21-year-old, a teaching assistant at Priory Park Community School, Dudley, knows they’ll be rooting for her when she bids to make it a hat-trick of pro wins on Friday night.
Mia Holland, from Wolverhampton, appears on BCB Promotions’ huge “Independence Day” title bill at the Hangar Events Venue, Wolverhampton. In the main event, Sian O’Toole defends her Midlands featherweight crown against Doina Costin.
“They [the pupils] see me as a bit of a role-model,” Holland said. “They take a lot of inspiration from it.”
The bantamweight, from a gypsy community, also wants to motivate other girls and women to take-up boxing. She’s among a growing band of female BCB fighters raising the sport’s profile.
“It didn’t used to be very popular,” said Mia, a coach and personal trainer at Wulfrunians Boxing Club. “Now you see more and more doing it, which is great.”
Part of Richie Ghent’s busy gym, Holland “turned over” after an amateur career crammed with silverware. She boxed for England and captured national and tri-nations titles.
Dad Richard, a former boxer, was a big part of that success and he plays a key role in Mia’s pro journey.
“He’s the one who has been my coach since I started my amateur career,” Mia said. “He’s pushed me and guided me all the way since I was a kid. I believe I am where I am today because of him. In my title wins, he was always doing my corner. I believe it was Dad who got me the wins – he trained me harder than most.”
Now Mia is chasing professional honours – and plans to drop down to super-fly, even fly, in the hunt for belts.
“After Friday, my next fight should be a six rounder,” she added. “I’ll go for area titles, work my way up and aim as high as I can go.
“I’ve got a good boxing technique, good boxing IQ and a very good jab. There’ll be nerves on Friday night – every fighter has nerves, it’s natural. But the nerves are good, they switch me on and get me in the zone.”
“Independence Day” on July 4 also features top Black Country prospects Ben Collins and Lewis Morris. Callum Seedhouse looks to build on his explosive debut at the same venue in May and Hamza Azeem has his first fight on home turf after boxing in Riyadh’s Grand Prix tournament.
Ashley Vaughan will be aiming to extend their unbeaten runs, Willenhall middleweight Regan Williams makes his pro debut and Stafford’s big punching Ashley Pettigrew can be relied on to provide fireworks.
Final tickets are available now, priced at £45 for general admission and £80 for VIP, from the boxers directly or by emailing info@bcb-promotions.com.