The venue will be the OVO Arena at Wembley, London, where WBA 118-pound champion Nina Hughes will make her first title defense against compatriot Katie Healy (6-0) on June 10th. This was a change of challenger in recent days, as the first announced challenger was former champion Shannon Courtenay, Healy has now replaced Courtenay. Hughes shocked the boxing world in November when she defeated Jamie Mitchell, who had won the WBA title from Courtenay in October 2021. Hughes was crowned WBA champion after only 5 pro fights. Now 40 years old, Hughes is also the mother of two children.

 

However, Hughes did not came out of nowhere. She had been in boxing on some level for nearly 15 years. She was a multiple-time national champion, a member of the Great Britain amateur team and even bid for a place in the 2012 London Olympics alongside famed medalist Nicola Adams. After trying again to enter the Rio 2016 Games, Hughes felt that her time as a boxer had come to an end and decided to become a mother. She had 2 children and went to work as a secretary. Some time later she returned to training just to be in good physical shape and the 2020 pandemic, plus the encouragement of her coach, led her to make the decision to try the professional jump. On June 10th at Wembley, Hughes will look to defend her world title against Healy for the first time and earn her sixth win.