Jane Couch single-handedly changed boxing history – the Fleetwood Assassin deserves her place in the Hall of Fame

MAYBE I have daughters and granddaughters, or maybe it’s a generational aberration, but it’s no secret that I’m not a lover of women’s boxing.

Seeing girls in the ring being hurt, beaten and bleeding is not something I enjoy watching.

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Yet Jane Couch – who changed the face of British boxing forever – has always had my admiration.

The Lancashire lass known as the Fleetwood Assassin was a one-woman Suffragette movement – the boxing equivalent of Emily Pankhurst, who at the start of the last century led the fight to get women the vote.

Ms Couch fought fiercely in her long and bitter legal battle to get the British Boxing Board of Control to lift the ban on women being allowed to box in this country.

She was so passionate and determined in her solo campaign for equal rights that she would have gone to jail for it – like Pankhurst.

It was 26 years ago that Jane, now 55, finally went to court, supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission, and won her case.

She single-handedly changed the course of history and emancipated dozens of young people who wanted to participate professionally in the Noble Art.

In November 1998, I was in the ring of a packed nightclub in Streatham to report on a female boxer’s first and only licensed BBBofC debut – she defeated Germany’s Simona ‘Demona’ Lukic in two rounds and a new career was born .

They say that pioneers are those who create a legacy that lasts beyond their lifetime. Today, the 90 women who hold licenses owe Jane a deep debt of gratitude.

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To say that Couch was a diamond in the rough is a huge understatement. In her youth she was Calamity Jane, a crybaby expelled from school and arrested countless times for a variety of crimes, but mostly for street fights.

Like so many rambunctious children, Jane found boxing, which taught her discipline and how to be considerate of others.

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Next week, Jane flies to America, where in Canastota, New York, she will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame – the sport’s highest tribute and the first British woman to receive this honour.

When we spoke this week, Jane said, “It’s actually a little surreal, I mean, Ali and Frazier are there.

“I had 39 professional fights, won five world titles and received the MBE, but I think the Hall of Fame is the best.

“I’ve always been a rebel – a bit of a warrior and stubborn. I just wanted to make a difference. I think I did that.

Alongside her will be two-time world champion Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton – arguably Manchester’s favorite son and one of our most exciting fighters of all time.

No British fighter has had as many followers as Ricky. Thousands of his fans attended the five fights he had in Las Vegas – and no one deserves to be in the HOF more.

An elated Ricky said: “It’s jaw-dropping. When I realized it, I got a little teary-eyed – it’s something really special.”

Having two of our boxers be inducted into the HOF at the same time is unique.

But with Couch and Hatton, Britain could not have better ambassadors to represent the home of boxing.

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