World Champion expands her empire
Eleven years on, and Lauren now works with Michele, who is about to open her second gym, this time in Xintiandi's Hubindao Mall.
So we asked Lauren to dust off the interview, give it a little update, and bring it back for Round 2!
Boxing World Champ Talks
Punches & Poodles
She's battled prejudice and,
most recently, breast cancer
Michele Aboro is a fighter. The undefeated World Champion boxer has not only clashed with titans in the ring, but also battled prejudice and breast cancer.
Unofficially retired from the ring, she has been in Shanghai since 2010, redirecting her energy to training and launching her boxing gym, Aboro.
We caught up with her ahead of the opening to talk about impersonating men, teaching nuns to punch and the importance of giving back.
Michele Aboro, World Champion boxer and owner of Aboro boxing gym
We've heard that when you first started training, women weren't allowed to box in England…
No, that's why I took up kickboxing to begin with. We weren't even allowed to train in the gym.
There must have been times you made your way into the gym though?
I lied and said I was a boy, so I could just go there and spar and train. I had short hair and I looked very strong, very muscular – I could easily pass for a guy.
Pretending allowed me to improve my boxing because [the other girls] couldn't get in there to practice like I did, which put me light years ahead of the competition.
What if someone had found out you were a girl?
They would have kicked me out. If the boxing association had openly and knowingly trained a girl, they would have lost their license.
I managed to get away with it for quite a few years. Like Mulan, but in a boxing way. I would go there, do my training and leave straight away. No showers…
Did your mom know?
In the beginning, no. She did later on. She'd come along to my fights, but she found it difficult to watch.
She was a very, very supportive woman.
What drew you to boxing in the first place?
I grew up in an area of South London where there were a lot of boxing gyms. It was very normal for people to start training.
I was drawn to the sport because I found it beautiful; the mind-body connection.
World Champion Michele Aboro in 2001, during her professional boxing career
You became World Champion, undefeated until your retirement in 2001. What made you stop?
After 22 years, I just wanted to try doing something else, reeducate myself. I began working as a sound engineer for songwriter Joan Wasser [aka Joan as Police Woman].
I gave them my CV and there was all these World Champion titles and stuff on it and they were laughing, "At least we're safe!"
I didn't know a thing about music at the time. I was like, "Oh, what does this do?" I learned on the road.
I went on to work with Amy Winehouse, The White Stripes, Antony and the Johnsons, Hanggai. Then, I decided to start training other people and boxing again.
How did the concept for a gym in Shanghai come about?
It actually came from my wife, Masca, who was over here doing a book. I paid her a visit and saw that there was no real fitness industry over here. So I said, "What if we move to China and open up a gym?"
When we first arrived in Shanghai, I opened Golden Gloves—the gym that trained boxers for the Brawl on the Bund.
But I wanted somewhere that was much more of a family-oriented place, where we could actually instill the quality of training in people, not simply teach how to be great fighting machines.
With Aboro, I want to spread the healing power of combat sports and the empowerment it can give you.
Michele Aboro and wife Masca
Do you see Aboro as somewhere women can go to build their confidence?
Definitely. I want women to feel they've come to a welcoming place—I'm a female trainer.
At the same time, as my own trainers taught me, it's not about gender. It's about what you want to get out of yourself.
You have to leave your gender outside the gym; don't bring it in with you. Some girls I know whip guys' asses without a problem.
What are your thoughts on female boxing?
Men have been boxing for over a hundred years, women not even for 30, yet just look at their level.
Of course we're not as physically strong as men, but this is the wonderful thing about fighting sports: it's not just about being strong. It's about being smart, cunning and outfoxing your opponent.
This is why women can do sparring sports. People think these disciplines might be too heavy for a woman, but they're not. We have the same ability to think, to move, to anticipate.
Michele Aboro in the ring
You also incorporate an element of giving-back to the community?
Every Sunday we do a class called 'Sweat for a Good Cause.' All the proceeds from that class are donated to a charity, and every month we focus on a different charity.
Organizations like Heart to Heart, Shanghai Children's Cancer Center, animal shelters, etc. I think that's what sport is about: giving back.
Sneaking out to box, winning world championships, starting a business in a foreign country… what has been your biggest challenge?
Cancer. I was diagnosed in April 2012. I started chemo at the end of July and finished in March 2013.
Masca was the driving force when I was sick. At times, I couldn't really do anything. I couldn't train people because they took all my lymph nodes out—I couldn't lift up my arms for about four months.
So I taught her how to box and how to hold pads and to teach classes so we could keep teaching all the way through the treatment. We couldn't have kept our client base going otherwise.
I would sit there and just give instructions and a lot of people were very cool with it. For a long time, we had this whole group of girls that would come and do classes with us on a Saturday.
They would just keep on coming and keep on training and they're still here today.
Michele Aboro, inductee of the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame
Any 'unexpected' students you've coached?
Nuns in England and ladies in the Red Light District in the Netherlands. Separate times, of course. That would be interesting… the red corner and the blue corner. Redeem thyself!
But seriously, in the Red Light District, there were a lot of women that would be beaten up. Three times a week we'd just do boxing or kickboxing.
Any interesting stories from over here?
There was Simon Baxter, who took part in Brawl on the Bund. He just made me crazy, always forgetting his hand wrap and what I had taught him.
A month into it he came to me and asked me to give him private lessons. I agreed, on the basis that he'd come to the gym at 5am every morning. He did for almost three months.
When the fight took place, he beat up a guy half his age, ran rings around him. Boxed really nicely. It was amazing really. He was just really dedicated—he made me eat my words.
You can never count people out; never have a preconceived idea about anybody. I had all these misconceptions about Baxter, but he proved me wrong in every single one of them.
I was so impressed, I named my poodle after him.
WIN! New Aboro Boxing Gym
To learn more about both Aboro boxing gyms—and book classes—scan the QR code above.
We also have RMB500 worth of coupons to be used at the new studio, plus a pair of Aboro boxing gloves, to give away to one lucky That's Shanghai reader!
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