Adams steps into history books with Ali shuffle and gold medal

Nicola Adams is the toast of Leeds, Great Britain and the whole of her sport this morning.

She has fought her way into the rich tapestry of the Olympic Games after women’s boxing made its bow at London 2012.

And how emphatically she did it too, making history by turning history on its head.

Twice she has lost to Ren Cancan of China in world championship finals.

But on the biggest stage of all there was only ever going to be one winner of the flyweight title – the 29-year-old from Leeds, who was on a mission to win gold.

“I thought it would be a bit closer, but I was just so determined to win that I wasn’t going to let her win,” said Adams in a soft tone that defies her aggression in the ring.

“I went in fully focused because if I think I’m going to lose then I probably will lose.

“I cannot let that enter my mind, I have to be so focused and so confident. There is no other option but to win.”

Win she did, and convincingly so.

Adams claimed every round in a 16-7 points victory, just as she had done in her previous two fights, and even knocked Cancan to the canvas with a right hook that crashed flush into the face of the Chinese favourite.

Adams treated the 10,000 crowd in a bouncing ExCel to another rendition of the Ali shuffle before acknowledging their role with shadow punches to each corner of the arena.

“I can’t believe that I’ve done it and I’ve achieved my dream,” said Adams, who was followed onto the top step of the podium by Ireland’s lightweight Katie Taylor and American middleweight Claressa Shields later in the day.

“I’ve been dreaming about this since I was 12 years old.

“I’ve been confident all week that I can really do this.

“Once everything settles down I’m sure I’ll be like ‘wow, I’ve actually done it’.”

What would equal this accomplishment in the eyes of Adams and all observers at ringside this week is if her gold medal will prove a watershed moment for women’s boxing.

The sport was a controversial inductee into the Olympic programme at London 2012, but Adams’s journey and her affable nature outside of the ring will have gone a long way to quashing any misgivings about women’s boxing.

“I want to see more girls getting into boxing and participating, it’s really good for the sport,” she said.

“When I retire, if I could see girls wanting to achieve what I have done, then that would be an amazing feeling.

“When I first got into boxing Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard were my idols and I wanted to do what they did.

“If young girls see me winning golds and want to get into boxing because of that then I’ll have achieved everything.

“To think that girls will now have female role models to look up to is great for the sport.

“And if I have any message to them it is whether you’re doing boxing, or whatever sport, or even if it’s just a job you’re after, if you work hard you can achieve anything.”

Asked whether her achievement has answered the question of the nature of women’s boxing, Adams added: “I’ve not answered that one, the crowd has. They’ve been absolutely amazing and they’ve been cheering as much for us as they have the lads and it’s great that we’ve got that support.

“There’s no better place to showcase the sport.

“I can’t believe the support we’ve had and it’s great how Britain has got behind women’s boxing.”

Not only will Adams’s achievement over the last four days serve as an inspiration for young women thinking of getting into the ring, what she has overcome in the past three years is enough to inspire anyone, male or female, sporting star or regular Joe.

Three years ago she spent three months in bed with a career-threatening back injury. Her Olympic dream was on the verge of collapse, but she never lost faith.

“I was thinking to myself ‘am I going to be able to go from not being able to do one sit-up to coming back and actually winning going on to win a gold medal?’,” she remembered.

“It was really hard to think that I was going to get up to boxing speed and be able to move as quickly as before.

“But you know what, I did it, and I even improved on the boxer I was before.

“I’ve come back stronger and my determination and the willpower is there.

“I wanted to succeed and I was determined to do so.

“It made me realise that you’ve got to enjoy the moment, and have to take everything in.

“You never know what’s going to happen to you so I just thought I’m going to enjoy every minute of this experience.”

Enjoy it she did, but she will not stop there.

Adams wants more, namely another Olympic gold medal in four years in Rio.

“That’s definitely an option for me,” said Adams, who will be better served in women’s boxing by staying amateur.

“We haven’t had a double Olympic champion yet in women’s boxing so that would be another notch to get and some motivation there.

“There is an option of going professional but I’m happy with the amateur game and 2016 is definitely a possibility for me.”

The future will open up for Adams over the coming months and like all the champions that have gone before at these feelgood Games, she deserves all the goodwill that comes her way.

For Nicola Adams is an Olympic champion, a pioneer and a history maker.

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Bankable Nicola: Page 25.