Blackburn Apprentice star Camilla Ainsworth victorious at boxing match

Camilla Ainsworth, 27, went from a complete novice to boxing champ on April 8 after months of hard work and training.

Camilla said she took on the challenge to push herself out of her comfort zone and try something that scared her.

Camilla Ainsworth (Image: Camilla Ainsworth)

She said: “I asked myself ‘what’s the scariest thing I can do’ and it was definitely putting myself in a boxing ring.

“I am not an aggressive person and it goes against every fibre of my being to throw a punch at someone.

“I knew that the training and discipline that came with it would be worth it.

“I’ve always been a massive fan of boxing films and wanted to do one. It’s something that not many people have done and that not many people have the guts to do.”

Camilla Ainsworth with boxing opponent Sinead McKenna (Image: Camilla Ainsworth)

The Apprentice finalist, who only put on a pair of boxing gloves for the first time three months ago, said training was tough.

She said: “The hardest part was saying no to everything that wasn’t conducive to my training progress.

“This meant saying no to going out for food and socialising as I had to conserve my energy for training.

“I was training twice per day some days.

“The dieting side of things was super tough as I had to lose seven kilograms for the fight which was hard for a foodie.”

Camilla said the actual fight, against opponent Sinead McKenna, went really well adding that she “dominated” all three rounds – thankfully it wasn’t as bloody as the marathon she ran in 2022 when her toes started bleeding.

She said: “It wasn’t as bloody as the marathon, thankfully. But I did wake up feeling like I had been dropped from a 12 storey building the day after.

“There was a really big build up to it – I had to wait more than four hours for my fight time so tensions were pretty high in the back room.

“I don’t think the fight could have gone any better. I remembered to mix up my shots instead of throwing straight punches.”

Camilla said she was “overwhelmed with emotion” after being announced as the winner. A video shows her jumping around the ring and even dragging the referee in for a celebratory hug.

She said: “All of my training, sacrifice and discipline was worth it.

“My friends and family raised the roof and the atmosphere was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

“The organisers said my fight was the fight of the night.

“I was buzzing. Seeing my loved ones brimming with pride was worth it.

“I don’t think I will ever do it again but it’s a thing to tick off the goals list and something I am proud to have done the training for.”

Camilla added that she was proud to have represented women in the very male dominated field of boxing.

She said: “I couldn’t actually believe how male dominated the field was before I started fighting. I was the only girl at fight camps and it was really tough.

'Killa Camilla' mouth guard (Image: Camilla Ainsworth)

“I felt quite isolated at the start of the process. At the beginning I was having to spar with men and no one wanted to partner with me and throw punches at a girl.

“In the end I thought to myself that I had just as much a right to be here with the boys. I raised the issue and asked if any girls could be brought in to spar.

“It was nice to raise glass ceilings and show that girls can box too – that has been a really empowering feeling.”

Camillia says more work needs to be done to bring some more gender balance to the sport and she hopes more women will consider taking up boxing.

She said “There are more opportunities for males than females in the field.

“I would like to see more female only boxing gyms as it is an amazing support. They should have the right to train in a gym where they don’t feel overwhelmed due to the number of men.”