Two-time Olympic medallist and boxing pioneer Nouchka Fontijn backs World Boxing to ensure the sport remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement
Two-time Olympic medallist, Nouchka Fontijn, has pledged her support for World Boxing and its aim of ensuring boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.
One of the leading pioneers in driving the growth of women’s boxing globally, Fontijn won middleweight (75kg) silver for the Netherlands at Rio 2016 and followed this with a bronze at Tokyo 2020. Her final against the USA’s Claressa Shields in Rio remains one of the most watched women’s boxing bouts of all-time.
In a highly decorated career, Fontijn also won four world championship medals (2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019) and three European championship medals which included golds at in Bucharest in 2014 and Sofia in 2018. She also took gold at the 2015 European Games in Baku and silver at the 2019 event in Minsk.
Fontijn’s support for World Boxing reflects her recognition of the importance of the sport remaining in the Olympic Games and a desire for greater sporting integrity in the refereeing and judging of contests.
Fontijn said: “The IOC’s inclusion of women’s boxing into the Olympic program has done so much for women’s boxing development.
“Millions of girls around the world have been inspired to step into the ring and already at the 2016 Rio Olympics the bout between Claressa Shields and myself was the most watched boxing match of that competition.
“Remaining a part of the Olympics is a great privilege that boxing administrators have to cherish by preserving competition integrity and ensuring fair bout decisions.
“I look forward to a new chapter in boxing history, free of corruption and controversy that has plagued our sport for so long.”
Fontijn’s support for World Boxing echoes that of her great rival, Lauren Price of Wales and Team GB, who is an Athlete Representative on the Interim Executive Board of World Boxing.
Prior to Fontijn’s retirement, following a narrow loss to Price in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic semi-final, the pair enjoyed a fierce rivalry as the two most dominant boxers in the women’s middleweight division between 2017 and 2021.
Fontijn defeated Price in the semi-finals of the 2018 world championships in New Delhi and European championships of the same year. The Welsh women gained revenge with victories in the finals of the 2019 European Games in Minsk and that year’s world championship final in Ulan-Ude.
2020 Olympic middleweight champion, Lauren Price, added: “Nouchka was one of the toughest opponents I ever faced. We were rivals but we had great respect for each other.
“She was a great competitor and a real role model for women’s boxing. Like me, she knows how important it is that boxing remains part of the Olympic Games and it is no surprise to see that she is backing World Boxing.”