Dancing to the boxing ring

Is the boxing ring one of the last bastions of male-dominated sports to see adjustments in the gender balance? As more and more women get into the ring, Britt Coker finds one Nelson woman who is already in there and punching well above her weight.

Don’t mess with Gatling Gun Gillespie, she’s a ballroom dancer.  Wait. That’s not it. Christine Gillespie is a boxer - but she used to be a ballroom dancer. Now she twirls around her opponents before dazzling them with a right hook, left punch and quick upper cut, or some combination thereof. She’s a three-time New Zealand bantamweight champion, weighing in at just 54 kilos, but don’t mess with Christine Gillespie.

Similar to most ballroom dancer-turned-boxer life stories, Christine started waltzing around a room backwards aged 7, finally stopping about 14 years later when her dance partner left town. She then fell into a love/hate relationship with junk food and alcohol which consequently made her a more rounded individual (85 kilos on a shorty). Since dancing had kept her fit and lean for years she didn’t love Christine v2 and decided she wanted to ditch the liquid six pack for the muscular version of old. That determined, competitive Christine, the one not adverse to the limelight, looking a partner in the face and dancing around them, she was still in there wanting to get out. But still, boxing?

“I've always wanted to but never really did it because dad used to box when he was younger, and there was a sort of, 'You're a girl you can't do it’ [attitude]. Old-school fathers (insert daughter’s eyeroll here). Then I was like, ‘I'll give it a go,’ and we tried some gloves on and that was pretty much it. I just thought ‘I'm going to have a crack.’”

Christine joined Victory Boxing, found her first trainer, learned some skills. But punching bags was not enough for Christine, she wanted to fight. Eventually an opportunity at a corporate fight night presented itself.

“I did that fight and I won that one and then that was pretty much it. This is my sport, I'm going to push as hard as I can and fight as much as I can and we'll see how far I can go with it.”

Discovering that being in the ring was her “happy place”, Christine ditched the corporate fights, which for most people are a “bucket list, sort of give-it-a-go kind of thing” and decided she was going to move into the amateur division where qualifying for the Olympic Games is an option. As her passion for boxing increased, her weight decreased. Cue, ‘Rocky’ theme tune and images of a very determined woman punching things. Christine’s doggedness pays off and a national bantamweight title follows. Don’t roll credits yet, the story isn’t over.

Four years have passed since her boxing career began, and Christine has a nutritionist (who also advises former kick boxing champion Israel Adesanya and other top fighters), a gym (Hard Knocks, that she set up herself, driven by her need to find a dedicated space to box), is a national bantamweight triple-champion, part of New Zealand’s training squad for the 2024 Olympics  -  and has a trainer in Barry Galbraith.

Barry is a successful boxer in his own right, has been involved in boxing for 50 years and was instrumental in the establishment of Victory Boxing. But he’s a busy guy and initially said no to the training request. Turns out Christine is determined in and out of the ring. “I gave it another wee while and I was like, ‘no stuff it, I'm just going to ask him again’ and so I hounded him and he said, ‘look, if you find somewhere to train I'll train you.’” He thought that would be the end of it, but he didn’t know Christine.

He admits she wore him down but is happy she did, saying he’s really enjoyed the journey so far.What’s Gatling Gun Gillespie got, Barry? “She's just tenacious, she gets herself really fit, and from a coach's point of view, I've trained a lot of fighters over the years, she actually listens, and she does what you advise her to do. A lot of men in the confrontational situation in the boxing ring they just decide on their own mind how they’re going to approach it.

But she's very disciplined, she trains really hard, gets herself really fit and is always looking after her weight....People who win New Zealand titles strive for years to do it, but she's done all of this in about four or five years.”

“We've got aspirations and high hopes that she can make the Olympics, she's certainly good enough.”Of course, she needs other women to be in the ring in order to fight them but more and more are stepping in to give it a go. For someone who has been involved in the male-dominated sport for several decades, Galbraith loves the change.

“When I was boxing there were no females in the sport at all. That's something that's just come on and I’ve embraced it. I just think it’s fantastic. The skill level and everything else that females have shown in the short time that they've been involved is quite astounding.”

From Christine’s perspective, he has been instrumental in improving her technique, her last two bantamweight titles coming with his guidance.“Barry has probably taken me right back to basics, straight punching. I've found I've got faster, I’ve got harder, everything's just changed for the better and it just works really well for us.”I throw a random left hook. Has ballroom dancing helped you with your boxing?

“I think I find it easier to pick up footwork than other people. You’ve got to get in, punch, and get out before they punch you back...I find some people get quite nervous when they have to hop into the boxing ring because they’ve got to fight in front of people. I think I’ve really benefited from that [ballroom dancing]. But I like playing on it too. I actually like going and fighting girls in their hometown and they’re all screaming for them, whereas I’ve just got my coach and one other. I feed off that, where a lot of people I find are intimidated.”

You can box too if you want to. Don’t be put off if you don’t have a background in ballroom dancing. Christine cites several upsides that come from putting the gloves on.

“There are quite a few females who are actually getting in the ring and having a go but you don't have to get in the ring if you want to try boxing. You can just do the fitness side of it which is still beneficial. You can lose weight and build confidence and all the same values, but you don't have to hop in the ring.”

Gyms are recognising the popularity of the sport amongst women and are catering accordingly. Confidence levels in women have always been a bit (pun warning) hit and miss, so any activity that is empowering can easily become addictive. Christine would love to see more women take up boxing.

“I think if you want to learn and listen and put the effort in, anyone can actually do it. It's just a matter of pushing yourself.” She’s underestimating herself here. This woman is aiming for the Olympics. There is pushing yourself and then there’s discipline, unwavering commitment and a steadfast desire to win. Qualities of a champion.

Reactions to her passion for boxing are mixed amongst friend circles.

“The dancing people, they're like ‘wow, you're actually boxing and getting punched in the face,’ and then the other people who know me because I live on a farm and do pig hunting as well, they're all like, ‘Oh yeah, that's pretty standard for you, Chrissy.”

Mid last year, Christine started a youth class for Waimea College students through their On Track programme. After an initial reluctance from the students, she’s seen a positive change in attitude and enthusiasm, putting it down to a sport that requires discipline and focus but offers plenty of benefits.

“They’ve stopped smoking, some of them are actually trying to do boxing now, and I've got a couple that potentially want to fight. Just watching them change their whole lifestyle has been amazing... Two of the boys wanted to try and quit vaping so they've been coming twice a week and they would give me the vape on the Monday and they'd get it back on the Friday to help them cut down to start with.”  

She acknowledges that there are other things going on in their lives but hopes they can see the reward in the sport as an opportunity to learn new skills and develop good core values. “For them to do any sparring I've told them they've got to be able to respect me and respect each other, and that has brought them on a lot. Pure exercise too has helped.  A lot of them do nothing, and when they first came to me they were like, dying in 20 seconds.”

Christine says that truancy can be a problem but the enthusiasm for the sport now has regular attendees and a couple of the students have started private sessions. There are still those that are more concerned with trying to look cool in front of their mates, but she can see the enjoyment in their eyes, and hopes boxing will transform them like it did her. Though not necessarily to the same degree.

“I like trying to help people change their lives, but they don't have to hop in the ring to fight, just take one core thing out of it and do something positive."