Egyptian women take up boxing

2001-07-06 11:28

Cairo - Do not underestimate Mayyada Helal Abdallah.

The slightly-built, sweet-smiling, 20-year-old from Beni Shebl village in Egypt's Nile Delta is much tougher than she looks.

She is an example of a new breed of woman boxer who has fought the odds and helped make the sport catch on in a conservative Arab and Muslim country.

"The people of my village are against women boxing," according to Mayyada, who wore red leather gloves and protective red headgear over her short brown hair.

"At the beginning, my family was also opposed to my choice of sport, but I eventually won their approval through my stubbornness," said Mayyada who also obtained a black belt in karate before starting boxing.

Mayyada, who weighs in at 54kg, was interviewed while warming up for the African championship of women's boxing, hosted for the first time in Egypt from July 6-10 in northern Cairo.

Competitors are from three other Arab countries in Africa - Algeria, Morocco and Sudan - as well as from Cameroon, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda.

The tournament shows how far Egypt has come since the Egyptian Association of Women's Boxing was founded only four years ago, according to Magda Mohammed Ismail, 50, an official from the Egyptian association.

There are now 76 women registered in the association û aged between 15 and 29 years old and weighing from 45kg to 91kg - who have until now boxed in domestic and regional competitions.

Egypt is fielding 12 of them in the African tournament.

Two of the competitors warming up for the event were seen wearing the conservative Islamic headscarf around their heads, while others wore clothes covering their arms and legs.

Women's boxing is catching on here because women feel they "have to defend themselves", and many are receiving their families' support, even though the society as a whole frowns on women in a "violent" sport, Ismail said.

Ibtissam Abdel Azim, a 23-year-old from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, said she was trying to dispel misconceptions about women boxers like herself.

"Each woman has a strength deep inside her that she has to let loose," she said.

Ibtissam, a fair-skinned woman with alert green eyes who wears red shorts over leotards that cover her legs, criticised the "prejudice that boxing is nothing but blows and aggression.

"The essence of this sport is the art of defence. It is a mastery of mind over body and involves a strategy of attack, manoeuvre and surprise," said Ibtissam, who weighs in at 63kg.

Ismail complained that there were no women coaches until now in Egypt, though there were four female referees.

The Egyptian team's main instructor, Yusri Mohamed, 55, said he is a hard taskmaster because he wants "to keep them ready at all times and prevent them from becoming lax".

His assistant, Abbas Ragab, 60, said he is even harsh on his own 25-year-old daughter, who has also taken up boxing, "because she does not react to instructions".

And Ismail admired how fiercely competitive the women have become.

"I was surprised by the number of young girls who volunteered to box during the national championship in December and January. Some of them cried when they did not make the cut for the tournament."

And competition will be fierce to make the six-member team Egypt will field for the world women's boxing championship in October and November in the US state of Pennsylvania, Ismail said.

The Egyptian women were inspired by the undefeated American female boxer Leila Ali, who is the daughter of the great former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.

"What an insult," Rana Mohammed As-Sayyid, 15, told an AFP photographer who asked whether she followed Leila Ali's exploits. "Of course, we know her."

The photographer dared not ask her whether she was also inspired by the fact that Leila Ali was a Muslim. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA