Women’s boxing has justifiably been receiving a lot of attention recently, firstly with the announcement that it will be included in the London Olympics in 2012 and then the first live broadcast of an all female professional bout, between Big Brother star Angel ‘The Artist’ McKenzie and Lana Cooper, on British network television.

In some ways it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Boxing gyms up and down the country are suddenly beginning to take female participation in the sport seriously.

What may surprise some though is that there is a gym in London that not only has actively supported women’s boxing but has also been training female fighters for a number of years.

The gym in question, Rooney’s Boxing Gym, formerly Gleason’s London, has had many of the best known female boxers, including five time World Champion, the late, great Gisselle Salandy, Laura Saperstein, Angel ‘The Artist’ McKenzie, Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston etc, train at their world class facility close to the famous London landmark, Tower Bridge. More...

© Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

Probably the two best known female boxers in the UK, Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston and Angel ‘The Artist’ McKenzie are working together at Rooney’s Boxing Gym in London to prepare for their upcoming fights. More...

Ahead of her much awaited pro-debut, British featherweight Marianne Marston has been sparring with veteran Angel McKenzie in London.

Marston, who has trained in America under the watchful eye of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, has been trying to get her career off the ground after numerous false starts. More...

British super bantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston, who was refused a visa in order to compete on the undercard of Brian Cohen’s WBC Americas Light Heavyweight title fight on May 9 at South Philadelphia High School, has learned that her plight has not gone unnoticed in the City that has been her adopted home for the best part of two years.

Journalist and boxing columnist Kerry O’Connor, who writes for Philadelphia newspaper Center City Weekly Press and Examiner.com, heard of Marianne’s plight and decided that something pro-active should be done to correct the matter.

His solution was to start a campaign of support by encouraging readers of his column to write directly to the American Embassy In London to lobby them to reconsider Marianne’s visa application. More...

English super bantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston, who was due to fight on the undercard of Brian Cohen’s WBC Americas title fight in South Philadelphia on May 9, suffered a further setback to her career when the American Embassy in London refused her visa application.

After regularly traveling back and forth to America to train for over two years on the visa waiver system with no problems, Marston had expected her visa application to be a formality. More...

© Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro

American trained English super bantamweight Marianne ‘Golden Girl’ Marston will be spearheading London based sporting equipment and apparel manufacturer P.U.G. Athletic's planned 2009 assault on the $50 billion American sporting goods market in. More...

None other than legendary ex-heavyweight boxing champion of the world Smokin’ Joe Frazier has said of British featherweight Marianne "Golden Girl" Marston, “She’s going to be the Champ.”

Joe's son and former heavyweight contender Marvis Frazier has said of Marston, "Marianne is the hardest working, committed fighter I have seen in a long time. She's very hard for any fighter to deal with. She's strong, fast and accurate, has lots of combinations and punches hard, so hard it's like being hit by a heavyweight."

Ex-middleweight world champion Robert ‘Bam Bam’ Hines said of Marston, “Marianne’s an exciting fighter who’s got it all. One thing for sure she’s ging to be the Champ...soon.”

Former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham has been so impressed with Marston that he invited her to be part of his team. More...

Click for larger image © Giancarlo "Rio" Di Caro

British Featherweight Marianne Marston has been added to Jarvis Robinson’s Fight Night Productions ‘Casino Battle Royale’ event, scheduled for Atlantic City this coming November.

Originally from London, England, Marston, trained by Sharron Baker at the James Shuler Memorial Gym in West Philadelphia, is currently working as sparring partner for Christina Leadbeater in preparation for Leadbeater's fight against Tracey Hutt at the Power Productions event ‘Battle on 422’ at the Cisco Arena, Oaks, Pennsylvania on August 1. More...

English featherweight Marianne Marston felt her ‘American dream’ was over after the sudden closure of Smokin’ Joe Frazier’s Gym at the end of March 2008, but just 10 days later, as she was seriously considering either returning to London or relocating to Los Angeles to train at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym, a friend suggested she try-out for Percy "Buster"
Custus at The James Shuler Memorial Gym in West Philadelphia. More...