Sandy Ryan preps for Commonwealth Games: 'I always asked my brother to hit me hard in our sparring'

  • Sandy Ryan has emerged as a member of Great Britain's new-look squad
  • Her brother was a professional but she is the only active member of the family 
  • She says working and sparring with her brother has given her a good grounding

It was 11 years ago this month that a teenage Sandy Ryan travelled to a function room inside Derby County’s Pride Park to watch her boxing brother Dave make his professional debut.

The six-round points victory, over a Latvian man called Deniss Sirjatovs, kicked off a rollercoaster 27-fight career for the local lad affectionately known as ‘Rocky’. Meanwhile, at ringside, his little sister began to wonder whether there might be something in the blood.

Now Dave, a former Commonwealth champion as a professional, is happily retired while Sandy has emerged as one of the faces of Great Britain’s new-look amateur squad with designs on claiming gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Sandy Ryan is one of the faces of Great Britain's new-look amateur squad ahead of Tokyo

Sandy Ryan is one of the faces of Great Britain's new-look amateur squad ahead of Tokyo

Ryan is among the 12-strong England team who on Friday left for Australia to compete at next month’s Commonwealth Games and she is happy to be the only member of the family doing the punching.


‘My brother is just basically living life at the moment and that’s nice to see because he had a hard career,’ she says from the ring apron at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport.

‘I was happy when he announced his retirement. He had a good career and never had anything given to him. He did it the hard way, took hard fights, won hard fights. I was happy when he walked away as he’s getting on a bit!’

It was the many sessions training alongside her brother, not to mention against him, which gave Ryan the platform to succeed.

She made a dramatic impact on the world stage back in 2014 when she won the silver medal at the world amateur championships, which was her first major international tournament.

‘I used to spar Dave loads when he was still boxing. I loved it,’ says Ryan, who will compete in the 69kg welterweight category on the Gold Coast.

She worked with her professional brother in the ring and would always ask him hit her hard

She worked with her professional brother in the ring and would always ask him hit her hard

‘Being in the gym with the lads and my brother was such a good grounding looking back. It set me up for being up here in Sheffield and competing in big tournaments.

‘Sparring the lads and my brother, you’ve got to be switched on and you’re always out of your comfort zone and that’s where you need to be if you want to improve.

‘My spars with Dave could get pretty heated and I would have paid to watch them. I always asked him to hit me hard, not go easy. It’s the same when I’m sparring any lads.

‘If they are just tip-tapping me I think, what’s the point? Don’t spar me if you’re going to do that. Put something into it. That’s what Dave used to do and it was only ever going to benefit me anyway.

‘We still go the gym together, just for fitness stuff. He won’t ever get back in the ring with me, although he says he would.

‘But he never will because he knows deep down he couldn’t get near me anymore and who wants a black eye from their little sister? The tables have turned now.’

She says she is happy that she is now the only member of her family working in boxing

She says she is happy that she is now the only member of her family working in boxing

It has also been quite a turnaround for Ryan, a tearaway kid at school with nowhere to channel her energy.

‘I used to be a real handful, especially in secondary school,’ she says. ‘I look back and wish I was better back then. I was just a nightmare, I used to cause arguments, have fights, all sorts.

‘But when I watched my brother’s first professional fight that was it. I got straight in the boxing gym and I loved it straight away.

‘When I was much younger and he was only an amateur, I used to walk around the house with his gloves on. Maybe it’s in the blood.’

Given the pinnacle of Dave’s professional career was winning the Commonwealth title back in 2014, it seems only right that 24-year-old Sandy can claim a medal at the Games, where the boxing kicks off on April 5.

She adds: ‘He still says he misses it sometimes but I just tell him, “No, I’ll do the boxing for us now. I’ll hit and not get hit”.

‘I’ll win us titles, he can just enjoy life.’

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