Going for gold: Girl boxer nicknamed Babyface who no one would sponsor

• Nicola Adams, 29, beat India’s Mary Kom to earn a place in today’s final
• She punched her way to an 11-6 victory at the ExCel arena, in front of a cheering crowd which included David Cameron and boxing icon Amir Khan

Her nickname is Babyface, and from the family album snapshots of a cute little girl in pigtails, it’s not hard to see why.
But Nicola Adams grew up to fight her way to the top in one of the toughest of sports for a woman – boxing.
Last night the determined 29-year-old was on the brink of fulfilling her 17-year dream to win an Olympic gold medal.

Moment to savour: Adams (left) is declared the winner over Kom at the ExCel Arena

The original Babyface: With pigtails at the age of seven

The Leeds flyweight, who almost gave up the sport four years ago due to a lack of funding, beat India’s Mary Kom to earn a place in today’s final.

 

She punched her way to an 11-6 victory at the ExCel arena, in front of a cheering crowd which included David Cameron and boxing icon Amir Khan. 
Today she faces China’s world number one Ren Cancan, and is clearly in the mood to win. ‘I massively want that gold,’ she said.
‘Words can’t express how much. It will mean everything to me. All I want to do is make my mum and my family and friends proud.’

Packs a punch: Great Britain's Nicola Adams (right) competes against India's Mary Kom

Close call: Indian superstar Kom (right) gets to grips with British fighter Adams

It would be the culmination of Nicola’s remarkable journey from a housing estate in Leeds, smashing through glass ceilings in a sport that was previously regarded as suitable only for men.
For years her mother Dee, 52, tirelessly chased potential sponsors – but not a single person or company ever put up a penny.
Nicola discovered boxing by chance when she was 12, and her mother took her and younger brother Kurtis along to a keep fit class at a gym in Burmantofts, Leeds.

In the crowd: Prime Minister David Cameron (left) watched the fight alongside former world champion Amir Khan

The gym had a boxing ring and the children would ‘mess about and do some boxing’, Mrs Adams said. ‘I didn’t really notice what she was up to, when I looked over she would be boxing or running around.’
When she was 13, Nicola won an exhibition match against another girl.
She wasn’t able to fight again until she was 17, this time in a proper Amateur Boxing Association bout.

Meeting an icon: Nicola accepts an award from boxer Amir Kahn in 2007

At that stage, female boxing opponents were in short supply.
There was only one other girl boxer in the country and Nicola was forced to go abroad to fight.  
In 2001 she became the first female boxer to represent England; in 2007 the first to win a European boxing medal and the following year the first to win a World Championship medal.
But in 2009 her dreams  were almost shattered when she tripped over a bandage on the stairs at home and cracked a vertebra.
She spent most of the next three months in a body brace, lying on her back in bed.
Ironically, boxing had just been accepted as an Olympic sport and Nicola was not fit enough to try for the new Team GB squad.
But despite being barely able to train or punch, she did enough to be selected and has never looked back.
In Burmantofts, she is regarded as a celebrity and role model. ‘Everyone is very inspired by her,’ said Mrs Adams. ‘Me – I couldn’t be prouder.
‘To hear 10,000 people cheering for your daughter is just something else. This isn’t like when somebody wins the X Factor or Big Brother.’