‘I cannot put into words how it feels to win’: Hartlepool boxer Danielle Marshall wins national championships

Danielle Marshall, 23, won the National Amateur Championships (NAC) Elite Championships in the female under 75kg category.

The NAC is the oldest and most prestigious amateur boxing competition in the country and is open to male and female boxers between the ages of 18 and 40.

Danielle, who has been boxing since she was 11, travelled down to Derby and fought against Mary Kate Smith, winning by one point.

Speaking about her win, Danielle said: “I cannot put into words how it feels to win.

"To have achieved this means everything to me. All of the hard work and tears paid off.”

Despite taking a break from boxing during lockdown, Danielle is happy to be back in the ring and excited for her future career.

Speaking about her brief break from the sport, the Hartlepool Catholic Boxing Club member said: “I had just won my youth national title when lockdown happened. I was a little disheartened and fell out of love when we went into lockdown.

"I decided to return to the boxing gym as a coach and passed my level one coaching course with the help of my coaching team Paul Allen, Darren Ringwood, James Rooney, Mark Smith and Tony Johnston.

"I decided to get back into boxing by helping the younger generation and promoting female boxing.

"Doing this, I got the passion to start training again to compete in the pinnacle of boxing, the NAC championships.”

Danielle has also been scoring out of the ring, recently gaining her level one coaching badge.

She said: “I work full-time in a school as well as coaching on a night and training to compete.

"Every day I would go to work, then coach a beginners group and after I would train.”

Danielle is currently working towards her level two coaching badge.

She said: "I want to thank all of the coaches at Catholic Club who have believed in me from being only 11 years old and helped me to be the greatest I can be.”