London 2012: Victorious Haringey Police boxer Nicola Adams secures Olympic medal

Nicola Adams (left)

By Ben Pearce
Monday, August 6, 2012
2:53 PM

Haringey Police boxer Nicola Adams is guaranteed to win an Olympic medal after reaching the semi-finals with an emphatic 16-7 victory over Bulgaria’s Stoyka Petrova.

Adams, the No2 seed, is among the first women to ever fight at the Olympics as women’s boxing makes its debut at London 2012.

The flyweight had been given a bye through the last 16 and faced Pevtrova for the fourth time in a year, having beaten her opponent in each of their last three meetings.

Adams, who had previously stated her desire to emulate her idol Muhammad Ali and “make the crowd roar like he did”, entered the ring to Robbie Williams’ ‘Let Me Entertain You’ and was clearly keen to make an impression.

The 29-year-old from Leeds, who represents Haringey Police Boxing Club in Tottenham, flew out of the blocks and sent her opponent staggering backwards with a powerful head shot.

Adams led 2-1 at the end of the first two-minute round, and was told to calm down by her coaches.

She went on to extend her lead to 5-3 in the second round and had a comprehensive 11-5 advantage going into the final round.

She closed out her victory in style with a deadly combination, delivering four successive blows to Petrova’s head to win by nine points and advance to the final four.

The losing semi-finalists will both be given bronze medals so Adams is now guaranteed a place on the podium – but she will be eyeing a place in the gold medal match when she returns to the ring to take on India’s Mery Kom on Wednesday (1.45pm).

“I enjoyed every minute in that fight,” said Adams. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I need to make the most of it. It’s good to know that I’ll be Team GB’s first female boxer Olympic medallist.”