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Interview: Sarah Thomas on Getting Punched, Staying Healthy, and the Future of Women in Boxing

Sarah Thomas is boxer from Bethpage, New York, fighting out of Academy of Boxing in Huntington, New York. She began her combat career as a kickboxer, with an undefeated record. During her amateur career, she won the Ringmasters (formally Golden Gloves) tournament. Her professional boxing debut was delayed due to COVID-19. As a sports science graduate student who also trains younger boxers, she’s managed to keep busy in the meantime, even as much of her day-to-day has shifted online. Below, she spoke with Just Women’s Sports about how she discovered boxing, the importance of mental health, and what it’s like competing in a male-dominated sport.

What originally led you to boxing as a sport? 

I’ve always been more aggressive in sports. I actually played lacrosse in high school, but I would get kicked out of every game. I didn’t really actually know how to play lacrosse, to be honest, but I was just athletic, so my friends were like, “Yeah, join.” I just got in trouble every single game, because I was just charging directly at people. I was just the worst lacrosse player ever. And then I liked the idea that boxing was an individual sport. In an individual sport like boxing, I couldn’t blame anyone else. I liked that a lot.

I didn’t actually start until I was 20 though, and I’m 30 now. I first competed in kickboxing, but then my coach left. He told me he was in the FBI and that he was getting re-stationed. I didn’t even know he was in the FBI. So after he disappeared, I went to another gym, and I was dabbling with MMA for a little, but I realized I liked the boxing aspect the most out of all of it, so I decided to just stick with boxing. I like kickboxing, but I don’t actually like getting kicked. With boxing, I can focus on one thing, and I like practicing the same thing over and over, which I feel like a lot of people don’t like. I like the idea of, “I’m going to do the same thing a thousand times so I get good at it.”

How did you first realize you had a talent for combat sports? 

I took kickboxing just to try it out and as a workout. I went to the gym, took one class, and was like “All right, I really want to fight.” The coach wouldn’t train me because he had never trained a girl, like all those movies, and then finally he decided he would.

20 seems late. At what age do women usually start their professional careers?

Usually it seems that women start later in life. Really, you can turn professional whenever you feel ready, but the licensing to become a pro varies by state. So you just have to be able to pass the medicals and everything, and then you have to find a promoter who wants you. You have to find someone who likes you, and as a woman, you just have to be marketable. I have noticed that with women’s combat sports, what you look like goes a long way, as sad as that is. It’s like you either have to look good or just be so good that you’re almost some freak.

I wanted to ask you, what is it like being a female in what many would consider to be a male-dominated sport? 

I feel like it was harder in the beginning of all of it, and now there’s a lot more girls than there were before. I feel like every year continuously gets easier and there’s more acceptance. At first, it was really hard for me to find fights. I couldn’t just turn professional without having enough experience. But then the people who were amateur, they were few and far between, and they wouldn’t compete against me. I couldn’t gain experience to get better because I couldn’t really get matched up, so it was hard in the beginning with that.

With boxing, actually, in the ’90s it was really popular for women. That was during the time of Laila Ali. And even before then, it was popular for a little while, and then it fell off. It resurged again recently because it was allowed to be in the 2012 Olympics.

How would you describe the popularity of the sport now?

I think Ronda Rousey, even though she’s MMA, really helped make women’s combat sports more popular. And then also Claressa Shields won the Olympic gold in 2012 when women were allowed in the Olympics, and she won it in 2016. I think she brought the popularity back, and there’s been a few other girls who have made women’s boxing popular again. Now women are actually getting paid. I was actually going to have my professional debut on May 8th, but that didn’t happen because of COVID.

Do you have Olympic aspirations?

I had thought about it at one point, but the weight class I was competing at wasn’t in the Olympics. I sort of just wanted to go pro because I had kickboxed for a while, and when I made the decision to just focus on boxing, I had enough combat sport experience where I wanted to just be a professional rather than spend a lot of time as an amateur. And once you’re professional, you can’t compete in the Olympics.

Can you talk a little bit about how you manage to stay in shape, stay healthy and stay motivated while participating in such a punishing sport?

There used to be times when I would do three-a-days, which is so stupid, but I thought that more was better. I actually train less now, and I feel stronger now than I did, which is weird. I think I was over-trained for a long, long time. So now that I’m older and I train less and eat whatever I want, I actually feel stronger. I actually eat pretty clean, but I don’t count with macros and I don’t count calories or any of that. I honestly just eat whenever I feel like I want to. So if my body is like, “All right, I’m hungry,” I’ll eat. And I don’t do it according to a science or anything, I just try to stay healthy.

I’m sure there’s going to be a point where I feel like I’m getting weaker than I was, and I guess that’s when I’ll know that I’m on the downswing, but I feel like I’m still getting stronger, so for now I’m good. And I notice that with women in fight sports, it seems like a lot of them are older. There’s some girls that are still pros that are in their forties. It’s kind of crazy. I think it’s one of those sports where you can be older as a female.

How important is mental health to you in boxing? 

I’ve had anxiety and OCD since I was really little. The first time I ever noticed that I had OCD, I was eight. It’s a really weird thing to understand. I don’t know how to describe it, but basically it’s like an extreme form of anxiety where you feel like you have to do certain rituals to overcome bad things. Your brain tries to cope with the anxiety through some sort of action, and then you can also have thoughts and the thoughts can keep you up. It’s basically anxiety on steroids, and yeah, I’ve dealt with that since I was little. I always felt from a young age the only time I wouldn’t really notice a symptom of that would be when I was playing sports. So when I played soccer I would never notice that, because I’d be so in the moment that I wouldn’t be able to worry about anything else besides that moment, and boxing’s very much like that. Your head really can’t be anywhere else, because you’re so worried about defending yourself and throwing punches that you’re not thinking about whether you paid your credit card bill or something that gives you anxiety. It’s helped a lot. Honestly, it’s like my version of a drug. If I hadn’t found sports, I don’t really know where I would be. It helps me tremendously in coping with my anxiety. And I’m very open to talk about all of that, because anytime I say, “I have anxiety,” almost everyone that I say it to is like, “Me too.”

I imagine a lot of athletes view sports in a similar way. I have to ask, have you ever had any terrible injuries from boxing?

So in kickboxing, I actually broke my foot, but I didn’t know I broke my foot until after because of the adrenaline. I thought I broke my toe, and then after my fights I saw that my bone was sticking through my skin. I had to have surgery, because that kind of break doesn’t just heal on its own. And then I’ve broken my nose, but it wasn’t from getting hit. A girl accidentally headbutted me. That was not fun. And then besides that, surprisingly, not really.

I’ll have minor things, like maybe my wrist will hurt for a week and I’ll just rest it, or my knees would hurt for a week from running a lot, but then I just rest them. Nothing serious. I’m sure if I got an MRI of my entire body it wouldn’t be pretty though. I have disc issues too. I feel like that is from ten years of combat sports, but I don’t know. Nothing that gives me a lot of pain or anything.

Speaking more generally, how do you recover from a typical fight? 

I stopped doing this, but what I used to do is I would cut too much weight, and then I would compete, and then after the competition I would eat everything in sight and just drink lots of Gatorade and lay in my bed for two days and that was it. I mean, I’ve never really had any crazy recovery, but I actually changed weight classes because one time, two fights ago, I cut too much weight and I had to get IV fluid after, and then that’s when I finally was like, “All right, I’m getting older. My body’s not going to allow me to continuously drop this weight, so I’m just going to move up in weight and feel better and not have to worry about weight cutting anymore.”

Do you have any favorite memories or fights from your career that stand out?

I won Golden Gloves, which was fun. I think that was my favorite. I actually got no sleep the night before, and I had just broken up with this guy I was dating, and it was a really crappy time in my life. But I was just like, “Screw this, I’m winning.” And I won the whole tournament, and did it on no sleep. I felt like it was all in my brain mentally because I wasn’t even able to train the way I wanted to, but I just convinced myself that I was going to win, and it gave me confidence.

Looking ahead, what do you see for yourself in terms of moving forward in your professional career? Do you see yourself competing for a long time?

Honestly, I can’t really pick an end date, but I feel like I would just do it until I felt like my body wasn’t right. If I ever took like a head injury, I would leave too. I’ve never been knocked out or anything, and I think that’s something that would stop me. Because I don’t want to have brain damage.

Napheesa Collier Talks the Future of Unrivaled on ‘Sports Are Fun!’ with Kelley O’Hara

Cover image for Sports Are Fun! with Kelley O'Hara showing Unrivaled co-founder and WNBA star Napheesa Collier.
WNBA star and Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier guest stars on this week's 'Sports Are Fun!'

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

The second episode of Sports Are Fun! dropped today, with soccer icon Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ professing their hottest takes all things women's sports — joined this week by WNBA superstar and Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball co-founder Napheesa Collier.

"It felt like everyone is making money off of women's sports except for the women in the sports," Collier said, reflecting on developing the offseason league's profit-sharing business model.

"And so, we offer the highest average team salary in women's sports, and we're giving equity to everyone who's playing."

In addition to chatting with Collier about all things Unrivaled, the crew also gets into even more WNBA offseason moves, Midge Purce's return to Gotham, Hope Solo's TST team, South Carolina and UConn's upcoming NCAA battle, and so much more.

Collier gives 'Sports Are Fun!' the inside scoop on Unrivaled

Guest star Napheesa Collier takes the group on a deep dive into offseason league Unrivaled. She talks through everything from dealing with injuries and living with teammates 24/7 to handling a business and going head-to-head in this week's 1v1 tournament.

"I mean, we're all in in one place, right? Our locker rooms are all in one hallway, we share food spaces, training spaces like cold tubs, saunas — all communal areas except for locker rooms." Collier says, describing the league's Miami campus. "It's really fun to see that behind-the-scenes stuff happening in real time."

"I have my own room, which is unlike what happened in college," she continues with a laugh. "I would compare it more to the Wubble, except, you know, we have free will this time around. But the the close proximity I actually really like — I think it's really fun. I think it's super convenient, just having everyone in one space. Cutting back on travel also is so, so nice."

Of course, the future is bright for the first-year league. For its second season, Unrivaled is planning to take the show on the road, dropping into cities around the country to give fans a front-row seat to the 3×3 action.

"We are planning to do on-the-road games where we go to a city for a night and we basically play in a full arena and then we make it a whole event for the fans," Collier says, detailing Unrivaled's plans for a takeover tour similar to what the PWHL is currently staging around North America. "Definitely not all the games — just a couple. You can hit markets that aren't necessarily cities where you can bring [regular-season] basketball."

Sports Are Fun! graphic featuring soccer legend Kelley O'Hara.
'Sports Are Fun!' places Kelley O'Hara at the intersection of women's sports and fun. (Just Women's Sports)

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place. Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

Unrivaled 1v1 Tournament Busts Brackets in First-Round Blowouts

Mist star Breanna Stewart looks on during an Unrivaled game.
Breanna Stewart fell 12-0 to Mist teammate Aaliyah Edwards in Monday's 1v1 tournament opener. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball launched its inaugural 1v1 tournament on Monday night, with a slate of first-round upsets already busting a few brackets.

The evening's biggest twist came courtesy of Unrivaled co-founder and No. 1 seed Breanna Stewart's matchup against No. 8 seed Aaliyah Edwards, with Edwards earning a marquee victory by shutting out her Mist teammate 12-0 in less than two minutes of gameplay.

Due to a spat of injuries affecting the 1v1 contest, a lone second-round bye emerged in the bracket just beyond the Stewart-Edwards matchup. Consequently, Monday's victory punched Edwards's ticket all the way into the tournament's quarterfinal round.

"Tough night for me but shoutout to my Mistie @AaliyahEdwards_!!! Keep that thing going and go get that bag 💰!!" Stewart posted in support after her loss.

Also claiming a massive upset win on Monday was the Lunar Owls' Shakira Austin, who ousted Rose BC's Chelsea "Point Gawd" Gray with a dominant 12-2 scoreline.

The significant margins of victory across the 1v1 contest are in large part due to the tournament's "make-it, take-it" rule.

In a break from traditional 5×5 play and Unrivaled's 3×3 format, the unique 1v1 rule rewards scoring with both points on the board as well as continued ball possession. Therefore, athletes can string together long scoring stretches as long as they don't relinquish the ball.

The Laces' Jackie Young tries to defend a shot from the Lunar Owls' Shakira Austin during and Unrivaled 3x3 game.
With Shakira Austin's Monday upset win, all five Lunar Owls remain in the 1v1 competition. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Lunar Owls show out as 15 players remain in 1v1 tournament

With a $350,000 total purse on the line, intensity on the Unrivaled court ramped up in the head-to-head competition.

Putting the first round behind them, 15 players remain in the running for the $200,000 first-place prize.

Notably, all five Lunar Owls players who entered the 1v1 competition — Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Courtney Williams, and the aforementioned Austin — survived Monday's bouts.

This gives the squad, who also leads the 3×3 league as the only remaining undefeated team, the best shot at claiming the $10,000-per-teammate payout should one of them win the 1v1 title.

Rose BC's Kahleah Copper lays up a shot during an Unrivaled game.
Tuesday's Unrivaled 1v1 action will tip off with Kahleah Copper against Allisha Gray. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

How to watch Tuesday's Unrivaled 1v1 tournament

Tuesday's session includes both the second round and quarterfinals of the 1v1 competition.

The action tips off with a blockbuster 7 PM ET battle between Rose BC's Kahleah Copper and the Lunar Owls' Allisha Gray.

Live coverage will air on TruTV.

Hayes Taps Future USWNT Stars for 2025 SheBelieves Cup Roster

USWNT players Lily Yohannes, Cat Macario, Jenna Nighswonger, and Emily Fox hold the 2024 SheBelieves Cup trophy.
Lily Yohannes, Catarina Macario, Jenna Nighswonger, and Emily Fox are all returning to February's SheBelieves Cup. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

USWNT head coach Emma Hayes dropped her 23-player roster for February's 2025 SheBelieves Cup on Tuesday, showcasing a lineup that centers both the team's immediate future and Hayes's long-term strategy.

For their upcoming matches against No. 8 Japan, No. 15 Australia, and No. 21 Colombia in the 10th edition of the annual US-hosted tournament, the world No. 1 USWNT will be without several superstar veterans.

Absences include midfielder Rose Lavelle, who is still recovering from an offseason ankle surgery, and center-back stalwart Naomi Girma, who is working back from a calf injury.

The team will also miss the 'Triple Espresso' frontline trio of Sophia Wilson (née Smith), Mallory Swanson, and Trinity Rodman. Rodman has yet to return to international play since earning gold at the Paris Olympics.

Roster allows young USWNT players to level up

The roster represents Hayes's first group for friendly competition since early December, as the US begins the long journey of preparing for their next major tournament: the 2027 World Cup.

For Hayes, the aforementioned injuries and absences offer an opportunity to bolster the team's depth by giving young players experience against top international teams.

"There's no point in me sitting in two and a half years time and saying actually, if there was an injury to key players, have I prepared the entire playing pool adequately?" Hayes said on Tuesday.

"We are facing three excellent teams with three very different styles and the tournament will be a great test to see who can perform against world-class players, but to see that, we need to give them opportunities," she explained in the US Soccer press release.

US defender Gisele Thompson passes the ball during the U-20 World Cup in September 2024.
Gisele Thompson is one of four uncapped players on the February USWNT roster. (Julian Medina/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

Fresh faces to join USWNT vets at 2025 SheBelieves Cup

To that end, the upcoming camp includes 10 players with fewer than five senior team appearances. Four of those players are uncapped, including midfielder Claire Hutton, forward Michelle Cooper, and defenders Gisele Thompson and Tara McKeown. All four impressed Hayes during her January camps and all have experience in youth level World Cups.

"I want to see what they look like within the WNT setup to determine, do they have the necessary qualities right now to be in the WNT, or do they go back to the Futures [camp] come April," said Hayes.

On the other hand, the 2025 SheBelieves Cup roster does include 12 members of the 2024 Olympic squad, including captain Lindsey Heaps (née Horan), Crystal Dunn, and Emily Sonnett — the only players on Hayes's February lineup with more than 100 caps.

Also notably back in USWNT action is midfielder Catarina Macario, who has returned to form with her club, Chelsea FC, after an ongoing knee injury forced her to withdraw from last summer's Olympic roster.

Ultimately, the US is in the experimental stage of the long preparation for the 2027 World Cup, complete with the risks and rewards that accompany long-term roster development.

The USWNT's February roster

  • Goalkeepers: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals)
  • Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (Arsenal), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City)
  • Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Heaps (Olympique Lyonnais), Claire Hutton (KC Current), Jaedyn Shaw (NC Courage), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)
  • Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (KC Current), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)

How to watch the USWNT at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup

The No. 1 USWNT will first face No. 21 Colombia at 8 PM ET on Thursday, February 20th, before battling No. 15 Australia at 5 PM ET on Sunday, February 23rd.

They will complete their 2025 SheBelieves Cup play against No. 8 Japan at 10:30 PM ET on Wednesday, February 26th.

All of the tournament's USWNT matches will air live on TBS.

First-time LPGA Tour Champion Yealimi Noh Wins Founders Cup

US golfer Yealimi Noh poses with her 2025 Founders Cup trophy.
Yealimi Noh earned her first LPGA win at the Founders Cup on Sunday. (James Gilbert/Getty Image)

After four days of stiff competition, the 2025 Founders Cup yielded a first-time LPGA Tour winner on Sunday as US golfer Yealimi Noh surged to victory on strong back-nine play in Bradenton, Florida.

The world No. 32-ranked Noh kicked off her sixth season with the LPGA by lifting her first trophy in her 111th start.

In just two holes on Sunday, the 23-year-old flipped a one-shot deficit into a three-shot lead, eventually claiming the $300,000 championship check with an overall 21-under-par performance.

"I always knew it would happen and it was a matter of time," Noh told reporters after her win. "To really get it done, and especially in the first tournament of the year, is really nice."

Noh, who earned a captain's nod in the 2021 Solheim Cup, is officially on an upswing. After less successful 2022 and 2023 seasons, she made 21 cuts across her 25 LPGA starts in 2024, helping fuel last weekend's blockbuster 2025 debut.

"Having a lot of better results and getting my confidence back and contending a few times last season really helped me carry that out through the winter and just really prepare for this week," she explained. "[I] just felt really ready — this was going to be my year and week."

South Korea's Jin Young Ko plays a shot during the 2025 Founders Cup's final round.
Jin Young Ko made bogeys on Sunday's 13th and the 14th hole to finish the Founders Cup in second place. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Founders Cup sees additional standout performances

Just behind Noh on last weekend's leaderboard is No. 7 Jin Young Ko. The South Korean star's narrow lead fell when she made her first bogeys of the competition, logging two back-to-back on Sunday.

The 15-time LPGA title-winner capped her tournament four strokes back from Noh, with US golfer and world No. 17 Megan Khang one stroke behind Ko in third place.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda finished tied for seventh place after capping her Founders Cup outing nine shots behind Noh.

The US star will next take a seven-week break, opting to sit out the upcoming trio of LPGA Tour stops in Asia. Korda will instead continue to search for her first victory of 2025 at the end of March, when she tees off at the Ford Championship in Chandler, Arizona.

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