NICOLA ADAMS may be blazing a trail as the world’s leading women’s flyweight, but the inspiration she provided to others could be about to come back to haunt her.
Adams eased into the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as she outclassed and floored Sri Lanka’s Erandi de Silva on her way to a unanimous decision win.
But no longer is the gold medal a mere formality for Adams as the revolution she did more than most to fuel yields increasing competition across all three women’s weight categories.
Northern Ireland 21-yearold Michaela Walsh joined Adams in the semi-finals with a points win over Jamaica’s Sarah Joy Rae and is likely to face Adams in the final, provided she dispatches tough Indian Pinki Jangra next.
Walsh’s team-mate from the Holy Family club in Belfast, Paddy Barnes, insisting: “What you’ve seen from Michaela is just a fraction of what she can do.
“She spars with me in the club and she gives me lots of trouble. You heard it from me first - if they fight in the final, I’m telling you she’ll beat Nicola Adams.”
Walsh said: “Nicola and Katie Taylor have done so well but there are up-andcoming boxers now. Nicola is 31 and I’m a kid compared to her.”
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