Heather Hardy Likens Boxing To A “Bad Boyfriend”

She is one of the best known female boxers in this country, and yet, she is still having to work on non fighting gigs to stay afloat financially.

Yes, it’s fair to say Heather Hardy still loves boxing, but “I’m 36, I don’t know how much longer I want to stay in the business of boxing,” she said on Friday, to Randy Gordon and Gerry Cooney on Sirius/XM. “The business of it is so disappointing. It’s like a bad boyfriend. The most disappointing thing is I’m still working two jobs. I’m one of the most well-known female boxers. I made that name.”

Indeed; a pro since 2012, Hardy has been able to secure some acting gigs, and modeling and spokes-person gigs as she’s hustled hard as hell to spread the word about her skills. But still, the bills….It ain’t easy paying them all in NYC, and thus, she still finds herself teaching boxing to clients at NYC gyms, including the famed and fabled GLEASON’S, catering to non-fighters seeking to learn some boxing for fitness. But she’s not ready to chuck the fighting life just yet; on Oct. 27, the Brooklyn based boxer will fight a rematch, against Shelly Vincent, who she bested via decision in 2015.

They will scrap at the Madison Square Garden Theater, but won’t be on TV. HBO is the platform provider for the main event of that Oct. 27 card, and will show the Danny Jacobs versus Sergey Derevyanchenko middleweight clash. The Hardy v Vincent mashup will be seen by live patrons and Hardy’s promoter Lou DiBella, who has too hustled hard looking to spread the word about the worth of female fighting, to bust open the market more, will put it on a streaming platform.

So yes, there will be a canyon-wide disparity in the purses given to Jacobs and Hardy, both skilled athletes born in Brooklyn, who have clawed their way up from rough ‘hoods, to become respected practitioners in the pugilism realm.

“Shelly’s next and the big part of why we had Shelly is I wanted to fight Katie Taylor and they wanted me to do this one first. So I win this fight and I get talks about that. I know she has Cindy Serrano next but chances are she’s gonna be my last one.”

Yep, you sense right. The non-physical grind can be as diminishing as the punishment one takes in the ring. Here’s hoping, if you believe like I do that fighters the level of Hardy, who’ve given so much to the sport, that her ship comes in, and she’s able to secure some of those purses which give her a financial cushion before she hangs up the gloves, and stays away.