Warriors of a feminine persuasion

Of the women who have taken part in CSP's white-collar boxing events, Jackie Zhang (right) is one of the most experienced fighters.[Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Hilary Fan knows this all too well. She gave her opponent a bloodied nose at Shanghai Fight Night in December. Fan, 21, the youngest boxer there, said she had signed up for the event because she felt compelled to test her boundaries and see the world after having led a largely sheltered life.

An account manager with Empress Communications, a brand management company, Fan says she had poor reflexes and a "hopeless" sense of balance, and that her training had helped rectify this and had had imbued her with a greater tenacity.

Determined to excel in her first fight, she took extra boxing classes in addition to the mandatory whitecollar boxing training sessions provided by Golden Gloves Gym. Because of the nature of her work, Fan had to return to her office after training a fewtimes to work into the wee hours.

"It's a lot of hard work but I love doing this. You spend an hour here and you accomplish a lot more compared with going to the gym for two hours but not doing much," She says.

Of the women who have taken part in CSP's white-collar boxing events, Jackie Zhang is one of the most experienced fighters. Zhang, 29, who was born in Gansu province and now lives in Shanghai, is now preparing for the Brawl on the Bund in June, which will be her fourth white-collar fight, by attending regulars boxing and CrossFit training sessions.