Boxing
Power Slap Queen Franciska Szabo Sets Her Sights on Misfits Boxing Showdown with Jully Poca
Power Slap queen Franciska Szabo eyes a boxing match with Jully Poca, aiming for a showdown in London. From judo gold medalist to viral star, Szabo shares her journey and passion for fighting, promising to bring her combat experience and resilience to the ring.
Image Credits: Christopher Jue/Getty Images
A Combat Sports Veteran
After moving to the USA to pursue new career opportunities, Szabo’s appearance in a competition created by UFC supremo Dana White propelled her image around the globe.
Despite accumulating an excruciating array of injuries, including a burst breast implant, Szabo said: “Violence is in my DNA. I love fighting.”
“For me, you have to fight in order to truly understand and appreciate life. Fighting, when that survival instinct kicks in, is like a metaphor for life.”
I have a warm personality. I want to bring joy in people’s lives. But I love fighting. For me, it is like a drug.
Franciska Szabo
The Call to Fight
“My father, he didn’t want me to fight,” Szabo continued. “He wanted me to do the things he thought girls should do, like horse-riding.”
“When I went and told him ‘I don’t want to do that. I want to fight’, he insisted that if I started to go down that route, I must be all in. There could be no shortcuts. I would be in it until the end.”
“I am. I have made sacrifices and have recovered from spinal and shoulder surgeries. This is who I am.”
Szabo, who has returned to Europe to prepare for her entrance into mixed martial arts, explained the physical and psychological demands her profession places upon her are nothing compared to those she has faced in her personal life.
“When I was younger, I was in some unhealthy relationships because I surrounded myself with some people who had narcissistic tendencies.
“I had to learn that those are not the people you need to have around you. It taught me how to read people better.”
I have a high pain threshold, for sure. Just getting a slap is nothing to what I have had in my life..
Franciska Szabo
Warnings About Power Slap
Szabo was trying to carve a niche in wrestling until White’s latest enterprise, which has captured imaginations on both sides of the Atlantic, opened-up myriad new routes for her to explore.
Reflecting on her contest with Wolmarans said: “She is actually my best friend in the States and an excellent MMA competitor herself.”
Szabo said: “Power slap is tough, very tough. Boxing is too but, apparently, power slapping has the potential to affect the brain more so you must be very careful with it. It is about more than just ending up with a swollen face.”
“I blew Christine the kiss because it triggered something in me. She hit me hard and, having come through it, I was looking forward to giving her something back.”
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.