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July 15, 2025 • 11 mins

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In this rewind episode, we sit down with Desley Robinson, a trailblazer in Australian women's boxing and former IBF International Champion. She opens up about the chaos of her first pro fight, the struggle of balancing motherhood and training, and the harsh reality of corruption and influencer culture in combat sports.

Rewind back to Season 10 to hear the full story.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Apote Production.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Described your first fight turn pro, like, how how was
the feeling for you?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
It was.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
It was funny because I still had no money and
like like I started to look at like professionals and god,
this girl has got like look at a cool skirt,
look at this and that. I rock up in this
bustard ass pants from Thailand that I'd had from when
I was like a kid, and I handstitched my logo
on the front of the really so did I hand
stitched it and rocked up like Hobo Joe And I

(00:43):
was just like, hmm, wow, I need a new outfit
for one. But I was like then it just switched
and I thought, you know what, who cares what you're wearing,
just get in and fight. So it was over. I
think the second round it was like a knockout, like
a TKO. Yeah, so that was good. And even the
day of that, the day before, my initial opponent pulled out,

(01:03):
so there's there's always something that happens before like a fight.
But yeah, so she pulled out and we'll just scrambling
to find someone and yeah, this girl jumped in and
you know, people were saying, she's going to knock you out.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
And there's all this beef and.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Got in there and I did it, and I was
like holy shit. And then I was like back on
top of the world, like.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, your family come to watch you for the first one.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Not the first one. No, no, So we still weren't no,
still weren't talking. Really. Yeah, it was a long time.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Wow, that has been hard support.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Yeah, Like I had my friends, friends, my son, my partner,
and yeah, they were all there and yeah it was good.
So it was just in a small little yeah it
wasn't wasn't a huge fight. That was a stepping stone
and that open to everything then, so it was like, yeah,
I had my first fight.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
It was a great win. What's next.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
So I've had eleven eleven fights, Yeah, eleven pros, but
like yeah, over fifty amateurs.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, the pro scene is I.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Just wouldn't I wish I did it earlier. Oh really, Yeah,
it's it's good. So you meet so many people and
just coming from sort of and it's you. You shape
it to what you know, You shape the whole professionals
to suit you. Then you're not being dictated by the
Oh yes, you're not being dictated by anyone else, and
that might suit other people, but for me, I.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Was like no, I needed to work in with my
kids and yeah, do.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
You think it? Do you think a female boxer or
any boxer in Australia you have to make it in
the UK or America.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
It's so hard in Australia. There's no money, like, there's
absolutely no money in it.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
So and that's why girls do you know they do
the side hustles and all that sort of stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
So is that your goal to hit America.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
And you're already doing there's my link? No, yeah, obviously
we want to get over to America in the UK.
So if this.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Next fight for the world title doesn't go ahead in Brizzy,
we'll flick that opponent and we'll start going for the American.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Okay, is there anyone in mind that you've got in
America so that you want.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
To go for Yeah, yeah, there's a couple of girls
in there, but it's sort of Yeah, there's Amanda, Amanda Well,
a girl called what Pool. She she's the next one down,
so she's pretty good.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
That'd be a really tough fight.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
But the IBF, because we're ranked, they've ordered another girl
called Case Scott to fight, so she's number two obviously
in Australia, which would be good because we'd actually fought
for the Aussie title and the decision didn't go my way,
and like everyone still blows up about it.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
They're like, that was absolute.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Bullshit, Like you think there's a lot of corruption per Yeah, it's.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
So bad yep. So and I think too.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
It was like she's like this golden girl from you know,
the Olympics and Comic Games, and it was like, oh, yeah,
Dais you know, she will fight anyone. And I felt
like that day they were just watching her, you know,
like but then I'm like, was it all a plan?

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Like I don't know.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
So I think from that fight when I got ripped off,
I thought, man, I'm just gonna have to go in
and really go back to what I used to be,
like a psycho brawler and just knock people out. So
I had to fight not long ago in March, and
I just said I snapped and I was like, right,
I'm not leaving it in the judge's.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
Hands to try and knock around.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
And then got the t KO which was good, and
then had another fight Thailand and I was like, right,
got to do it again.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
No judge's hands and then got the t k oh again. Yeah,
so we I.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Think that gets you more attention because any box who
who knocking out all the time knocking out gets the attention,
and that's when the people like the IBF a look
and go listen, we got to give this girl. We've
got to put it with someone that these wavy.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, because some of the girls fights can be not
that exciting, like and boys as well, But like, I
think you need to bring that. And I sort of
from going coming from a background where it was like
I was a psycho. I was knocking people out.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
I had to be killed.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
But like I was like, oh no, I don't want
that reputation and not get fights anymore. So I sort
of tried to master the art of it and then
I was like stuff this, I'm going back to psycho.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
So what do you reckon? What's what's your thoughts on
you know there's a lot of female influencers now gotten
into boxing. Yes, what's your thoughts on that?

Speaker 1 (05:03):
I think it's a good money thing for them. I
guess do they.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Make do you think they make more money than what usual?

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Talk? One hundred percent?

Speaker 2 (05:10):
So how's that fair? Then?

Speaker 1 (05:11):
How is that not fair?

Speaker 3 (05:12):
And that's the thing that kind of annoyed me, is
like I've been fighting for twenty one years, twenty one
years later, I'm finally getting the opportunity to get a
world titled in my weight division like I fought for
one last year. Two weight divisions up, like off fight
anyone anywhere, whatever weight division, I'll put on, take off
ten killers.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
I don't care as long as I fight.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
And even that that didn't pay a lot of money,
Like it was like I'd left and I've got taxed
on it, and i was just like come home and
I'm like far out, Like that's a world titled paycheck,
you know, like guys get a lot more. And it's
sort of like I'm happy for the influences and influencers,
and you know, I'm friends with a lot of them,
but I just think like, yeah, kind of yeah, it

(05:51):
takes a piss out of us, Yeah, because.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
I've seen what they can get, like you know, like
even fighting over in the UK too, a lot of
them are And how are you getting that when you
can't even get it and get your the number one yep, yep,
And I've busted, yeah, have busting draft to get where
you are and they've like two fights and they're already.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
You know, that's crazy. It's outside us.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Is it because of is it because of what they've done,
like as an influencer, or is it because of the management.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
What is it that stopped think it's more so the
fact that people tuning in and it's creating that that
talk that oh, such and such as fighting. It's all
about money, That's all it is. That's what it comes
down to, is like, you know, getting bums on seats,
getting people.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
To buy the pay per view.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
We use an't allowed to fight each other values that
they can.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
Don't think.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
So I think like, well, Jake Paul is doing it
with people, so I don't know, like I'll fight an influencer,
you know. But yeah, so it's kind of it is
It is unfair? Yeah, so, especially when you've done it
for so long and you've sacrificed.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Life with so many up, so many downs.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
You know, when you see someone who's just been boxing
for like a two years and and they get more
than you, and they're getting out there more than what
you are.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, but what sort of with the pros. It's like boxing.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
Itself doesn't pay a lot, but your sponsors do. So
you know, I was going, I was busting my butt.
You know, I'd had you know, fast forward for years,
had two more kids, was concreting full time, so I'd
get up in the when I was doing personal training,
concreting full time, professional fighting as well.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Wow, you know, like and I was.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, busting my butt you with three kids on my own,
you know, like no help. And even then, you know,
like my sponsors are like, this has to change.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
So yeah, So.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
I've got a really good sponsor now, our New Style Developments.
They've sponsored me full time. So I've done the hard
yards with you know, out there working with the men
concreting and you know, being one of the boys, and
now I can fight and train full time, which is good.
So but that's taken in like twenty one years to
get there. So you know, like whereas the influencers they
can just kick back and yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
Do not much like you think you'll stay middleweight.

Speaker 1 (07:56):
Yeah, yeah, so I feel comfortable at middleweight.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
I mean, but in saying that, like if there's a
fight opportunity, I'll go up or down or whatever.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
So depending on what it is, what's harder to go
up or down, probably go down.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
I get to show because you're losing a lot of
energy from losing weight. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, and I'm sort of like a bit of like
I'm not super skinny, Like yeah, I think I'm a
little bit muscly. Sometimes I can see it, like, yeah,
just to drop down from under seventy is really hard.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
So would you think you'd find a lot more opponents
if you went up or down?

Speaker 3 (08:27):
Probably down. I think like the lighter divisions is a
lot more. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
So I think like middleweight is kind of that borderline, like.

Speaker 2 (08:33):
You can either be there's not many females as you
can get like like seventy two kilos.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
You can either be fit or you can be a
bit you know, chubby or not, you know what I mean.
But they've got big engines though, Like yeah, some of
the girls, like you would look at them and think, oh,
they don't look like a boxer and punch.

Speaker 1 (08:49):
Out ten rounds? How do they do that? You know?

Speaker 3 (08:51):
And then you could look at me and be like, oh,
she looks you know, relatively fit, and I'm like gassed
on like eight rounds.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
I'm gonna go buckle. Because there's something that you wrote
to me, and it was about something about when you
were We don't have to name what the bike club was,
but yeah, and I was going, what the fuck? And
I had to because yeah, did that really happen?

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah? Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
So I was in a pretty bad situation and i'd
you know, like you know, young, and i'd sort of
you know, like I'll knock around with these people for
a bit and go over there.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
And there was one of them.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Situations and it's sort of like there was a party
and you know, like this this guy was you know,
into a lady.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
And I'm all about like.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Standing up for women, like you know, like like I said, like, oh,
you know, stand my.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Ground against a man, or any man.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
I like mentioned as well, stand they ground too, but
this guy was just yeah, I'd witnessed him do something
really bad to this lady and you know, she was
getting raped and I'd sort of seen it, and I
was like, what the hell.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
I'm like, shit, I'm out of my leak here.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
This isn't my place, this isn't my you know, I
was like in a shed and I thought, oh, you
know what, like how was that nut stuff? But you
know what, he doesn't have the right to do that.
So I sort of grabbed him, and he was like
fairly high up and marched him through past all of
his members and just got into him.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
Everybody and no one, no one did a thing.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
No. I was like, right, who's next. I was just like,
that is wrong. So you obviously saved the woman. And yeah,
that's sort of some of the things that you know,
you know, when you leave home so early and you
can get caught up in and you know, I wasn't
drinking that night, and I was sort of just you know,
was floating around with some of the people I was
training with and you know, enjoying the night and club
meet and yeah that happened, and I'm like, I don't care,

(10:30):
like who this guy is, you know, his sergeant of arms,
Like I don't care who you are, Like you don't
do that to someone, and fairly embarrassed him in front
of everybody.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
So nobody percussions from that, no thing, No, Because when
I've read there, I got to read that again.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, so I've.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Had like, you know, like some some crazy experiences, but
in that like I sort of look at that and go,
I don't want to be that woman.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
In that position, Like I'd never leave myself.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Vulnerable, like that and she had obviously had a lot
to drink, and that's no excuse for what had happened
from there. I sort of think, you know, like every
situation I'm I mean, I sort of think like try
and learn from it, and they're like, I don't want
to do that, and yeah, so I sort of thought,
oh man, I was like, am.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
I going to do this? I'm doing it. I'm doing it.
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