The 15-year-old has been boxing since she was eight, and going to a gym since she was four.

Nikita's dad, Ronnie, was an amateur boxer for 15 years, so the sport is in her blood.

But she has had to work hard to gain the skills needed to beat her opponents in the ring.




"Boxing is all I have ever really known," she said. "I have grown up around it."

Her opponents are mostly boys when she's training at Horsley Hill Community Centre in South Shields.

She is the first female boxer in the 34-year history of Horsley Hill Amateur Boxing Club, but gets nothing other than admiration from the lads she spars with.

Graeme Ahmed, 16, of South Shields, said: "It hurts when she hits you. She's really good.

"She's got a hell of a right hand on her, and she's got a hell of a left hand on her.

"I think she's got a good future in boxing. She's certainly one of the best I have come across."

Shaun Shabilla, 15, also of South Shields, added: "I think she's good. She's strong. She's probably the best sparring partner in the gym."

"I hang around with most of the lads," said Nikita. "They are my friends, and they all wanted to see me get my first fight."

Nikita trains three nights a week at Horsley Hill, three nights a week at her dad's gym at Harton and Westoe Colliery Welfare Scheme in Boldon Lane, South Shields, and on her day off, she goes for a run.

"I can eat what I want as long as I train hard in the gym," she added.

She admits she's a tomboy, and spends more on her kit than most girls her age do on clothes and make-up.

Her boots cost £80 and her shorts, which are quite girlie, with tassles, and have her name emblazoned on them in glitter, cost £120.

Steve said: "I had my doubts about female boxing, but when Nikita came into the gym, she just changed my mind.

"She can keep up with the lads. She's as physically fit as the lads. She can look after herself, and she's going to go a long way."

Nikita set out to prove herself at the Hedfit Boxing Tournament at Hedworth Community Centre in Jarrow.

The club had three wins out of five, including Nikita's triumph over Rhiana Horden, from Hartlepool, after a second-round stoppage.

Jack Turnbull won a hard-fought contest against Bryan Stanbra, from Bishop Auckland, and took home the best junior boxer of the night award, and Chris Pearce won a majority decision over Chris Rogers, from Benwell, Newcastle.

Steve said: "I'd like to thank the host club, Hedfit, for finding an opponent at short notice for Nikita, as there are very few female boxers on the circuit at this moment in time."

Female boxing is still very much a minority sport, but a campaign is under way to make it part of the London Olympic Games in in 2012.

Nikita said: "All I have ever wanted to do is box. My ambition is to go to the 2012 Olympics."

In the meantime, Nikita is focusing on the Amateur Boxing Association of England's national championships.

She will be competing in the junior section of the female championships in Aldershot, Hampshire, in June.

There is still a long way to go before more women follow in her footsteps, though, believes coach Mick Cape.

"I think it is great, but I don't think it will ever be accepted because it is a male-dominated sport," he said.

"I have been to shows when women have boxed, and men just turn away from it. I don't think people like to see women physically punching each other."