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“I
will never box again”, she sighs.
World Boxing Federation (WBF)
Intercontinental Light Welterweight
Champion Elfi Phillips from Belgium
has been forced to retire.
Recently the
calcareous growth and cartilage of
both hips were removed, and the
doctors have forbidden her to put
any heavy burden on them from now
on.
Two major hip
surgeries is something you would
expect to hear about a 70-year-old
person, and not a 28-year-old
professional boxer.
Worn out because
she was always incorrectly trained,
worked too much with heavy weights
to get stronger.
And because she
never listened to the doctors! She
consulted eight specialists in seven
different hospitals, and the verdict
was always the same: Too much,
incorrect training.
Even running is
now forbidden. The last year she
made progress with her new trainer,
but the damage had already been
done.
Phillips made her
pro debut in 2013 with a draw. She
was stopped in her second fight.
But this didn't
discourage her, and she just trained
harder to take on all comers. She
fought to a draw with Myriam Dellal
in their first fight in France, and
lost on points in the rematch for
the WBC Silver title, again in
France.
She lost on
points to undefeated Ewa Brodnicka
in Poland for the European title.
She fought like a Tasmanian devil,
small for her weight class, always
attacking and giving her all.
She won the
Belgian national Light Welterweight
title in 2015, and in 2019 she
became WBF Intercontinental
Champion.
She only had one
more fight after that, a victory
that same year. Then the pain was
too much, and she could not postpone
surgery any longer.
She retires with
a record of 11-5-4 (4), knowing that
the best (in the ring) was still to
come but will never be.
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