“There’s nothing more humbling,” Bseiso tells me when we chat, “than getting punched in the face.” Taking knocks has been her reality for the past five years. Apart from when she’s presenting, Bseiso can be found competing, training and dodging to avoid her opponents. What she takes, she also gives - with astonishing speed and power. Watch any of the dozens of YouTube videos of Bseiso in action, it’s clear that the ‘First Lady of MMA in the Middle East’ (as she’s dubbed) is worthy of her Champion status. “Boxing has taught me discipline, patience, self-confidence, self control and to never underestimate an opponent,” she continues. “Or anyone, for that matter.”
By her own admission, Bseiso is a latecomer to the sport. At 23, she began kick-boxing in an effort to shake up a stale fitness regime and soon found herself hooked. Ayman Nadi, who trains Jordan’s national women’s boxing team, was convinced of her latent talent and pushed her to compete. Two years later, she was crowned Female Boxing Champion of Jordan in the 60-kilogramme category, after winning gold in Jordan’s first-ever women’s’ championships. She hopes that her unlikely but stratospheric rise through the ranks of the sport will convince women worldwide that they too are capable of great things. “I hope that when young women see me in the ring they think, ‘If she can do it, I can do it too’,” she says. “Not just in terms of improving their fitness. I hope that they believe that they also might be able to compete and represent their countries in competitions, perhaps even the Olympics, one day.”
The global sporting event is a favourite topic for Bseiso, particularly London’s 2012 Olympics, when the body that runs the Olympics, the IOC, voted to include women's boxing for the first time. She describes that pivotal moment as “the biggest thing ever” and is effusive in her praise for Irish gold medallist Katie Taylor, who she describes as her role model. The warmth of the support Bseiso has for so many of her peers is endearing and she says her attitude is common amongst female boxers. “Of course there is camaraderie! There are lots of ‘I’m sorrys’ and ‘Are you OKs?’ in casual sparring and we also help each other cut weight and push each other during training. With my team, we are one team, the national boxing team. But when it’s fight time: it’s ‘hit or get hit’.”
Boxing is fast becoming an important part of Jordan’s national sporting identity and is a key part of its military training. A 2,100-seater state-of-the-art arena was recently built at Amman’s Hussein Sport City and it’s reported that the police force has its own female boxing team. Still, it remains a relatively new sport. Female boxing in particular, is something of an innovation.
Bseiso is keen to ensure that it continues to gain in popularity and credibility and is grateful for the International Boxing Association’s ongoing support of women boxers. She’s also aware that as her country’s captain, she can be of influence in shaping the sport and its future success and has already begun to spread the word.
“I’ve inspired my friends and family, including my mother, to realise their athletic potential. I hope my experience encourages women worldwide to put their gloves on and get into the ring or the cage,” she says, as our chat draws to a close. “You really never know what type of person you are until you have been tested. And stepping into the ring is the biggest test of them all.”
WHO Arifa Bseiso
WHAT Two-time boxing champion
FROM Jordan
FACT The first time the International Olympics Committee decided to include women’s boxing in the Olympics was only in 2012, in London.
