North Ayrshire's Jenna wins World Muay Thai flyweight title

The Irvine fighter took on Switzerland’s flyweight champion and WBC international champion, Ilenia Perugini at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley last Saturday.

The fight for the vacant WBC title lasted all five rounds, and Jenna was declared the winner by a unanimous judges decision at POS35 - Power of Scotland’s 35th event.

She said: "I am still pinching myself, hoping this isn’t a dream.

"I feel truly blessed and grateful to say I am now WBC world flyweight champion. 

"I’d like to thank my mum and dad for raising me to be a determined, independent and ambitious person, because without that I wouldn’t have ever set foot in a Muay Thai gym."

Jenna is a patron of the Scottish Centre for Personal Safety, based in Ardrossan, whose members turned out in force to support her in the title fight.

She said: "My Muay Thai career has been a rollercoaster since I started in 2013. Much of my journey has been spent working multiple jobs trying to fund my training, at college for two years and university for five and now I’m in a 'big girl' corporate job.

"But the one thing that has always stayed consistent through the years is my training and hunger to succeed.

"I have sacrificed so much temporary pleasure to be where I am now and my heart is so full, knowing that I have stuck through all the ups and downs in life to reach my goals.

"This fight camp specifically has been amazing. I did have a week or so of feeling terrible with the flu and not able to train, but I have a weird ability to not stress myself out when things don’t go to plan and instead focus on what I can control, which is why you’ll never see me freak out before a fight. Trust me though, I used to!"

Jenna added: "Thank you to anyone who has ever opened their mouth to give me advice through my career. Thank you to my first ever coach, Scott Russell, for seeing the potential in me from the start, giving me that first push through the ropes and supporting me throughout my career. 

"Thank you also to my coach, Gary O'Brien. I honestly struggle consolidating everything I want to thank Gary for in less than an essay, but he has been my therapist, coach, backbone, friend, sensei, guru, spirit guide, since I joined Boxfit.

"I thank him hugely for believing in me, and for always being so selfless and pulling out the stops to promote amazing shows which gives fighters a platform to perform and live our dreams, no matter what is going on in the background.

"I would also like to thank all my friends, loved ones, colleagues and representatives of the Scottish Centre for Personal Safety, of which I am their patron, for coming along to support on Saturday.

"It’s hard to explain how much it means to have everyone there, cheering you on and being there to hype you up or console you after a fight."

The fighter concluded: "Finally, thank you to my opponent Ilenia Perugini for travelling all the way from Switzerland for the fight.

"I knew not to underestimate Ilenia, as she has fought some big names and gave them a tough fight and I am honoured to have shared the ring with her.

"I don’t know what’s next for me, but I know I am not yet satisfied and excited to get the next fight lined up already. I want to keep getting better and fine tune my abilities, and just keep going for glory.

"I really hope this world championship win will be inspiring to females and children who use the Scottish Centre for Personal Safety's services."