After a break of several years, the Box-Club Nordend Offenbach eV invites you back to the Stadtwerke-Cup. At this year’s Ladies Boxing Night on Saturday, March 11, the women will step into the ring. In the rematch, the preliminary fight was held in October 2022 in Lombardy, twenty-two-year-old Georgiana Podaru, nineteen-year-old Maria Avram, eighteen-year-old Esmanur Ceylan and thirty-eight-year-old Saskia Schmidt will fight from 7 p.m. in the Stadtwerke Offenbach Sportfabrik in Bürgel, Mainzer Ring 150, against a selection of boxers from Italy. The Offenbacher boxers are reinforced by athletes from Rostock and Reutlingen as well as the Slovakian top boxer Nicole Durikova. The six-time junior boxing world champion Luca “Rocky” Cinqueoncie from Offenbach and Sarah “Babyface” Bormann, world champion in minimumweight and light flyweight, from Bad Soden have also announced their participation. A total of ten fights are planned for the evening. Admission is at 6 p.m., tickets are available for 15 euros at the box office.
Well-armed fighters
Trainer and organizer Bernd Hackfort sees his fighters well prepared. Podaru and Avram have already brought several national and international titles to Offenbach and Ceylan is another young talent in the ring. A total of 21 women and girls train in the boxing club, five of them belong to the performance group and take part in daily training. Everyone else is active in the bambini, youth and hobby boxer groups and share the same passion. Because in addition to the demanding training, minor injuries are part of the sport. In training, Hackfort knows no quarters and demands extreme discipline and constant presence. However, everyone who comes to see him in the boxing club also gets help and encouragement beyond the training. Hackfort takes care of and helps with his team in the search for an apprenticeship and provides support when “things don’t go well”. That’s always been the case, because since he founded the boxing club in 2003 together with social worker Wolfgang Malik, who has been president of the association for many years, sport and perspectives through social work absolutely belong together. Clear rules apply in the boxing club and in the ring, if you don’t stick to them, you have to leave. Hackfort and Malik have already put a number of young people back on track. In the case of poor school grades, there is also mandatory homework help. “If you want to box, you have to perform,” says Hackfort. “For us, it’s not about street credibility, it’s about respect and responsibility.” With this approach, the Nordend boxing club has made a name for itself and a good reputation far beyond the city limits and has already won a number of prizes as a violence prevention and integration project.
Social change happening
The fact that more and more women are stepping into the ring and thus freeing boxing from the image of the “tough guys” is not only good for the sport, but also for the athletes. In addition to coordination and fitness, the sport conveys self-confidence. “It’s great that women and girls are conquering this male domain, in which they used to be seen at best as spectators,” says Dr. Inga Halwachs, head of the women’s office. “This shows the social change that is taking place. Young women in particular have impressive strength and self-confidence to assert their positions. But we are still a long way from real equality in many areas, which is also the subject of the women’s week, which ends on March 13th with a women’s march. I would be happy if the boxers were there!”
The main sponsor, Stadtwerke Offenbach, is already further along. Almost every second manager in the municipal company is female. “We are proud of this for good reason, because there is nowhere else in Germany,” says Stadtwerke Managing Director Peter Walther. “I am pleased that the boxing club is focusing on women at this year’s Stadtwerke Cup and I am convinced that our girls will assert themselves well.” trained, since its foundation in 2003 as the main sponsor with 15,000 euros per year.
(Text: PM City of Offenbach)
