Kellie Maloney, boxing's first
transgender promoter, was recently profiled by Fox Sports.
Maloney, as Frank, climbed her way to
the top of the boxing world managing Lennox Lewis to the undisputed
heavyweight title.
Loud, boisterous and homophobic – she
once said gays don't “do a lot for society” – Maloney had
achieved what many believed to be impossible.
“I'd achieved the impossible as a
manager that no one expected me to achieve,” Maloney said in the
11-minute segment.
Under this strong persona, Maloney
struggled with her identity.
“I've always felt different from [an]
early age, from the age of three. But I never really understood it
or what it was. I decided to try and just bottle it up, fight it and
get on with my life,” she said.
She added that her larger-than-life
persona was her coping mechanism: “It was like being on a stage and
it was about acting. … The more outrageous I was, the better it was
for me.”
In 2012, Maloney quit boxing and with
the support of her wife and three daughters began her transition. In
April, 2015, she announced that her gender reassignment was complete.
Now, she's returned to boxing.
Ambrose Mendy, a British boxing
promoter, told Fox Sports that Maloney would not be accepted in the
boxing world.
“The boxing world is sexist,” he
said. “I'm all for change. You're looking for a miracle to
happen.”
Maloney recently made her debut as a
boxing manager and promoter in Scotland.
“Kellie looks at the world in a
completely different way,” she said. “I'm a lot more content
with myself. … I'm [like] a young person again, but with a wise
head on my shoulders.” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library more more videos.)