Shelley Watts: fighting fit in the ring of life

And while her two careers might seem incongruous, to Shelley they’re a one-two combo that — along with motherhood — has given her an invaluable perspective on what matters in life.

“They’re not that different, really,” she says thoughtfully. “They all take discipline, and mental skills like always thinking on your feet. But before I was in the ring fighting, and now I’m outside it, fighting for others.” Then she pauses, adding: “They’ve all taught me what’s important, especially being a mum. But at the same time, it’s like I’ve lived two completely different lives.”

It was life in the courts that first interested Shelley, who told her mother she wanted to be a lawyer at the age of 11.

“I’m really not sure where that came from! Maybe it’s because I love to argue,” laughs Shelley, who grew up in Laurieton, a small town 30km south of Port Macquarie. “But I was also always a sporty kid, and quite good at everything I tried.”

As a teenager Shelley took part in little athletics, and played touch football and soccer, competing in a representative side at 14. After school she decided to find a way to combine her passions for sport and law.

“I saw that Southern Cross had a double degree in Law and Human Movement Science,” she says. “I think I was the only student doing that combination the year I enrolled. I know it was pretty unusual, but it was such a good mix — the dense and wordy, and then the hands-on lab and sport work.”

Still without having set foot in a boxing ring, a 20-year-old Shelley was living on campus at Southern Cross University, excelling in law, coaching the Lismore Thistles soccer team and loving every minute of her university life.

“Southern Cross was an amazing social setting, and they offered such great balance and variety,” she says. “I got to mix with so many different people from all over the world, which helped me so much in life. I wouldn’t change the great opportunities and experience I had there for the world.”

It wasn’t until Shelley tore her ACL on the field during her team’s soccer quarter finals that her second life began. During rehab, while looking for a sport to keep her fit until she could return to soccer, Shelley found boxing.

“I didn’t intend to do anything with it until I started training at Maloneys Glove Club in Lismore and really began to love it,” she says. “I ended up training there for five months.”

From that moment on, Shelley’s boxing career milestones landed lighting fast, like a series of decisive punches. She won her first fight in 1 minute 20 seconds, had become a state champ and held an Australian title within seven fights, and was sent to Germany to compete internationally for her eighth. Within six years she had become a Queens Cup Gold Medallist, an X Silesian International Gold Medallist, a Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist and was selected to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

“If you’d told me that six years after doing my ACL I’d be at the Olympics for a different sport, I wouldn’t have believed you in my wildest dreams!” Shelley says.

But while she considers her Olympic selection one of her greatest achievements, it also led to one of the low points of her life.

“I wasn’t good enough. After I got beaten, I had my funding cut. I was devastated. I went from being a person to watch to feeling like nobody,” Shelley recalls about the challenging time. “When I came back to Australia, I was lost. Boxing had engulfed everything in my life, and I didn’t know how to not be that person. I wanted to keep striving, but at the same time I wanted to stop. I remember asking for a sign for what I should do.”

Then two things happened. Shelley recalled her passion for law (put on hold while she travelled the world competing), completed her Practical Legal Training and became a solicitor, advocating for what she believes is right. She also fell pregnant with her first son.

“Falling pregnant was a blessing,” Shelley says. “A huge relief. It was then I could see that boxing took me to some amazing places, but this was another life now. Being a mum is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. The Olympics was an incredible achievement, but there’s also nothing like seeing the bond between my two boys.”   

While Shelley has left her official fighting days behind, her two worlds are still connected as she boxes with local lawyers to keep fit and encourages young people, especially her sons, to ‘fight for their fairytale’.

“I’ve learned that whatever it is you want, you have to fight for it,” she says. “My fairytale changed for me when I left boxing, and now I’m living my dream life.”