Much like a modern-day Mulan, a tough female boxer from Russia has admitted to having lied about her gender in order to fight men.
Tatyana Dvazhdova, 22, wanted to prove the point that women were every bit as formidable in the ring as men, disguising herself by cropping her hair short, growing her leg hair, and even taping down her breasts.
Tatyana, who is originally from St Petersburg, has been boxing since she was 16 years old, and claims to have fought in 17 amateur fights against men. Her official winning record has not been specified.
Recalling her early days as a boxer, Tatyana said:
All was good until one day my trainer told me I’d be fighting a girl soon. I told him I wanted to fight a man as I felt like I could do it and beat them. He said rules don’t let females officially fight males. That is when I left the club.
I always wanted to fight only with men because they say females are weaker and I wanted to prove the opposite.
After moving on from the club, Tatyana went on to partake in street fights where she apparently only fought with men.
Tatyana then decided to make a return to the boxing ring. It would have been against the rules for her to enter into matches against men as she wished, but this didn’t stop her.
Refusing to be deterred, determined Tatyana doctored her own documents using a friend’s passport, passing as a man by the name of ‘Vladimir Ermolaev’.
Tatyana has since spoken out about the tricky nature of boxing while avoiding having her true identity exposed, explaining how she tried to remain silent when facing off her opponents. Those she fought reportedly didn’t have the foggiest clue.
According to Tatyana:
I tried not to talk to my opponents, not to say a word to not be exposed. The guy whom I beat didn’t even know I was a girl.
However, Tatyana has since tired of pretending to be a bloke in the ring. She has now made the decision to openly request to fight men in a unspecified tournament in September this year.
At the time of writing, it’s yet to be confirmed whether or not Tatyana will be permitted to partake in the upcoming tournament, but you have to admire her dedication.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.