Sandy Ryan says she was hospitalised just three weeks before winning her WBO welterweight title fight against Marie Pier Houle.
Ryan would not specify what hospital treatment she needed during her pre-fight camp, but said trainer Clifton Mitchell “helped me get through”.
The 29-year-old Derby fighter went on to claim her first world title with a wide points win in Cardiff on Saturday.
“I carried on and we got the world champion belt out of it,” Ryan said.
Talking to BBC Radio Derby from Portugal, where she flew out to after her win, Ryan added: “To become world champion you have to get through certain things, and life can hit you.
“Things can happen and it’s just how you deal with it.
“Three weeks ago I was in hospital – I won’t say the reasons – and had to have few days off training. I didn’t know if I would be well enough and fit enough to fight.
“Cliff really helped me get though the last three weeks of camp because it was going to be a decision of whether I carried on or not.”
‘Like a second dad’
Ryan said she was “grateful’ to trainer Mitchell, who she affectionately refers to as ‘Pop’.
“He is like my second dad,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. We got this belt.”
Former Team GB amateur fighter Ryan claimed the vacant WBO welterweight title in just her seventh fight after moving into the paid ranks of the sport in 2021.
Canadian Houle had gone 10 bouts unbeaten before taking on the fast-rising Brit.
Ryan is now eager to take on America’s Jessica McCaskill, the WBC and WBA champion champion, the only fighter ahead of her in the welterweight rankings.
“We want all the belts,” Ryan said.
“We want to be unified in this weight. Jessica McCaskill has the other belts and that is what we are looking at.”
