\n<\/p>\n
Hardy’s route into boxing was far removed from the traditional path.<\/p>\n
She had already graduated from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York with a degree in forensic psychology and idolised the late Supreme Court justice and women’s rights pioneer Ruth Bader Ginsburg before she even conceived the idea of a career in boxing.<\/p>\n
Hardy knew she was a “powerful woman” but was unsure how to put her powers to best use.<\/p>\n
Trying to make ends meet as a single mum and working anywhere between two to six jobs at one time, Hardy first stepped into a boxing gym in 2010 as a way to get a break from the daily grind. It soon became a passion and potentially a way out as she strived to provide a better quality of life for her daughter.<\/p>\n
In April 2011, Hardy, aged 29, competed in her first amateur contest and became the US national featherweight champion just two months later.<\/p>\n
After making her professional debut in the summer of 2012, Hardy embarked on a six-year unbeaten run, spanning 23 contests and culminating in a victory against Shelly Vincent for the WBO featherweight title at the Theater, inside Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
She also challenged herself in the world of mixed martial arts and competed four times under the banner of promotion Bellator – winning two and losing two.<\/p>\n
A first defeat in the boxing ring came at the hands of Serrano, a seven-division world champion, when they first met in 2019 and she retired with an overall record of 24 wins, three losses and one no-contest.<\/p>\n
Hardy achieved that success inside the ring despite facing challenges few could ever imagine or would wish to experience in her personal life.<\/p>\n
“There was everything from hurricanes to homelessness and house fires,” she says.<\/p>\n
“We were on the street with my parents living in a church basement, anything that could happen did happen.<\/p>\n
“But I’m sitting here because I have faith in God and I’ve walked with him this entire path. It’s a simple idea that you walk right, you do right and you don’t look back. You don’t give up, you don’t stop and what you deserve will come.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n