Punching Above Her Weight: How Lauren Mackie is Taking the Boxing World by Storm

At MWS, we are always looking for ways to help our community, whether it be through work or sport. That’s why we were so excited to sponsor Lauren, a young boxer with a tonne of potential.

From Ballet to Boxing

Lauren Mackie is a 17-year-old boxer who has already achieved huge success in her sport. When she first started out, she found that her background in football and ballet gave her the balance and agility required to become a good boxer and give her the edge when stepping into the ring.

Both football and ballet require split-second timing and quick reflexes. In football, Lauren had to make quick decisions and anticipate the movements of her opponents. Similarly, her ballet experience has helped her to execute lightning-fast moves while remaining in perfect control. The learnings from both these sports have enabled Lauren to react quickly to her opponents’ punches and take advantage of any potential openings.

Balance Under Pressure

Lauren’s qualities as a boxer don’t end there. At the young age of 17, boxing can be a mentally demanding sport and Lauren has already shown that she can stay calm and focused under pressure. She also demonstrates incredible discipline – from sticking to a strict training regimen to making incremental improvements, Lauren is absolutely dedicated to reaching the top of her sport. Finally, Lauren has no shortage of perseverance which is crucial for all boxers, and her ability to keep rebounding, even when she’s down in a round, is what separates her from the rest of the pack.

From the perspective of MWS, Lauren’s qualities of balanced emotions, discipline, structure, ability to optimise her approach, make incremental improvements to her game, and perseverance, are all qualities that made it a very easy decision for the company to sponsor Lauren on her journey.

Scaling New Heights

For the last couple of years, Lauren has decided to focus exclusively on boxing and has made sacrifices to reach her current position of success. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to become a professional athlete, and for Lauren this has meant making some big sacrifices during her teenage years such as spending less time socialising with her peers and maintaining a very restricted diet. Only by staying focused and committed will she be able to achieve her long-term goal of becoming a world champion boxer.

As an example, Lauren was still training during the peak of the summer heatwave that hit the UK in 2022, training four to five times a week, both in the gym and at home. Despite the sweltering temperatures, Lauren was determined to stick to her training regimen.

“I just had to make sure to stay hydrated and take breaks when I needed them,” she says. “It’s important to listen to your body.”

These choices are already paying off, as Lauren is now one of the top boxers in her weight class. At the Youth World Championships in November 2022 she won bouts against Korea, Columbia, Serbia, and Japan. She made it all the way to the final, where unfortunately she lost against a boxer from India who was two years her senior.

After several GB assessments, and along with her performance in the Youth World Championships in November, Lauren became the youngest boxer on the GB boxing team.

Her ultimate goal is to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, United States. But she knows the competition is tough. “There are a lot of talented boxers out there,” she says. “I just have to believe in myself and give it my all.”

Lauren has what it takes to be a great boxer. She’s a natural, and she learns quickly. Wayne, her trainer, used to teach a group of 30, but now he only teaches Lauren one-on-one so he can focus on developing her skills. Wayne is confident that Lauren has what it takes to be a champion boxer, and he is determined to help her reach her full potential. By focusing on her development, and giving her the best possible training, Wayne is helping Lauren realise her dreams of becoming a world-class boxer.

Thanks to Wayne’s dedication and Lauren’s natural talent, the future looks bright for this young boxer, and MWS is proud to play a part in her journey.