The 'girlie' boxer now title hunting in Sheffield...when she's not serving at a pub

At just 25 years of age, Ebonie Jones has certainly done that.

To start her pathway in the harsh world of professional sport, the proud product of Portsmouth has:

* Served in the army, including a tour in the jungles of Belize;

* Ended what she describes as an abusive personal relationship;

* Relocated 200 miles north to a shared house in Sheffield;

* Taken a part-time job in a city centre pub;

* Boxed on SKY TV shows and fought in venues like Wembley Arena and London's O2 Arena;

* and worn pink lingerie at a pre-fight weigh-in!

Ebonie is certainly a person who is prepared to adapt.

And she is hoping that versatility and commitment - honed by Steel City gym trainer Pearce Gudgeon - will lead her to eventual title glory.

The 5ft 2ins fighter moved to Sheffield, last year, specifically to learn at the gym her former Great Britain colleague Dalton Smith trained at, under his father and coach Grant.

It is turning out to be a wise choice.

"I wanted a bit of a change and I knew Steel City was a good gym so I moved north and now live in Darnall, a five-minute walk away, in a shared house.

"In the army, I had been living out of one room anyway, so it is no problem for me."

She's had to learn the Sheffield dialect but that has been one of the few obstacles she's encountered.

"I have never been to a gym more welcoming, everybody is so friendly," she says.

"Grant and Pearce have very strong accents but I do understand them!"

There is an irony attached to Ebonie's arrival at the Darnall Road gym.

When she was training at the English Institute of Sport, with GB, she was billeted in a house directly across the road from Steel City, yet she never once ventured inside. Now she's in it every day.

The former kickboxer currently has an undefeated professional record of four wins and one draw, built on the back of a 60 wins out of 65 fight amateur career.

She'd begun training at her local Portsmouth club at 12, and five years later joined the army as a sapper with the Royal Engineers, competing for the army's boxing team and winning a European title.

"The army was alright, I have made friends for life from there and some come to watch me box, wherever it is.

"While I was training with GB I went through an abusive relationship and decided to take time away from the sport.

"But I came back because women's boxing had got so much bigger and it made sense to turn professional."

Ebonie says she can reconcile the feminine side of her character with the urge to pummel opponents in the ring.

"I am a bit of a girlie, I have a girlie side to me.

"When I was young I'd get dollies at Christmas but I'd get a boxing bag as well!

"I wore a pink outfit at a female-only show's weigh-in, just to be different."

She supports herself by working three days a week at the Museum pub in Orchard Square, Sheffield.

"When I am working behind the bar people are shocked if I tell them I am a boxer.

"Occasionally, customers hear my accent and think I am a student and sometimes I will try and make up a story about what I am studying!

"Generally, some people think if you have boxed on SKY you must have loads of money, but you don't at this stage, and I don't mind working in a pub at all. I don't do anything on Friday or Saturday night anyway, so there's no problem.

"Working there is a reminder too.

"I like the pub but if you end up doing some cleaning-up jobs or the bins or whatever that you don't particularly like it's a reminder that you wouldn't want to do that for the rest of your life and that I should make the most of boxing."

Ebonie will make her first South Yorkshire pro appearance on a Stefy Bull promotion at the Magna Centre, Rotherham, on Friday, April 12.

Coming soon: Ebonie Jones - the Mike Tyson of female boxing.