Pro boxer Mai Soliman says two-minute round rule for women's bouts is 'illogical' and must be changed

Egyptian-born boxer, Mai Soliman, recently fought Nicila Costello from Queensland with both fighters opting for three-minute rounds rather than two minutes as decreed by world boxing regulators.

Egyptian Australian professional boxer, Mai Soliman (L). Credit: Mai Soliman

Key Points

• Mai Soliman has been boxing since high school after immigrating to Australia from Egypt at the age of nine.
• She says women's rounds should be three minutes' long, the same as men's.
• To prove her point, she recently fought fellow flyweight, Nicila Costello, using three-minute rounds.

Mai Soliman arrived in Australia with her family from Egypt when she was nine.

In her fourth professional fight against Queenslander, Nicila Costello, on 30 June, she elected to fight three-minute rounds to match men's fights despite world boxing recommendations that women fight two-minute rounds.

The match was the first Australian women’s contest to feature three-minute rounds, thanks to the determination and lobbying of both Ms Soliman and New Zealand-born Ms Costello.

The fight, which Ms Soliman narrowly won, was monitored by the Martial Arts Sports Association (MASA) and took place at the Revesby Workers Club in Sydney.

The flyweight is also an advocate of women fighting 12 rounds as the men do instead of just 10.

Rule change needed, says fighter

“Men play rounds for three minutes and women play two minutes. My coach, Uro Pavic, and I launched a campaign to change the rules of women's boxing. They're supposed to give us a choice. We've got more time to fight better (with longer rounds),” Ms Soliman, 25, said.

"We hope (peak boxing bodies) eventually allow women to be able to fight three minutes or at least let them have it as an option."

She said she hoped boxing authorities would make the rules uniform regardless of whether it was a men's or women's match just like in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or Muay Thai.

Credit: Mai Soliman

She described the two-minute limit as, "illogical, of course, because a three-minute round for men poses a risk to them as well. I think women fight better, have better fitness and fight more passionately.”

“I have been fighting for three minutes in each round during training. I also do jogging and swimming to improve my fitness level before matches.”

Credit: Mai Soliman

Born in Cairo, Ms Soliman said her first passion had been swimming which she started at the age of four.

“I won a championship in Egypt and then I migrated to Australia with my family when I was nine years old. I continued to participate in swimming and competed in New South Wales and at the national level,” she said.

Mai and her father, Yahia Soliman. Credit: Mai Soliman

She said she discovered boxing in her final years at Blakehurst High School and started attending the Kostya Tszyu Boxing Academy at nearby Rockdale PCYC.

"I started there and was training with the likes of Tim Tszyu, Nikita Tszyu and George Kambosos. It was something I always wanted to try when I was younger, so no one really introduced me to the sport," she said.

I discovered my passion for boxing and got into the game but I didn't tell my mum.

Mai Soliman

She made her professional debut in the 51kg division at the start of 2022.

Today, after eight years in boxing and becoming a professional boxer, she admits that family support is very important.

Ms Soliman (second from R) with her sisters, Lina (L) and Nada (R), and mother, Heba Hilal (end R). Credit: Mai Soliman

“My partner, mother, father and sisters support me very much. My mother cooks for me and I attend tournaments and I appreciate it very much,” Ms Soliman said.

Combat sports are tough but we learn to defend ourselves in games. We don't just go into the game to take punches.

Mai Soliman

The Sydney-based boxer said she believed that learning martial arts was essential for girls in the fight against domestic violence.

“I (talk to) young girls from schools in the private gym (Darkside Gym in Stanmore) and tell them that it is necessary to learn a sport in order to defend themselves in any difficult situation,” she said.

Listen to the story of Egyptian Australian boxing Mai Soliman in the audio file attached to the image above.

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