BEING an icon for young female boxers to look up to would be a bigger achievement than any belt gained in the ring, according to Kelly Morgan.

The 35-year-old saw her hopes of headlining her first show put back last night after her opponent for this Saturday’s March Madness show at the Oasis Leisure Centre, Gifty Amanua Ankrah, pulled out due to visa problems.

That, along with poor ticket sales, has seen the show postponed by promoter Keith Mayo, with Luke Watkins, Ryan Martin and Danny Bharj all set to fight.

The setback means that Morgan will have to wait for her chance to fight for the WBC Silver middleweight title but that is not affecting her high ambitions in the sport.

Morgan’s coach, Richard Farnan, said that his pupil could break new ground for women in the sport ahead of what was meant to be her headline show.

Morgan, who was set to fight in what would have been just her fourth contest, is hoping to pave a way and give female boxing a voice.

“I am desperate for that WBC belt to stay in Swindon,” she said.

“Hopefully we can do that, both for myself and for female boxing.

“If I can do this and become a voice for female boxing, it would mean as much, if not more to me, than any achievements in the ring.

“It is important for the future and it is the bigger picture.

“I just want to do as good of a job as I can inside and outside the ring.”

Having the extra burden of being female in a mainly male-dominated sport comes with its own pressures but Morgan is looking to take those in her stride.

Having won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Javelin and represented her country in netball, she is no stranger to the weight of expectation and hopes she can pave a way for those to follow.

“There is no doubt that I feel the pressure from time to time. I think everybody does,” she added.

“It is a difficult one because I feel it is too important to shy away from and I have just got to take it on the chin and do the best job I can with it all.

“Hopefully I can make some changes for the future boxers that are coming through behind me. That would be amazing.”