Couch blasts her female rivals

Ouch! Jane Couch has criticised other female boxers

Jane Couch begins her mission on Saturday to rid women's boxing of its primadonnas when she makes her worldwide TV debut on Naseem Hamed's undercard in Connecticut.

The 31-year-old 'Fleetwood Assassin' stepped in at just 10 days' notice to meet American up-and-comer Liz Mueller in a bout due to be broadcast on Sky and Home Box Office in the US.

The reward for Couch could be a contract to appear on future Hamed undercards and thus give her raw talent the exposure she feels the women's sport badly needs.

Couch said: "The trouble is now the promoters don't want real fighters. They want girls to look like models, they want them to have big boobs."

Ali and Frazier

Currently, the most famous and well-paid female exponents of the game are fighters with famous fathers.

Laila Ali and Jacqui Frazier have agreed to face each other to continue the rivalry started by their fathers in the 1960s, while the siblings of George Foreman and Roberto Duran are also beginning to carve out professional careers.

The trouble is promoters don't want real fighters. They want girls to look like models, they want them to have big boobs

  Jane Couch

Couch, a lightweight, has offered to move up the divisions to fight them.

"They can't fight. It's embarrassing. For every bad fight in women's boxing you need five good ones to put it back," she said.

"They're all getting loads of money, I'm getting £2,000. It's my biggest payday to date and I'm a triple world champion.

"I don't do boxing for the money, I do it because I love doing it, but it makes me angry when I see that lot."

Underdog

Couch, in fact, has been brought in as the underdog to face Mueller, a rated prospect, and knows she cannot afford to miss one of her rare chances to stake her claim for a shot at the big guns.

"I don't know much about her, I don't really care. I just know I'm going to beat her."