CABAR.asia says Shoira Zulkaynarova from Tajikistan, the four-time boxing World Cup winner, has been breaking gender stereotypes with her fists, stirring dreams of victory in girls' hearts despite pressure from society.
She is Tajikistan's only female boxer who wears a hijab and has been representing the country in worldwide fights.
A 28-year-old Tajik woman has reportedly achieved international fame, proving that women can participate in sports that might be considered prohibited for them in traditional society.
According to CABAR.asia, Shoira Zulkaynarova is Tajikistan's eight-time boxing champion. In 2022, she reportedly won a bronze medal in the 60kg weight category at the World Boxing Championship in Istanbul, Turkiye.
Despite the fact that Shoira is facing many challenges on a daily basis, including constant pressure from society, negative comments on social media, failures or injustices at competitions, she neither loses faith in herself nor gives up on her dream.
Shoira says that at first she trained in hand-to-hand combat, but then she realized she was meant to be boxing instead. It was not an easy choice, though. In Tajikistan, the sport is considered taboo for women in terms of religion. So Shoira had to go through the criticism and prejudice of society.
Shoira notes with regret that there are insulting comments like "Give up boxing, you're cursed!" under the posts on her Instagram page, but she tries not to pay attention to them.
She says she never regretted her choice of profession because she made it knowing all the difficulties she would face.
She recounts how last December she competed in a worldwide boxing competition with an arm injury and won in the third-place match.
Shoira plans to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and represent Tajikistan there. Despite the negative attitude of society, she is not giving up and continues her path in boxing on the world stage.
