Sophie Macleod

Sophie Macleod, born 27th April 1989 is a renowned Scottish boxer and goes by the name "The Banshee". She has won many notable awards such as School and Junior Finals., Champion of Scottish Youth Finals Scotstoun March 2006 and 2007.
Introduction
Sophie Macleod called " The Banshee" inside the ring, may look sweet but don't let the pretty face fool you: she's one of the toughest contenders in the league. Opponents who have underestimated her savagery have left the ring sorely mistaken.
Personal life
Sophie was born in Glasgow and currently resides there. She is one of the few well-known international boxer. Raised on the mean streets of Glasgow, Sophie got her first taste of combat roughhousing with her family. While most little girls play house, Sophie had been wrestling thanks to her six brothers. At the age of 12, Sophie had joined her school's wrestling team. She was the only girl in the district. However, that did not scare her. She was further encouraged by her uncle, Tommy McGuinness, light weight boxing champion. Sophie says that her uncle Tommy would always be her idol and her inspiration. Year after year, she finished on the top five wrestlers in the city. In her third year on high school, she won the city championship. She was slated to go on to the All-Britain finals, but the rules didn't allow for mixed gender wrestling. Sophie recounted it to be the biggest setback to her career and this also made her made. She was quoted saying:"I was just getting warmed up and already they were saying I couldn't compete, even though I knew I could beat the pants off those boys."
Change in career
After no sign of change in the rule, Sophie made a difficult decision in her life to change her career from an amateur wrestler to a professional judo practitioner. Sophie revealed that wrestling was great but emphasized that judo helped her open up her fighting style and tap into something primal. She adds that chokes and arm-bars added to the repertoire making judo harder. Sophie believes that Judo is a grittier form of combat for me and she added the martial arts aspect of the form gave her a lot of self-discipline, a trait she believes she needed at that time.
Return to boxing
Sophie made her boxing comeback by competing in the 2013 European Amateur Boxing Championships, however she didn't win. But many critics were impressed by her form and declares that she is a "rising boxing goddess". With her successful comeback, Vladimir Gladkov a renowned wrestling coach took her under his wing and is said to be going to be very active starting from 2014. During August, Sophie is planning to visit Hong Kong in order to participate in a boxing tournament called " Asian Boxing Championship".
Awards
* Champion of School and Junior Finals 2005
*Champion of Scottish Youth Finals Scotstoun March 2006 and 2007
*Champion of GB Youth Championships Edinburgh 2009
*Appreciation for participation: European Amatuer Boxing Championships 2013

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