Gabrielle De Ramos has become a professional Muay Thai fighter thanks in part to Muay U head coach Kieran Walsh. Photo: James Coleman.
You wouldn’t pick it today, pummelling the life out of a boxing bag in Fyshwick’s Muay U gym, but Gabrielle De Ramos hails from a “very traditional” Filipino family.
“My family moved to Australia when I was fairly young, and they never really wanted me to do anything like this,” she says.
“They didn’t really see sport as an avenue for making money. Filipinos are very traditional and want you to succeed. A lot of them are nurses. My mum’s a nurse, my brother’s a nurse, and my dad works in the hospital.”
Gabrielle is a professional Muay Thai fighter, and on 13 November, she is taking on the biggest challenge of her now five-year-long career.
The 24-year-old Canberran has caught the eye of an event promoter in Japan, who’s invited her to face off against one of the country’s leading fighters, Kira Matsutani, in a one-night show in Tokyo.
It’s safe to say her dad, while definitely supportive in other ways, won’t be watching.
“I’ve been cut before, like twice with elbows,” Gabrielle says.
“And usually, I have to take some time off after a fight to rest and recover.”
Gabrielle’s stepped up her training in the past eight weeks after being invited to fight in Japan. Photo: James Coleman.
Muay Thai, sometimes known as ‘Thai boxing’, is one of the fastest-growing combat sports in the world.
“There are different rules to traditional boxing, given you can punch and kick and knee and elbow,” Gabrielle’s coach, Kieran Walsh, explains.
“Professional fighters fight three-minute rounds, but they’ll only fight three or five rounds because it’s a lot more tiring, not like boxing where it’s 10 or 12 rounds.”
Australia, a stone’s throw from Thailand compared to many other countries, has benefited from perhaps the largest growth of the sport. Muay U, founded by Kieran six years ago, now has more than 500 members, including 30 professional and amateur fighters like Gabrielle.
Kieran Walsh founded Muay U in Fyshwick six years ago. Photo: James Coleman.
“We’re probably one of the most travelled gyms in the country,” he says.
“It’s really cool to be from little old Canberra fighting in front of sometimes tens of thousands of people.”
Kieran, now 34, had to give up all his ambitions in the sport after suffering an injury in his early 20s, but he’s dedicated his life to helping others, like Gabrielle.
“I often say to people that I probably wouldn’t be doing this right now if that hadn’t happened … Now I’m helping other people, and I’m just living vicariously through them. So for me, I’m super proud of that.”
Gabrielle, whose family moved to Canberra 12 years ago, started in the sport when she was 19.
“I graduated college and I had my own car and just decided to do it,” she says.
“I’d played sports before, but never professionally or anything. I just started this for fun and fitness.”
Training makes up a big part of Gabrielle’s week. Photo: James Coleman.
Nowadays, she works part-time with Morris Legal Group in Kingston after she met the director – you guessed it – through the gym, and also does a “bit of influencing on the side” on Instagram to help grow her profile (she already has more than 220,000 followers). But the rest of the time, she’ll be here training.
“Pretty much every day, except for Sunday – Sunday is my rest day,” she says.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I train here twice – once in the morning, once at night, about an hour and a half to two hours each. Then, I lift some weights twice a week and coach a ladies’ class. I love it here. I would say I’m here more than my house if you don’t count sleeping.”
Gabrielle is “super excited” for November’s event. Photo: James Coleman.
She’s stepped up the training even more in the past eight weeks after hearing the “pretty surreal” news she’d been invited to Japan.
“The girl I’m fighting is like the second best, if not the best in Japan. She’s really good. She’s beaten some top names. And so winning this fight would really put me on the world stage and start giving me more opponents that are higher level.
“It’s something I didn’t think would happen so quickly, but I’ve worked really hard to get here, and I’m excited to show people that I belong in there with those top names, too. I’m super excited.”
Gabrielle says both her parents and her older siblings are really proud of her achievements, too, and while her parents can’t make it to the event in person, they’ll be there in spirit.
Want to follow Gabrielle’s journey? Subscribe to her YouTube channel.
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