During the summer sports season, Brits watched the Euros, Wimbledon, and the Olympics.
However, there is one new celebrity you may not have heard of who is gaining popularity due to her excellent fighting s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s and very lavish lifestyle.
In June, about 16,000 people attended the British female super-flyweight championship, a historic athletic event.
Shannon Ryan is photographed in the O2 arena; she is classified as the number two fighter in the UK.
Shannon Ryan, a 27-year-old athlete ranked second in the United Kingdom and eleventh worldwide, competed in the battle.
Shannon, from Watford, was unbeaten before to the bout, an astonishing achievement for someone who had only been in the ring five years.
Even more astonishing, Shannon just turned professional two years ago, having previously competed while working full-time as an O2 shop manager.
But now, she has a very glamorous career – sharing snaps of her Instagram-worthy day-to-day with her 100,000 followers.
And, in what she calls a ‘full circle moment,’ she’s now sponsored by her former employers – and has even caught the attention of Anthony Joshua, who signed her to his management company.
Shannon has a very glamorous career – sharing snaps of her Instagram-worthy day-to-day with her 100,000 followers
Shannon Ryan (purple shorts) and Emma Dolan (black shorts) during their British and Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Titles. It was the first match Shannon lost
‘It was just a magical feeling to get the sponsorship from O2,’ she told FEMAIL.
‘I’ve grown up my whole life with the mantra “if you don’t ask you don’t get”‘.
‘The fact I worked as a Christmas temp – worked my way up – had some bumps along the way, it was definitely a full circle moment.’
While boxing is new for Shannon, it’s the third sport she’s mastered, after becoming the world number one ranked kickboxer before trying her hand at Taekwondo.
‘I started kickboxing when I was five years old,’ she told FEMAIL.
‘I always say I was brought up into combat sports because my dad has a kickboxing gym in Bushey. I did that for years and finished world number one, but in that kind of kickboxing there’s no Olympics and no career you can make from it,’.
Shannon, pictured before a fight, worked in the O2 shop – she is now sponsored by the brand
Shannon shares glamorous shots of her travels to Instagram
Shannon is pictured. In 2016, she moved to Manchester and started training with the Team GB Taekwondo team, in the hope of making it to Tokyo in 2020
In 2016, she moved to Manchester and started training with the Team GB Taekwondo team, in the hope of making it to Tokyo in 2020.
But her Olympic dream was quickly crushed, she was only there for nine months before she got a hip injury.
She then moved back to Watford, moved in with her parents and got a job as a Christmas temp in the O2 shop in her hometown.
Then, in August 2018 she started boxing as an amateur.
‘I’ve always loved fighting and i’m good at it. I thought I need to find a sport that will allow me to have a career for a longer period of my life,’ she said.
Shannon now attends red carpets. Pictured at the London premiere of Twisters earlier this month
Shannon enjoys trips around the world, pictured at a mystery location
Shannon is pictured sunbathing, she says she now has time to ‘rest and relax’
‘My journey has had a lot of twists and turns, I was working in retail store, I’d work five days a week but sometimes it would be nine days in a row.
‘I worked my way up from a Christmas temp to a full-time adviser went to assistant manager and worked as the manager while my boss was on paternity leave.’
While working full-time, she would go straight from 10-hour shifts to the gym.
‘I trained like a pro athlete while working at O2, I’d be there to open at 8am, close at 6pm, I’d miss meals as I didn’t have enough time to eat and sleep’.
‘I train now twice a day, there’s enough time to sleep and eat’.
As well as various sponsors, which includes sports drink Nocco and Sport Direct, Shannon also has support from the most famous boxer in the world, Anthony Joshua.
Shannon is pictured at a basketball game in New York
The boxer now enjoys travel all over the world
Shannon also shows off her fashion sense online.Ryan, who started at Barnet’s Finchley ABC gym, looks up to Anthony Joshua, an Olympic gold medalist.
Ryan praised Anthony Joshua’s previous performance. I’m really delighted for him. I’ve seen significant growth from him; he’s a true game learner. I believe AJ would defeat Fury.
‘AJ and I are both from Watford, he knows my family, and he has always backed me,’ she claimed.
After Covid, I decided to get professional, and he was a huge supporter.
‘What he’s done for his life, his family, and the people around him is incredible,’ she said.
Her next goal is to become a global champion.
‘I want to be the undisputed champion, and I believe I can do so at super flyweight,’ she stated.
“Then I want to move weight class, either up or down, and do that again.”
‘The second professional aim is to be a face and voice for the sport; we don’t have one, and I want people to look to me and know they can accomplish whatever they want.