Irma Testa
Her nickname is Butterfly, like the butterfly that circled in the ring with Muhammad Ali: "Sting like a bee, fly like a
butterfly". Irma Testa in the footsteps of her illustrious predecessor, already knows how to fly high at 24 years old.
In the ring of Budva, in Montenegro, she has just confirmed herself as the European featherweight champion (57
kg) beating the Bulgarian Svetlana Staneva in the final with an extraordinary show of superiority, but – hard to
believe – it is when she gets out of the ring that the athlete tip of the entire Italian boxing movement gives its best.
Indeed, just listen to her to understand that in the awareness of being a character, the athlete and the woman go
hand in hand. From Meloni to Egonu there is no argument that catches Irma Testa unprepared, as demonstrated
in the television passages that testify to her growing popularity. Irma, protagonist of a film and an
autobiographical book, after the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo - the first female medal of our boxing - had also
made headlines for her coming out, yet we have the impression that we have lost something in the personal
growth of this Neapolitan, today happily transplanted to Assisi, who after the European title took refuge with her
family, in the Provolera district, a popular neighborhood on the outskirts of Torre Annunziata. While she talks to us
on the phone, the joyful screams of her one and a half year old granddaughter can be heard in the background.
“What pride. Another Irma Testa, my brother Michael named her after me. I have two brothers and an older sister,
Lucia, who introduced me to boxing. We are a close-knit family and I am respectful of my roots, even if I have no
difficulty recognizing that boxing has been my redemption. But my origins were a stepping stone, not an obstacle.
Boxing was and remains a poor sport: to practice certain disciplines you need a bank account, we only need two
gloves and they'll even give you a gift, naturally used, if you get in the ring. Not for nothing in Italy, in this difficult
moment, the gyms are full, especially of women. No one is barred from boxing, even if the history of the ring as a
social redemption is also our condemnation. We forget that boxing is a noble art."
In boxing, women have been met with skepticism, now they are driving forces throughout the movement.
“I don't know why women are stronger than men in Italian boxing now but it is certain that we have had to
overcome the mistrust of the environment. Nothing is owed to us: a man has the road paved to excel in sport, we
have had to sweat it out, especially in boxing. To be accepted, we women have to deserve it ten times more than
men. Only today have we achieved parity and equality, as evidenced by the equal participation in the Olympics.
Sport always comes first to social achievements”.
Does it mean that equality between men and women has not yet been achieved in society?
“It's not for me to say but look at Giorgia Meloni. To become the first female prime minister, she had to overcome
a thousand obstacles. I don't want to be misunderstood because mine is not a political speech but I feel proud
when a woman like me stands up to men even in Parliament. As a fighter in the ring I recognize myself in his grit.
Even in the electoral campaign she never missed a beat, as we women do in boxing".
Meloni defined herself as the male "President of the Council", do you prefer to be called a boxer or a boxer?
“For me it doesn't matter. But I prefer boxer”
However, the Egonu case demonstrates that forms of discrimination exist in sport as well. In your opinion, was
our top volleyball player right to report the offenses received for the color of her skin?
“He did very well, there is nothing mounted in his story. The fact is that after the retirement of Federica Pellegrini,
Paola beyond the color is the symbol of all Italian women's sport. I don't know her very well but I saw her at the
Olympics and I know how the volleyball world admires her. For me he is also a model for the image he has been
able to build off the pitch. There is no one like her, what she has suffered is unfair ”.
Has she also been subjected to discrimination for your sexual choices?
“No, I've never felt left out. But I'll tell you a secret: even in boxing there are many blues and blues of color but we
always joke about the differences, we use the weapon of lightness. We know very well that there are girls who
come from Naples or Milan, that there are different colors and cultures but we are proud of them. This is the
strength of the sport, not its weakness."
Yet it is almost certain that after Paris 2024 boxing will remain out of the Olympics.
“This is another story. A fight is underway between the world boxing federation and the IOC. Perhaps mistakes
have also been made but it would not be right to deprive the champions of the future of the Olympic dream.
Without the Olympics, what would be the point of making the sacrifices that our sport requires. We athletes are
the victims of the system. You cannot cancel one of the oldest sports of Olympism".
