LONDON — Weeks after completing a sex change, the boxing promoter behind Lennox Lewis' rise to world heavyweight champion is back working in the sport.
"I may have had a body modification," Kellie Maloney said Thursday after announcing the resumption of a 30-year career as a promoter, "but I haven't had my brain altered just yet."
Under her previous name, Frank, Maloney was Lewis' promoter and biggest cheerleader as the British fighter won heavyweight titles in the 1990s and early 2000s. The diminutive Maloney was a recognizable figure, famous for wearing a flamboyant British flag suit on his trips to the United States for fights.
Maloney also took David Haye, Paul Ingle, and Scott Harrison to world titles.
Kellie Maloney will start afresh after taking on two fighters, Scottish heavyweight Gary Cornish and English amateur Tony Jones. Her first appearance back in boxing circles will be in Glasgow on May 23, when Cornish and Jones are scheduled to fight.
"I have to start at the bottom and work my way up — it's like one day managing Manchester United and waking up the next day and saying you are now managing Nuneaton Borough," Maloney said, comparing one of England's biggest soccer teams to a side that plays in the country's fifth tier.
"If I can achieve half of what Frank Maloney achieved, it will be a bigger achievement."
Maloney says she is not daunted by re-entering the macho world of boxing, and believes her presence can change perceptions.
