Shauna Browne: 'I cry my eyes out' in fight week after up to 16 weeks away from family

Browne told iFL TV that boxing's stigma pushes fighters to hide how hard camp is, in an interview for the charity Men and Their Emotions.

Shauna Browne has said she normally cries her eyes out in fight week, after a camp that keeps her 12 to 16 weeks away from her family.

"I normally every fight week I get a serious lull on fight week where I know I'm ready to do my fight and I know I'm going to go home, because obviously I have a period where I'm 12 to 16 weeks away from my family over in the UK on my own locked away, man, I have the biggest burst of emotions," Browne told iFL TV. "I cry my eyes out, but I always know that's going to come."

The interview opened a 24-hour run of iFL TV interviews with the charity M.A.T.E., Men and Their Emotions. Interviewer Coogan Cassius said donations help pay for counselling sessions.

Browne said she holds back from talking about those lows in case they are read as weakness while others prepare for a fight. "Unfortunately, in our sport, there's such a stigma where you have to be strong, you have to have it all together all the time," she said. "But it's not the reality of it. What we put ourselves through mentally and physically is so f***ing hard."

She said it is worse for men, who find it hard to speak up. "Being vulnerable and showing you're not okay shows immense amount of power," she said. Browne said she is now "extremely vocal" when she is not okay, and told loved ones to "just look out for cues" and give people a safe space to talk.

Cassius also asked about her latest win, in which she was knocked down. "It was only a little flash knockdown," Browne said. "It didn't rattle me in any way, man."

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