Australian boxer Tina Rahimi, 28, is a fighter. She competed in the Women’s Featherweight Division and took home a Bronze Medal from the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She was among the first Muslim women boxers in Australia.
Tina Rahimi will be competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Australia’s first Muslim woman boxer
She is one of 12 Australian boxers who have earned a spot to compete at the big Paris 2024 Olympic Games which happen every four years.
“I’ve finally qualified for Paris, I’m so amazed right now, I can’t believe I’ve actually made it.”
Tina said,
By getting selected, Rahimi becomes the first ever Australian Muslim woman boxer to take part in this huge global sporting event.
“Don’t think I don’t have a fierce competitive drive just because of how I look.”
Rahimi says
Rahimi wears perfect makeup, a hijab head covering, long sleeves, and tights which is very different from how people picture boxers usually dressing and looking.
Inside Tina Rahimi Early Life
Tina Rahimi is the well-known first Australian Muslim woman boxer. She was born on March 13, 1996, in Westhead. Her hometown is Bankstown, NSW. The first junior club she joined was Sydney Fight Gym, located in south Granville.
She finished her higher education at Macarthur Girls High School.
On her Instagram story, she shared a picture of her mom, mentioning “project tv”.
Rahimi first picked up a pair of boxing gloves at a local gym
The boxer based in Sydney first wore boxing gloves at a neighborhood gym in 2017. Now she is in Birmingham, ready to make a big impact.
Tina, a former makeup artist from western Sydney, started boxing training with a friend in 2017. They felt their fitness journeys had stopped moving forward, and they needed something to motivate them more.
“I remember hitting the bags for the first time, and I thought, ‘Wow, this feels so amazing.’ I fell in love with it.”
Tina says
She had her first boxing fight in 2018 and winning made her want to keep going. The two friends from Sydney decided to take up the sport of boxing. Their personal fitness progress had slowed down, and they wanted something more motivating.
While her friend hesitated, Rahimi found something in those boxing sessions that she never thought was possible.
Just one year after starting, Rahimi’s skills in the ring matched her growing passion, and she began seeking more opportunities.
The featherweight boxer (57kg) had her first fight in 2018. Although she struggled to control her nerves before the fight, her victory reassured her that she had found her calling.
Since winning her first bout, the former makeup artist has focused entirely on the sport, shifting it from a hobby to a pursuit. The COVID-19 pandemic may have delayed her rise, but now, with a 15-2 win-loss record, she is peaking at precisely the right time.
Rahimi, with her perfect makeup, hijab, long sleeves, and tights, knows better than anyone that she does not look like how people expect boxers to look.
Tina Rahimi as Make-up artist with boxing gloves
When Tina Rahimi was 21 years old, she attended her first boxing class in Western Sydney. At age 26, Tina took part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and won a Bronze medal, making her the first Muslim woman to represent Australia in boxing.
She had her first boxing fight in 2018, and winning that fight meant she had won the Australian featherweight title and qualified for the Commonwealth Games.
In Birmingham, she made it to the semi-finals, where she lost to the person who eventually won the silver medal, and Tina was awarded the bronze medal.
Tina trains under Muhammad Alyatim at the Brotherhood Boxn Club in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre. She also credits Floyd Mayweather’s uncle, Jeff Mayweather, for helping build her confidence in the ring after she had the chance to train with him in Las Vegas in 2020.
Also Read: Meet Australian Boxer Tiana Echegaray
In November 2023, Tina earned a spot for the Paris 2024 Olympics by unanimously beating Tongan boxer Feofaaki Epenisa in the gold medal match at the Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Tina is an important role model for the Muslim community and young girls. She has created the Boxing With Tina Instagram account to encourage others to take up the sport.
Now, Tina Rahimi is preparing for the 2024 Olympic Games.
On December 1, 2023, she posted a sparring video on her Instagram page. She also mentioned having an interview on Channel 9 News on March 3.
