By Hayley CoyleBBC News
Top TierNicola Barke says she is determined to get back to boxing now her brain tumour has been found to be benignA South Yorkshire boxer with a brain tumour has pledged she will not give up fighting as the sport is her "purpose".
Nicola Barke, 30, discovered she had the tumour after a medical last year to renew her professional boxing licence.
Despite feeling "lost" after diagnosis, she said now the tumour was known to be benign she was determined to get her licence back so she could fight in her debut match for promoter Frank Warren.
She said: "Boxing tests me spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically."
Ms Barke, who is originally from Luton, but moved to Sheffield in 2023 to join Steel City Gym in Darnall, said that as a child she had started out learning martial arts before taking up boxing.
She turned professional two years ago and admitted that after the tumour was discovered, she went through a "difficult time".
"But I'm grateful it was found. If it wasn't for the boxing test, I would be none the wiser," she said.
Ms Barke, who fights in the light-welterweight category, had her professional boxing licence removed after the discovery.
However, she said the tumour had since been found not to have grown or changed shape and she was now pushing to get the all-clear from doctors.
Top TierMs Barke, who turned professional in 2022, is waiting for the final sign-off before she can compete againPreviously, medics had wanted to remove the tumour, but after specialists examined it, they decided it would be safer not to operate.
That came as a "huge relief", Ms Barke said.
Since then, she had regularly been examined and her cognitive function tested.
She said she was now awaiting the "final sign-off" to fight again from the British Boxing Board of Control.
Meanwhile, the tumour would continue to be monitored about three times a year, she added.
If she succeeded in getting her licence renewed, her televised debut for promoter Frank Warren was expected to take place at the famous York Hall boxing venue in London's East End on 22 March.
Ms Barke said even though she could be punched in the head during that - or any - boxing match, she simply felt more "grateful for life" now.
"It's the path I want to follow, to inspire others, and I feel I have so much to give to the sport," she said.
"There is no other sport like boxing to push me to be my best self.
"If I need surgery in a few years, so be it. But I will be able to look back and say, I gave it 110%."
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