In this episode, we’re joined by Sarah Mahfoud, a professional boxer and former featherweight world champion. We invited Sarah into the studio to talk about how you build a successful boxing career, the mindset it takes to reach the top, and why self-confidence and self-esteem matter so much.
Sarah opens the conversation by describing herself as a busy woman who always has a lot of plates spinning. Ask her opponents, and they’d probably describe her as technically gifted, a sharp reader of a fight and a boxer who gets better every time she steps into the ring.
All or nothing as motivation
In the episode, Sarah talks about the road from her first chance encounter with boxing to becoming world champion, and about the pressure that comes with being a professional in the media spotlight.
Sarah comes from a sporting family with a competitive mindset. She grew up with Danish, Syrian and Faroese culture, and it has always mattered to her family to come across as strong. She believes this has shaped her career choices. As an amateur boxer, she says, she wasn’t serious at all, and the parties of her youth were a higher priority. That changed when she turned professional and realised that more people had something at stake, so she had to pull herself together.
Sarah describes the move from amateur to professional as hard, because the pressure became something else once the media had noticed her. Today she’s driven by an all-or-nothing mentality and hopes she can be a role model and inspire others to fight hard and follow their dreams.
“My baseline has to be so high that even a bad day is good enough”
Sarah says her mindset as a boxer is crucial to her ability to perform and develop. She learns the most from defeats, because that’s when she reflects the most. That’s why she believes athletes have to focus on their defeats if they want to reach the top. It matters to her that her baseline is so high that a bad day can’t knock her out. Even on a poor day, she always has to be ready to give her best and win an important fight.
Training intensely can be mentally draining. That’s why Sarah is always aware of the mindset she brings into her career. The road to success can feel overwhelming, with lots of disappointments and long, hard training sessions. But she knows that in the end it gives her an adrenaline rush like no other, one that makes it clear why she works so hard.
Meditation and breathing techniques have made her stronger as a person and a boxer
The conversation about intense pressure and self-confidence leads us on to a sensitive subject. For several years, Sarah struggled with low self-esteem after a relationship marked by psychological abuse. She tells the story of that journey in the DR documentary “Sarah Mahfouds hemmelighed”. Sarah points out that if you feel bad about yourself, it’s harder to set boundaries.
With the help of meditation and breathing techniques, Sarah got on top of her inner demons. She describes how these techniques have helped her become both a stronger person and a stronger boxer. Solid self-esteem is crucial in the boxing world, Sarah says. If you show weakness in the ring, she points out, you’ve effectively already lost the first round. That’s why it’s essential for Sarah to be focused, prepared and ready to fight every time she steps into the ring.