LONDONER Michele Aboro is among a select few in history to retire at the top of their game as undefeated boxing champions.

In 2002, the Super Bantamweight hung up her gloves, at least for the time being, and went to sound engineering school.

Aboro, the World International Boxing Federation (WIBF) Super Bantamweight champion, also excels in kickboxing.

Since moving to Shanghai in 2010, 45-year-old Aboro has seen opportunity in the city and aims to build broad support for boxing.

She partnered with Brawl on the Bund founder Shane Benis to open the city's only dedicated boxing gym, Golden Gloves Gym. She plans to open her own Arboro Academy this summer in Jing'an District.

These days she is training amateur fighters for the sixth Brawl on the Bund on June 15, a charity event.

She's also building a team of professional boxers. One of them fought in the recent Snatch Boxing event at O'Malleys. Keeping busy was a blessing, however, since last year she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I've dealt with everything," she tells Shanghai Daily. "I had chemo, radiation, and I'm in recovery."

While cancer may have been her toughest opponent, Aboro has made a career of knocking down obstacles in her fighting career. She credits boxing for her determination and praises the sport, known as the "sweet science," for its intelligence.

"It's a beautiful science," she says. "You cannot be a dumb boxer. Your brain has to be switched on because hands are coming at you so quickly. You have to be able to suss out how your opponent moves, why they do it and perceive their strong and weak points in less than a round. I compare it with chess because you have to be thinking 10 moves ahead."

Growing up in the Peckham area of South London with two brothers, Aboro grew up with boxing. She watched matches on TV on Sunday evenings in the boxing-oriented neighborhood where there were three boxing gyms within walking distance of her house.

While she have loved the sport, women were banned from boxing professionally in England at the time - the ban was lifted in 1996.

That prohibition forced her to choose other sports. Her first sport was motocross, but Aboro quickly developed a love for kickboxing. "I got totally hooked. I won my first title and became British champion within six months," she says. "Within two years, I was world champion."

Kickboxing took Aboro to the Netherlands in 1991 where she amassed titles and an impressive 32-2-1 record with 23 knockouts. She also excelled in Muay Thai boxing.

However, boxing was Aboro's main love and she laughs about the irony of not being allowed to box while competing in kickboxing.

"So, we can punch and knee and elbow each other to death but we can't just punch each other," she says. "It was basically down to the boxing board not wanting us to compete."

IN 1995, Aboro signed on with German boxing company Universum Boxing Association where she trained alongside some of the world's top fighters, including current WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko and his brother, Wladimir, the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring Heavyweight champion.

While in Germany, Aboro cultivated a large fan base. Walking down to the ring to either Public Enemy's "Fear of a Black Planet" or Afrika Bambatta's "Born African," with the classical "Nostradamus" thrown in from time to time, Aboro joins legendary American heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano as one of the few boxers to retire as undefeated champions.

Sound engineer

Among her many titles, Aboro is the WIBF champion, a title she captured in 2000. Fighting as a Super Bantamweight (118 to 122 pounds division), the 5'4" (162.5cm) Aboro was also the WBC world champion and frequently moved between weight classes because she "wanted to fight everyone who was good."

Running out of competitors by 2002, Aboro unofficially hung up the gloves and studied sound engineering. For five years, she toured the world as a sound engineer with acclaimed indie artists such as Rufus Wainwright and Anthony and the Johnsons. Then she opened a gym in gym in Holland.

However, a visit to friends in Shanghai convinced Aboro there was a huge opportunity in the city.

"I could see there was a big need for some form of fitness. The one thing people do here is party, drink and eat a lot, but they don't think about training," she says. "Boxing is a great form of fitness and even if you're not going to fight, a workout is great mentally and physically."

After arriving in Shanghai in late 2010, she met Brawl on the Bund founder Benis while he was training fighters for the first white-collar charity Brawl involving locals who duke it out.

She has her own boxing dreams.

"I really want to get together a team of Chinese boxers and build professional boxing here," she says. Although boxing had been banned for 27 years in China because it was considered too violent, the sport is slowly gaining popularity, aided by the success of two-time Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming and current WBC Minimum Weight champion Xiong Zhaozhong. He is the first Chinese boxer to claim a professional championship.

Currently, Aboro has three fighters (two Chinese and one Russian) in her stable, with plans for more. She was in Macau to watch Zou make his winning professional debut two weeks ago and is optimistic that boxing can make a mark in China.

Aboro understands the perception that boxing is a brutal sport, admitting that "the first time you get punched is not so nice, but you do get used it to it after a while."

Her Aboro Academy will offer classes devoted to boxing as a workout; sparring contact will be optional. Aboro has hired two trainers from Hong Kong and plans to offer classes in kickboxing, Muay Thai, function and movement, and eventually Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

People who work all day and then come to box tell her it's the only time they switch off. "It takes all their concentration to do what I'm telling them to do and they don't have time to think about anything else."

Despite all her successes and prospects, Aboro is haunted by the only two losses in her career - both over 20 years ago and each by one point. "I think that if I just did a little bit more ..."

(Andrew Chin is a Shanghai-based freelancer.)