Jerry-Lee: the paella powerhouse looking to make a statement

Jerry-Lee Palmer…looking for second win. Pic: Anna Skuse

TENERIFE Tornado Jerry-Lee Palmer – born in Solihull, raised on the Mediterranean island where she was crowned Spanish champ and now in Birmingham pursuing a pro career – is back in action on Sunday.

At the Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport, the 30-year-old will have her second outing, with Claire Watts, a Sheffield light-middle who has lost her two previous contests, in the opposite corner.

For the first time ever, Jerry-Lee’s mum Nicola will travel, with father Andy, from the family’s Tenerife home to watch her daughter perform. I imagine she’ll be witnessing events through a curtain of fingers.

“We’ve twisted mum’s arm,” Jerry-Lee said. “It’s a real dream to perform in front of her.”

Nicola shouldn’t have sleepless nights: Watts will not, I’m sure, rain on the paella party.

That’s because Palmer has a back story that is made for a bigger platform, that major broadcasters, such as Sky, could really sink their teeth into.

She learned to box in Tenerife, was selected to represent the Canary Islands in the 2019 Spanish championships, won them, then moved here and joined the army as a reservist.

Here, Jerry-Lee proved a real force. She won the prestigious Winter Women’s Cup, scooped gold and silver in Elite championships and took the Tri-Nations title.

The growing interest is understandable. The woman is a kind of Canary Islands’ Lara Croft. She’s brought a Sangria sweetness to the West Midlands fight scene.

For Palmer, managed by Birmingham’s world title challenger Matt Macklin, trained by former amateur coach Paul Gilmore, it is about improving on her debut.

Her debut was not faultless, in truth it wasn’t great. She entered the ring with the Czech Republic’s seasoned Ester Konecna nursing a nasal injury which curtailed sparring, was made to scrap and ended the four rounder bleeding heavily from the nose. Jerry-Lee didn’t have it all her own way, as reflected by the 39-37 scoreline.

“I didn’t have the sparring that was needed to enter the ring feeling I had ticked all the boxes,” Jerry-Lee said. “It was great to have a win, but I could’ve done better in that win.”

To that end, Palmer has employed “mental performance coach” Lee Johnson, an individual brought in to add that vital extra one per cent a champ needs.

That’s a surprise. During interview, Jerry-Lee is steel strong, confident and highly articulate.

“He has helped me in terms of overcoming last year which was really tough, I had to overcome a lot of obstacles,” Jerry-Lee explained.

“He’s kept burning that fight and fire in me that I will always have. He’ll say, ‘this is what I want you to do after sparring’. He’ll break it down and discuss what happened. Coming from the army, everything has to be organised and regimented – and that includes my life. It’s that one per cent that really goes a long, long way.

“The camp has been fantastic. My nose is fine. I’ve had a lot of hard, challenging spars, particularly with (Great Barr’s Midlands prospect of the year) Omarah Taylor. There’s a lot of respect between us, we bring the best out of each other.”

Palmer refuses to make grand predictions about future glories. “The sparring I’ve had has given me the confidence to say I can go a lot farther than my mind was originally set to,” she said. “I don’t want to run before I can walk, sprint before I can run.

“But with the right people around me, I can put a spanner in the works in my division.”