The Early Days
The road to becoming Australia’s first female World Champ has not been an easy one for Susie ‘Q’ Ramadan. Raised in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, Susie and older sister Julie had an up bringing that taught them very quickly, that life can be tough and often, very cruel. Both girls were raised in a home with traditional Albanian and Turkish traditions that made them ‘different’ to their neighbours and classmates. The sisters often had to use their small frames to fend off school bullies that were double their size.
The sisters had just two things that they completely loved and cherished – dancing and each other. In the privacy of their home while their parents worked double shifts to support the family, they would dance for hours, imitating their favourite hip hop dancers and dreaming of one day touring the world as dancers with the best hip hop artist in the world. Susie had her heart set on becoming a dancer. Her creativity and energy for dance was recognised by the Victorian School of Performing Arts however it wasn’t something the Ramadan family could afford. As the years went by, the Ramadan’s became hardened by the harsh realities of their neighbourhood. Julie turned to sport, namely soccer, to take her away from what she knew only led to trouble out on the streets while Susie was mixing with the ‘wrong’ crowds and getting into situations that took her deeper and deeper into the troubled street scene.
Knowing that her sister was in real danger of potentially winding up in a juvenile detention centre, Julie signed Susie up to their local soccer club with a barrage of protest from Susie who wasn’t interested. It didn’t take long for the smallest girl in the team to get noticed. Soccer gave Susie her first opportunity to really prove something to herself and to all the people that doubted her and tried to convince her that she would have to ‘settle’ in life. Being the victim of bullying for so long, both physical and verbal, she forgot how to dream and found it difficult to believe in herself.
After only a year of playing soccer, Susie became an invaluable team member. Year after year she would win ‘best and fairest’ awards nominated by her coaches and peers. For the first time, Susie recognised the level of athleticism she possessed and started to think about taking it to the next level, this time, as an individual.
Susie began her search for something that would demand the highest levels of discipline, mental toughness and that would be the most physically challenging for her. Soon after, she put on a pair of gloves that she has spent most of the past four years wearing, her boxing gloves.
Now, at the age of 32 and standing at 5″3, Susie has managed to turn her small stature into a complete powerhouse. The little girl that would dance for hours in her room now dances around her opponents like no other female before her has ever done. After 21 fights she remains undefeated – all by either judge’s unanimous decision or TKO (8). – She currently has 5 title belts, and is ranked #1 in the world with the IBF (Bantamweight). Not bad for a girl that was knocked about as a kid and picked on for her size!
