At just 19, Stalbridge’s Ruby White announced her arrival on the senior international stage with four exceptional performances and a Commonwealth silver medal.
Speaking to Laura Hitchcock from the long journey home, she reflected on the heartbreak, the lessons – and why she already wants revenge.
For most boxers, a Commonwealth silver medal would be a career-defining achievement. For Ruby White, sitting exhausted on the coach home from Glasgow, it was taking a little time to feel like one.
At just 17 Ruby won the inaugural U19 World Boxing Championships (48kg, Colorado, October 2024), and is a four-time European champion. She was named as Female Boxer of the Year at the 2026 England Boxing annual awards. But she arrived at the Commonwealth Games relatively unknown outside the boxing world.
She left as one of the stars of the England team.
Ruby’s competition began against South Africa’s Thandolwethu Mathiba. A powerful, controlled display earned her a unanimous decision and a place in the quarter-finals, with the commentators declaring: ‘A star is born in the ring today.’
Two days later, Uganda’s Angel Katushabe faced the same combination of speed, control and heavy shots. Ruby dominated all three rounds to secure another unanimous victory – and with it, the guarantee of a Commonwealth medal.
Her ‘smart, sharp boxing and quick feet’ were singled out by the commentary team, who were already describing her as one of the standout performers of the Games.
The semi-final brought Ruby’s most spectacular performance of the week. Against Namibia’s Mischa Monique Araes, she was utterly dominant. Araes was knocked down at the end of the opening round, before being forced into two standing counts in the second. The referee stopped the contest midway through the second round.
‘No one copes with Ruby’s speed,’ said former world champion Richie Woodhall. Commentator Dave Farrar called her ‘magnificent’, describing the performance as ‘an absolute masterclass from the Pocket Rocket’.
It was Ruby’s 68th consecutive victory, extending an unbeaten run that stretched beyond 80 bouts when her junior and youth contests were included.
The final presented an entirely different challenge.
India’s Sakshi Chaudhary was taller, six years older and vastly more experienced at senior level. The 2025 World Boxing Cup champion had also dropped down from 54kg – the weight class above Ruby’s – to compete in Glasgow. She used her reach to control the distance, taking a cautious opening round and continuing to frustrate Ruby through the second and third. When Sakshi’s hand was raised, Ruby could not hide her heartbreak .
Yet Richie Woodhall’s assessment of her week was unequivocal. He said Ruby could ‘be proud of that silver medal’ because she had ‘boxed exceptionally well’, and named her as one of the standout star performers of the England team. ‘She’s just going to get better and better,’ he added.
‘I believe I won silver’
By Sunday morning, Ruby was on the England team coach travelling south from Scotland. She was physically and emotionally exhausted – and still trying to put the previous evening into perspective.
‘I’m okay. Obviously, I’m still a little bit upset,’ she says. ‘But the support has been crazy. It’s been really lovely. I want to thank everyone, because all the messages and the amount of lovely comments I’ve had, it’s just been mad.’
Ruby had spent a full week in Glasgow training before her competition began, and she had felt confident from the start.
‘For the first few fights, I was really confident. Then obviously I had the tough Indian in the final. People don’t realise how experienced she is. She’s a very talented girl and she’s a lot bigger than me, so it was always going to be a tough fight.
‘I knew that from the start. I should have changed the game plan and done something different, but I gave it a good go. And now I know what I need to work on. I believe I won that silver. I didn’t lose gold – I won the silver.’
Ruby has spent years dominating the junior and youth ranks, but has only stepped up to Team GB boxing this year – a move which brings stronger, more experienced opponents.
‘I’m still new to the senior elites. I’m not used to fighting bigger, stronger, older women, so I just need to gain more experience on that front.’
Putting her name on the map
Ruby’s family and supporters were clearly visible in the stands throughout the week, celebrating every victory and sharing the pain of the final defeat.
‘Normally, I don’t notice anything when I’m coming into the ring,’ she says. ‘But I was aware of them for the final. Perhaps that says my head wasn’t in its right place quite as much for the last fight.’
The emotion did not end when Ruby left the ring, however: within moments she was expected to face cameras and interviews, while still trying to process the end of her eight-year unbeaten run and the loss of the gold medal she had been certain she could win. ‘I get overwhelmed very quickly, and I don’t like socialising for too long,’ she says. ‘It’s been a long week, and then trying to put on a brave face after losing the fight and doing all the media interviews straight out of the ring was so difficult.
‘Now I’m just looking forward to having some time to unwind, reflect on it all and look at it from a more positive perspective.’
That perspective was already beginning to appear during our conversation.
‘Hopefully I’ve put myself out there a little bit more. Gold was the colour I wanted, but I also needed to put my name on the map in the senior ranks. We’ll go again in six weeks at the Europeans, and then there are the rest of the tournaments this year. It’s all learning, isn’t it?’
Beyond those immediate competitions lies an even bigger target. Olympic qualification begins next year – and Ruby is already thinking about the possibility of meeting Sakshi again.
‘I want revenge,’ she says, with the familiar determination returning to her voice.
‘I’ve only been on GB for a matter of weeks. Imagine how good I’m going to be with their help?
‘Winning silver basically off my own back, with the help of my club of course, has been great. But now I’ve got the best coaches in the world training me, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how much I can improve.’
First, however, there will be a brief attempt at rest.
‘I’m going to have a week off boxing,’ she says – before immediately adding: ‘I’m still going to do my runs while I’m on holiday, though, obviously.’
The disappointment is still raw, as it inevitably will be for an athlete who arrived expecting to win. But Ruby White went to Glasgow as a hugely promising young boxer taking her first steps in the senior elite ranks. She returned to Dorset as a Commonwealth silver medallist, the star performer of the England team – and with the wider boxing world now very much aware of Dorset’s Pocket Rocket.
