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She lives in a small, 900 year
old German town called Egeln,
situated on the river Bode, on
the outskirts of Magdeburg. Her
husband is German, but Diana
Spasova was born in Bulgaria in
1973. She was raised in Sofia
and lived there until 2002,
moved to Germany and eventually
married Dirk in 2015.
That’s the short version of the
personal angle on Spasova, but
of course there is much more to
tell.
“I
graduated from university in
Sofia with a Masters degree in
educational science, and have
teacher-training in Primary
School teaching”, explains
Diana.
“Currently
I work as a child care worker in
the English department of
“Dreisprachige Internationale
Grundschule”, a trilingual
all-day Primary School in
Magdeburg. So I am neither fish
nor fowl, but I am very happy
that in this school I can
combine child care and
teaching.”
So how did she get involved with
professional boxing? The days
where the sport and business of
boxing is handled only by men
are long gone, but it is still
not an environment you would
first expect to find a Primary
School teacher spend her spare
time.
“For
me it was a coincidence. After
moving to Germany, I was looking
for a job where I could improve
my German and at the same time
use the other languages I speak.
My brother-in-law made a contact
to an acquaintance of his, a
boxing promoter, and I was
hired.”
Diana worked for SES Boxing in
Magdeburg for five years, and
learned plenty about how the
boxing business works. She
values the fact that she met so
many, as she calls it,
“extraordinary and interesting
people”, which leads us to how
she got involved with the World
Boxing Federation:
“Some
of the SES boxers were fighting
for WBF titles, and so I was
actively communicating with
Howard (Goldberg), Marcel
(Nartz), Olaf (Schroeder) and
others from the WBF. They must
have liked how I worked, because
one day they approached me to
ask if I would like to join
them...”
And join the WBF she did, taking
on the role of General Secretary
in 2010. Due to her
effectiveness and
professionalism, the job got
more and more extensive as the
years passed, and she quickly
became an invaluable member of
the team.
After seven years as General
Secretary, she stepped down from
that position in the summer of
2017 and instead became a member
of the WBF Executive Board. This
meant a lighter work-load for
Diana, but it was also a
confirmation of her importance
to the organization.
Besides taking part in the
day-to-day board decisions of
the WBF, Diana also assist
promoters, managers and boxers
with organizational knowledge,
and the plan is for her to start
working as a WBF Championship
supervisor in the future.
But what she is too modest to
mention is that without her and
husband Dirk, the World Boxing
Federation (WBF) Conventions,
most recently held in Maribor,
Slovenia, would not be nearly as
successful and smoothly run as
they are.
Diana and Dirk are more or less
the heart and soul of the WBF
conventions, as they take care
of so many things its impossible
to mention them all. Before,
during and after, they are on
top of everything, from helping
with visa applications to acting
as the mobile office, always
available to help the guests.
“A
convention is more fun than
normal work”, says Diana. “For
me a WBF convention is a
melting-pot of cultures and
religions, people coming from
all walks of life getting closer
by exchanging opinions on
fights, boxers, venues or boxing
policy. Anything, really, but we
all share the same passion for
boxing.”
And, getting back to the “woman
in a mans world” scenario, which
is also impossible to ignore at
boxing conventions, Diana is
very open-minded and always
eager to learn new things:
“It
is a bit strange at times,
working mainly among men. I do
feel different as a woman, and
its sometimes a weird plus-minus
experience. However, I am trying
in my WBF work to “not be so
much a woman”, and to learn from
the men´s behavior as much as
possible.”
Before leaving Sofia for
Magdeburg, professional boxing
was probably one of the last
things Diana expected would be a
huge part of her life. But now
it is, and she also follows the
sport when she is not personally
involved.
“I
have no favorite boxers, but I
always watch boxing when fights
are shown on German TV.
Occasionally, I even buy
Pay-Per-View fights.”
It sure sounds like she has
boxing in her blood now! But if
you think she hasn’t thought
about why a teacher and child
care worker likes a violent
sport such as boxing, well, you
are sorely mistaking. In fact,
she can tell you very eloquently
and precisely what fascinates
her:
“The
pursuit of intelligence and easy
perfection in a fight. The mix
of testosterone, intelligent
movement and tactics. The
unconstrained emotion of the
audience. The vibration in the
air before a big fight. The hope
that your favorite boxer will
prevail. Those are all aspects
and situations I enjoy very
much.”
Yes, boxing is very much in her
blood!
And yes, without Diana, and
Dirk, the World Boxing
Federation would not be the
same. They are truly “unsung
heroes” and a major part in the
success of the WBF.
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