You definitely don't want to mess with this 9-year-old girl
Think girls can’t box as well as fully-grown men? Think again.
When it comes to future sports stars, we’ve got our eyes on Azizah Nur Laila.
The 9-year-old, who’s from Indonesia but was until recently living in Dubai, has already been dubbed a “beast” at boxing thanks to her super-speedy hooks, tucks and jabs.
So fast is she that she’s already managed to outbox UAE coach, Adam Kechil.
A video of Laila taking on (and, let’s be fair, totally smashing) Kechil has started to catch the world’s attention after being featured on INSIDER Video, where it’s quickly garnered more than eight million views.
Her coach also shared the clip on his YouTube page, where he paid tribute to Laila and her siblings, who took part in his kids’ boxercise class for five months.
If Laila’s floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee in that time, just imagine what she’ll be like in five years.
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Shortly after she joined the class, Kechil realised she could throw punches faster than the older boys – and within three months she was quicker than the coach himself.
“Honestly, she is faster at punching than I am at holding the pads,” Kechil said in the video.
The speed-pad exercise tests an athlete’s natural instinct – so all those quick-fire ducks Laila’s pulling off? They’re not pre-practiced.
But it’s not just Laila’s talents that impressed her coach – he was also won over by her commitment and dedication.
“[Laila and her siblings] have taught me the beauty of teaching children and reinforced my belief that good and polite kids exist,” Kerchil wrote on YouTube. “They have inspired an old man (yes, me).”
Sadly Laila’s family left Dubai earlier this year as her father no longer had a job, a loss which left Kerchil “more than a little tearful”.
“They were tears of happiness, achievement and tears of sheer distraught. I didn’t expect our journey to be over so soon and moreover so suddenly.”
Though we’re not sure where or what Laila’s doing now, we know this isn’t that last we’ve heard of her…
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