Ash Heal to channel dad Shane’s grit against Charles Barkley in professional boxing debut

Her dad made sure their name would always be synonymous with grit and having a crack.

There was no better example of that than on basketball’s biggest stage nearly 20 years ago, when Heal went toe-to-toe, and chest-to-chest with the legendary Charles Barkley.

It’s that kind of mongrel Ash wants to take into the ring with her when she makes her professional boxing debut on the undercard to Nikita Tszyu’s return from injury against Lulzim Ismaili on August 20 at the ICC Exhibition Centre in Sydney.

“I’m a bit of a firecracker, like dad,” Ash tells Code Sports two weeks out from her pro debut against Shannon Rose (0-1). “Like father, like daughter.”

Nearly 30 years ago, Heal came face-to-face with a fired-up Barkley in an exhibition game against the reigning Olympic champion Americans in the lead-up to the Atlanta Olympics.

The flashpoint came late in the first half when Barkley took Heal out in the air as the Sydneysider shot one of the eight threes he made that night.

It was already a fiery contest, and Heal wasn’t about to take a backward step, so he fired off a few choice words as he picked himself up off the floor.

“I don’t know whether he didn’t hear me, or couldn’t understand my accent, so I said it again,” Heal said years later. “That’s when it all escalated.”

There was a furious melee, with jersey grabbing and more sledging, before Barkley aimed a finger at Heal at halftime and fired an imaginary gun.

Still, Heal didn’t back down, and finished the game with 28 points, and left a lasting impression on Barkley.

Nineteen years on, Ash is approaching her first pro bout with the same kind of mindset.

“Any time you bring up Shane Heal, you talk about that story,” she says. “Dad was one of the best to play for Australia, and now, whenever you say, ‘Heal’, you think of toughness and fight, and that’s pretty cool.

“I definitely take that from dad.”

Ash didn’t follow boxing at all as a youngster, and didn’t know much about the sport before walking into a gym for the first time in 2022.

“I got bullied at school, and I came home and dad said, ‘I’m gonna show you how to protect yourself’, but before that I’d never boxed in my life,” she says.

“I played basketball for 15 years, but three years ago, I went through a tough period in my life, and decided not to play basketball anymore.

“I went through a tough period where I put on about 25 kilos in 12 weeks, not knowing I had diabetes.

“I got a bit sick, and dad said, ‘If you’re not playing basketball, you should take up another sport. You’ve always wanted to try boxing’.”

At first, she had a vague idea of having a fight one day, but soon caught the boxing bug.

Her dad remains her number one fan, posting videos and photos of her fights to social media and attending every fight he can.

“I went head first into it with health and fitness goals, and maybe the idea of having one amateur fight one day, now here we are,” she says. “Three years ago I first walked into the boxing gym, and two years ago, I went and watched my friend, Ella Boot fight in Sydney on a No Limit card, and walked away so inspired.

“I told dad then that I wanted to be a professional boxer.

“I want to take it as far as I can. We’re focused on getting the job done on August 20, but we’re only scratching the surface.

“I’ve got so much to learn, but I’m hungry to do the best I can, and we always have a crack at everything we do.”