Boxing manager and promoter Frank Warren believes his newest recruit Nicola Adams will be challenging for world titles 'within the year' after it was announced this morning (23 January) that Adams would be turning professional. The 34-year-old double Olympic champion has left Team GB with immediate effect and will make her professional debut on the Terry Flanagan undercard at Manchester Arena on 8 April before fighting in her home city, Leeds, on 13 May.

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And Warren, who already has the likes of WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe-Saunders and British featherweight champion Ryan Walsh in his stables, thinks 2012 and 2016 gold medallist Adams is destined for even greater things. "Of all the signings I have made in my 35 years in the sport of boxing, this is among the most I have been excited about. I think Nicola will be challenging for world titles within a year. We intend to lead her to become a multiple world champion.

The hugely popular Yorkshire-born star made herself a household name in the UK during the London 2012 Olympics where she won gold and then became the first British boxer to retain an Olympic title for 92 years by winning gold in the women's flyweight final at Rio 2016.

Nicola Adams
Adams topped the list of The Independent's 101 most influential LGBT people in Britain for 2012 Getty images

And the openly bisexual athlete believes she has made the right decision in not only turning professional but also signing for Warren. "Together we can help take women's boxing to new levels and I can't wait to get in the ring in April and start working towards becoming a world champion," the former European amateur champion said.