As a child in an authoritarian, socialist country, Choi Hyunmi’s athletic talent was spotted early and her progress accelerated by a coach keen to impress the leader of North Korea.

After packing the gloves away when her family defected to the South, it was boxing that helped her two years later after she faced discrimination.

Nearly two decades after fleeing North Korea as a 13-year-old girl, Choi is South Korea’s only boxing world champion. She harbors ambitions to unify her super featherweight division and to move up a weight to challenge Irish legend Katie Taylor, who is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the women’s ranks.

Choi’s big push got off to a rocky start, when her planned unification bout with WBC title-holder Terri Harper in May was cancelled because of the British boxer’s hand injury.

Still, what the undefeated WBA champion has already achieved makes her a great ambassador for North Korean defectors in South Korea.