Åsa Maria Sandell is a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and professional super middleweight boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

.

Sandell was born in Hovsta

Hovsta

Hovsta is a locality and a parish situated in Örebro Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 2,773 inhabitants in 2005....

 in Örebro County

Örebro County

Örebro County is a county or län in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland.- Province :...

, and has a university degree in journalism and literature. As of 2004, she lives in Malmö

Malmö

Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...

 and works as editor at the Culture section at the newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad

Helsingborgs Dagblad

Helsingborgs Dagblad is the largest local newspaper in Swedish, published in Helsingborg in Skåne. It was founded in 1847. In 1892 it became one of the first daily papers in Sweden....

, based in nearby Helsingborg

Helsingborg

Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...

. She was European champion in 2000 and has been Swedish champion a few times. She met Laila Ali

Laila Ali

Laila Amaria Ali is a retired American professional boxer. She is the daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali from his third wife Veronica Porsche Ali.-Boxing career:...

 on December 17, 2005 in the Max-Schmeling-Halle

Max-Schmeling-Halle

Max-Schmeling-Halle is a multi-purpose arena, in Berlin, Germany, named after the famous German boxer Max Schmeling. Apart from the Velodrom, it's one of Berlin's biggest sport places and holds from 8,861 people, up to 10,050 people....

, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, but the judges controversially decided that she had lost on points after five rounds.

External links