Miraya Borg Ali Storm interview on Thailand and turning pro

In the Miraya Borg Ali Storm interview for FightTalk.mt, the 17-year-old said she plans to train in Thailand for three weeks in January, may compete there without shin pads and eventually wants to turn professional. Borg also discussed winning gold in Rome shortly before claiming a World Boxing Council Muay Thai amateur European title in Sardinia, and how Calvin Dean has shaped her training at Malta Fight Co.

What did Miraya Borg say about winning in Rome and Sardinia?

Miraya Borg won gold in Rome before competing for the World Boxing Council Muay Thai amateur European title in Sardinia. She told Ali Storm that Rome brought stress, but the next event carried more pressure because Calvin Dean considered it an important step for her career. Borg had trained in kickboxing for four years, though she had only recently started Muay Thai.

Gold in Rome

Borg said she was not worried before Rome, but she felt more stress there. She went in intending to do her best and won. Once they returned home, Dean told her they had to prepare for the next competition, which Borg recalled was roughly five days away.

Her earlier kickboxing experience mattered to that quick turnaround. She had trained in the sport for four years, competed in K1 and done some work with elbows before moving into Muay Thai. She estimated that she began Muay Thai when she started training with Dean, about five months before speaking with Storm.

The European title in Sardinia

Dean told Borg that the World Boxing Council Muay Thai event would be a useful step in her career. That made Sardinia feel more consequential to her than Rome. Borg also described the setting as reassuring: with fights taking place across four rings, she knew other athletes were competing rather than feeling that every spectator was watching her at once.

How did Miraya Borg’s Muay Thai training change under Calvin Dean?

Miraya Borg said Calvin Dean gave her a detailed training plan that helped her gain weight and feel more powerful when sparring, hitting pads and kicking. His advice also changed how she approaches difficult sessions: Borg sees preparing her mindset as a central part of training, rather than treating physical work as the only challenge.

Borg already knew Dean before she began working with him. She recalled weighing about 42 kilograms when she joined him and said she was around 46 kilograms at the time of the conversation. Putting on weight was challenging initially, she said, but had become easier.

She noticed the difference in training, particularly in the force she could produce on pads and in sparring. Dean sent her a plan covering what she needed to do, and Borg credited the weight gain with making her feel more powerful. She also said he creates opportunities for her to compete.

Asked about the hardest part of training, Borg said the sessions themselves no longer felt as difficult as they once had, although parts remained hard. She gave particular weight to mental preparation. As Borg put it:

I think the best training you can do is prepare your mindset.

Dean’s advice, she said, is to believe in herself. His technical instructions can be just as persistent: he tells her to kick better and corrects her when a requested middle kick goes too high.

How do training and family support shape Miraya Borg’s week?

Miraya Borg trains six days a week, from Sunday through Friday, and takes Saturday off. She said her family shares the sacrifices involved in competing by taking her where she needs to go. Before fights, she prefers spending time with them or finding a quiet moment to shadowbox and think through combinations.

Having finished her studies, Borg described a day built largely around training. She may train or run in the morning, then train again at night. The routine is so established that she finds it difficult to imagine her life without combat sports.

Her friends were initially surprised by her choice, Borg said, partly because she is small and because some people told her the sport was unsuitable for a woman. Her friends knew how committed she would be, however, and supported her. They attend her fights in Malta, though they generally cannot follow her to competitions abroad.

Both parents get nervous when she fights. Borg said her mother shows it more openly, while she suspects her father may be even more nervous despite hiding it. He is also her loudest supporter. After accompanying her abroad on earlier occasions, he encouraged her to travel with her coach and make more of her own choices.

What did Miraya Borg say about the Muay Thai Grand Prix in Malta?

Miraya Borg expected to feel some nerves before fighting on the Muay Thai Grand Prix card in Malta, but said experience had made competing before a home crowd easier. Rather than try to eliminate the nerves, she reminded herself that she had trained well and would give her best when it was her turn to fight.

The event discussed with Storm was scheduled for November 27 at Ta’ Qali Basketball Pavilion. A Malta fight offered something different from Borg’s recent trips abroad: friends who could not travel to watch her in Rome or Sardinia would be able to attend at home.

Her family remains part of her preparation even when she seeks quiet before a bout. Borg said she does not have a particular song that gets her ready; she might instead ask her father whether he likes a song she has chosen. Closer to fighting, she prefers to stay with family, spend time on her own, shadowbox and consider combinations.

She also described the feeling of seeing supporters in person. Their help matters when she competes abroad, even when they are not there, but their presence at a venue gives her an immediate reason to make them proud.

What are Miraya Borg’s plans for Thailand and turning pro?

Miraya Borg said she planned to spend three weeks training in Thailand in January and might compete there without shin pads for the first time. Beyond that trip, she wants to continue fighting, hopes to keep winning and expects eventually to turn professional. She has not set a specific title or deadline as her next career goal.

The possibility of competing in Thailand was still uncertain when Borg discussed the trip. What she could state firmly was that she wanted to keep progressing through fights and opportunities rather than attach her career to one immediate target.

Training with a wafer

One of the fighters helping her progress is a wafer, an older, more experienced athlete at her gym. Borg said they train together every day and Dean frequently pairs them because there is not a large difference in their weights. She looks up to a wafer and credits her with giving substantial help.

Asked what she hoped to report after another year or two, Borg spoke about winning more and taking part in an event or championship. She did not name a particular competition. Her longer-term direction was clearer: keep fighting and, eventually, go pro.

What did Miraya Borg say about Calvin Dean’s coaching style?

Miraya Borg described Calvin Dean as a great coach who improvises, though she jokingly called him a bully sometimes. She chose him over her father when asked who was scarier about her training. Her account of Dean shouting during a fight showed how his demanding instructions can also make her laugh.

Borg recalled becoming slower during a bout and hearing Dean yell in Maltese that she could not sleep there. She and her father still laugh about the moment. It fits the coaching style she described elsewhere: Dean pushes her to believe in herself while insisting that she sharpen details such as the height of a kick.

Outside the gym, Borg said she has no fixed post-fight meal. She chooses according to what she craves at the time, though a good burger appealed to her. Her answers kept returning to training: asked what she was especially good at beyond combat sports, she said her focus was boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai.