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Outlook: Sex Change Boxing Promoter

Kellie Maloney

17/06/2015

Sex Change Boxing Promoter

BBC World Service - Outlook, Sex Change Boxing Promoter

Kellie Maloney used to be Frank Maloney who was a big star in boxing - now she is a woman

Sex change boxing promoter Kellie Maloney; Iranian film maker Nima Sarvestani's mission to document oppression after the 1979 revolution; opera singer Noah Stewart

In the world of boxing, the name Frank Maloney has long packed a punch. As a top manager and promoter, he took several fighters from obscurity to stardom, including the former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Frank was known for his macho and controversially outspoken character. But last year, Frank made a revelation which took all his former colleagues by surprise. He announced that he was now transgender and had begun to live life as a woman called Kellie.

The Iranian film-maker Nima Sarvestani is on a mission. He has been recording the testimony of witnesses to persecution of opponents by the country's Islamic regime in the aftermath of the revolution of 1979. Nima says his own brother was hanged by the regime in the 1980s. He is concerned that those who remember what happened are now reaching the end of their lives. The revolution which overthrew the Shah of Iran was greeted at first with popular acclaim. But as the new government began to put down any opposition, Nima - who was then a journalist in the city of Shiraz - joined a radical left wing organisation.

American opera singer Noah Stewart is renowned for topping the classical music charts and dazzling audiences around the world with his good looks and smooth tenor tones. Yet 10 years ago he was struggling to make ends meet while looking for a singing job. Noah's rise from the tough streets of Harlem to the world's stage is like something out of a Hollywood film. 

Liu Huichang from the Chinese province of Sichuan has always wanted to play basketball but a rare condition has been holding him back. The 21-year-old has gigantism in his right foot which has never stopped growing. In fact it is now more than 40 centimetres long.  He has finally decided to have surgery to correct the problem and is currently in hospital. 

(Photo: Kellie Maloney. Credit: Getty Images)

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