Media Man

Women's Boxing

Women's boxing has existed as an officiated sport since the beginning of the 20th century.

Compared to men's boxing, however, it lacked popularity and exposure. This might be attributed to the fact that women's boxing, at that period, confronted a society filled with stereotypes and which categorized professions as either 'men's work' or 'women's work', or because most people did not believe they would find the same caliber than in men's boxing.

It should be noted that during the 1970s, a popular female boxer came out of the United States Northwest. Her name was Cathy 'Cat' Davis and a few of her fights were televised. To this day, she remains the only female boxer to appear on the cover of Ring Magazine. But a scandal broke out where it was said that some of her fights had been fixed, and as a consequence, women's boxing as a sport was almost killed.

During the 1980s, women's boxing briefly resurfaced in California under the wings of sisters Dora and Cora Webber. The twin sisters were world champions and packed crunching punching power and a good chin.

But the boom of women's boxing came during the 1990s, coinciding with the boom of professional women sports leagues such as the WNBA and WUSA, and with boxers such as Delia 'Chikita' Gonzalez, Laura Serrano, Christy Martin, Deirdre Gogarty, Laila Ali, Jackie Frazier-Lyde, Lucia Rijker, Ada Velez, Ivonne Caples, Bonnie Canino and Sumya Anani, all world champions, jumping into the scene.

Nowadays, women's boxing's fan base is growing with a lot of television exposure and interesting fights. There are a few organizations that recognize world championship bouts, and fights are held in more than 100 countries worldwide.

April 16, 1992

After eight-years in court in Massachusetts, Gail Grandchamp of North Adams, Massachusetts wins her battle to fight as in a ruling by a state Superior Court judge who rules it was illegal to deny someone a chance to box based on gender. During her battle to win the right to box as an amateur, she passes the age of 36, the maximum age for amateur fighters. Even though she knew it would not help her as an amateur, Grandchamp continues her successful efforts, and eventually did box professionally for a time.

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