Female fighters

[Ben Bolt]

August 1978: for the first time, the Bible of Boxing - i.e. The Ring - had a female fighter on its cover.
Which led to, a lot of readers cancelled their subscriptions.



My comment: Well, Cathy Davis didn't really deserve to be on the cover. She retired 10-0 (10 KOs), but four victories came against some Margie Dunson, who according to boxrec, never won a fight. It was too hasty, trying to launch women's boxing.

Wiki: Women's boxing first appeared in the Olympic Games at a demonstration bout in 1904. For most of the twentieth century, however, it was banned in most nations ... Women's boxing was included in the Olympic programme for the first time in London 2012, with female boxers able to participate in flyweight, lightweight and middleweight.

The Ring's Women's P4P ratings, Sept. 2014
1. Cecilia Braekhus, Norway, welterweight, 25-0 (7)
2. Jelena Mrdjenovich, Canada, featherwt., 32-9-1 (16)
3. Yesica Yolanda Bopp, Argentina, flyweight, 27-1 (12)
4. Jessica Chavez, Mexico, light flyweight, 20-3-3 (4)
5. Ava Knight, USA, light flyweight, 12-2-3 (5)
6. Diana Prazak, Australia, light lightweight, 13-2 (9)
7. Erica Anabella Farias, Argentina, lightwt., 19-1 (9)
8. Marcela Eliana Acuna, light featherwt., 41-6-1 (18)
9. Delfine Persoon, Belgium, lightweight, 29-1 (13)
10. Melissa Hernandez, USA, featherweight, 19-5-3 (6)

[Ben Bolt]

Coming up, Sept. 6:

Alicia "Slick" Ashley, 21-9-1, and 47 (!) years of age [she really belongs in this history section], defending the WBC super bantam title against Jackie Nava, 29-4-3. The fight given a 5-star rating on boxrec.

[Anthony342]

How many knockouts do they both have, Ben? And I've been meaning to check out Bopp and Braekhus, but I want to get through the rest of my sets first, like Barrera, Louis, Lewis, Holmes, Holyfield, etc.

[Juof]

Not sure if women have iron chins or malignaggi fists. None the less they can scrap for hours never tiring.

[New England]

Not sure if women have iron chins or malignaggi fists. None the less they can scrap for hours never tiring.

i've seen dozens of women fight pro live, and i've seen one bonafide knockout. straight left hand absolutely dropped a girl named addy irizeri, who i had seen fight several times and knew as an acquaintance. she was definitely out. not sure on the spelling, or even the pronunciation of that name. first name was actually "adelita." they brought out a stretcher, and everybody held their breath. it turned out that the stretcher was brought out because the girl tore up her knee when she went down. it sucks that she damaged ligaments, but it was better than seeing her stretchered out due to head trauma.



surprisingly, i found a recording.
if you knew what you were looking at, you could tell right away that the left handed girl had some power.


honestly, i'm not sure how i feel about women's boxing. the skill level is low, and the risk is still high. i don't generally care to watch it, but it's pretty common to see on undercards on the east coast.

[New England]

the best female fighter i've ever seen was lucia rjiker. she had legit power, and was a decent technician.

rumor has it that she was a serious abuser of male hormones.


i've also heard that layla ali could fight, but i've never seen any of her fights.

[DondiNeverLeft]

the best female fighter i've ever seen was lucia rjiker. she had legit power, and was a decent technician.

rumor has it that she was a serious abuser of male hormones.


i've also heard that layla ali could fight, but i've never seen any of her fights.

I agree. Lucia was real and Ali was too.

I recently caught a fight with a female called Serrano from Brooklyn. She looks pretty good. I think her record is like 20-1 with 15 KOs. She also has a sister that fights.

[Anthony342]

Yep they are two of my favorites, which now include among the women:

Laila Ali
Mia St. John
Christy Martin
Lucia Rijker
Cecila Braekhus
Yesica Bopp
Jessica Rakoczy
Holly Holm

Jessica and Holly retired from boxing and are both trying their hand at MMA now. I remember Lucia as the girl who paralyzes Hillary Swank in Mlion Dollar Baby as well.

[TBear]

August 1978: for the first time, the Bible of Boxing - i.e. The Ring - had a female fighter on its cover.
Which led to, a lot of readers cancelled their subscriptions.



My comment: Well, Cathy Davis didn't really deserve to be on the cover. She retired 10-0 (10 KOs), but four victories came against some Margie Dunson, who according to boxrec, never won a fight. It was too hasty, trying to launch women's boxing.

Ironic but I started subscribing to the Ring about five months after that issue. I never seen that issue before but personally I never embraced women's boxing, as they say "each to their own". But I would never would have cancelled my subscription back then over them acknowledging their role in the sport.

[Biolink]

Watching women box is kinda like bizarro world, but I still have a high amount of respect for anybody that can get in there.