Women’s Boxing: A Noble and Uphill Battle for Acceptance

Constellation 52 Blocks Combat & Fitness › 52 FIGHER Interviews › Women’s Boxing: A Noble and Uphill Battle for Acceptance

For most people, the thought of their loved ones getting punched in the face for fun is not exactly appealing.

And when that person is a woman it becomes even more undesirable. But why are there so many women and girls attracted to the sport of boxing?

The first appearance of the sport was in the Olympic Games in 1904, as a demonstration bout. Female boxing remained a taboo and was banned in most countries for most of the twentieth century. Most societies saw boxing as a man’s sport.

In the 1990’s, there was a boom in popularity for women’s sport in general. Big names started to emerge like Laila Ali the daughter of Muhammed Ali.

At an amateur level, the popularity of the sport continues to rise. Jennifer Santiago is a boxing trainer at the Printing House Sports Club in Lower Manhattan. As an amateur, she won the USA Golden Gloves tournament two years in a row.

She said: “In the beginning it was mostly males, but six-and-a-half years later, it’s majority female.”

Despite this growing popularity, professional women’s boxing is a long way from being able to compete with the male sport. There are very few incentives for professional women boxers according to David Carter, the assistant professor of sports marketing at USC Marshall School of Business.

Said Carter “Denial of entry into the 2008 Beijing Olympics by the International Olympic Committee is yet another blockade that ruins any opportunity for potential business in the sport.”

Ray Stallone is the vice president of HBO’s media relations. He said “There is no incentive to do one fight. We like to do a series of fights.”

Asked whether HBO would ever screen women’s boxing he said “HBO would definitely entertain the idea of women’s boxing, just not right now.”

But do people only participate in sport to become professional? The huge popularity of amateur women’s boxing suggests not.

Jim Atkinson is a trainer at Fitzroy Lodge boxing club in Lambeth, south London. Atkinson said “Fitzroy Lodge is fully in support of women’s boxing and we installed a women’s shower and changing room at our own expense.”

In Dunfermline, Scotland, Jayne Mowbray hopes to organize the first all-female boxing bill. Mowbray, a 28-year-old social worker, trains amateur women boxers from all walks of life at Mickey’s Gym. Many of her clients wish to fight competitively, once their affiliation with Amateur Boxing Scotland is formalized.

Mowbray said “Several (boxers) are married with children and are using boxing as a means to boost their confidence and condition their bodies.”

Mowbray’s star pupil is 29-year-old Venture Scout leader, Frances Elder.

She said “The thought of getting hurt doesn’t bother me at all. When you’ve been running a scout troop you get used to being knocked around a bit.”

However, boxing manager Adil Ciftici of Fight Night Events in Berlin said “Knowing that the average boxing fan doesn’t fancy women’s boxing as much, it needs a special combination of capability, personality and physical attraction in order to have a chance of achieving something big in this sport.”