Our West Coast Bureau Chief David A. Avila, who covers the robust California boxing scene like a blanket, was at last night’s show at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. One of the undercard fights was a 4-round heavyweight affair that pitted 46-year-old Laura Ramsey against 60-year-old Keela Byars. The victorious Ramsey (TKO 4), weighed in at 216 and Byars at 220.
Laura Ramsey has been active since 2004, winning nine of her previous 15 fights. As for Byars, this was her second pro fight. In May of 2014, at a show in Montebello, California, Byars out-pointed a woman in her forties who weighed 295 pounds.
One guesses that the California commission consented to license a 60-year-old woman for fear of legal reprisals if they turned her application down. In our litigious society, the scent of trial lawyers lurking about often dictates the actions of government bureaucrats. In theory, denying Keela Byars a boxing license would have opened up the state to a lawsuit on grounds of age and/or gender discrimination. (There are two attorneys on the California commission, Martha Shen-Urquidez and Mary Lehman, the latter of whom is a former professional boxer.) It should also be noted that the commission promised to be extremely vigilant in seeing that Ms. Byars was properly matched.
Female boxing is here to stay. The number of competitors is growing in leaps and bounds, as is the overall skill level of the ladies that compete. But does the sport take a step back when a 60-year-old woman is granted a boxing license? Just asking. You tell me.
Laura Ramsey has been active since 2004, winning nine of her previous 15 fights. As for Byars, this was her second pro fight. In May of 2014, at a show in Montebello, California, Byars out-pointed a woman in her forties who weighed 295 pounds.
One guesses that the California commission consented to license a 60-year-old woman for fear of legal reprisals if they turned her application down. In our litigious society, the scent of trial lawyers lurking about often dictates the actions of government bureaucrats. In theory, denying Keela Byars a boxing license would have opened up the state to a lawsuit on grounds of age and/or gender discrimination. (There are two attorneys on the California commission, Martha Shen-Urquidez and Mary Lehman, the latter of whom is a former professional boxer.) It should also be noted that the commission promised to be extremely vigilant in seeing that Ms. Byars was properly matched.
Female boxing is here to stay. The number of competitors is growing in leaps and bounds, as is the overall skill level of the ladies that compete. But does the sport take a step back when a 60-year-old woman is granted a boxing license? Just asking. You tell me.
Was The California Boxing Commission Nuts to Approve This Match?
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