Women’s professional boxing has long since exploded beyond the borders of the United States and is now accepted on a global basis…
“Unless women get more recognition, we will be fighting just as a novelty for the rest of our lives. There will be no future.”—Marian “Lady Tiger” Trimiar (1987)
“It took the sight of a female boxer bleeding like a stuck pig while winning her fight that put our sport on the world’s media radar in 1996!”—Christy Martin bio (
http://ift.tt/S76mOF)
The Current Landscape
Women’s professional boxing has long since exploded beyond the borders of the United States and is now accepted on a global basis with many key fights taking place in Europe and South America. Today’s landscape is dotted with skilled performers like Christina Hammer, Jessica Rakoczy, Susi Kentikian, Susie Ramadan, Marcela Eliana Acuna , Cecilia Braekhus, Yesica Yolanda Bopp, Monica Acosta, Jackie Nava, Ava Knight, Carina Moreno, Anne Sophie Mathis, Myriam Lamare, Ina Menzer, Alicia Ashley, Melinda Cooper, Jessica Chavez, and Layla McCarter.
With a nod to Latinas, the combatants come from everywhere and anywhere and many will fight everywhere and anywhere (Japan, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, Czech Republic, Germany, France, and the United States) to prove their worth and earn a living—and they often will do this regardless of size or weight. In this regard, catchweight bouts occur with a startling frequency with boxers moving up or down several levels to get the appropriate matchup.
Thirty-four-year-old Layla McCarter (35-13-5), known as “The Amazing,” may be the best of the current bunch, though she started slowly going 1-4-1 in her first six professional outings. But then she found her groove and has not lost since 2007 when she dropped an MD to Melissa Hernandez. Last year, she knocked out in sizzling fashion South Africa’s Noni Tenge in South Africa no less. She is on a 12-fight win streak and is now calling out the undefeated (but overhyped) Cecilia Braekhus. The Las Vegas boxer (by way of Ontario, Canada) has been fighting since 1998 and has exceptional technical skills. Adding to her gravitas, she has won world titles in the featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior middleweight divisions.
The super-skilled Jessica “Raging” Rakoczy (my personal favorite) can box or brawl depending on the situation. She is a three-time WIBA World Champion and two time former WBC Lightweight Champion. In January 2013, she won the vacant WIBA Women’s International Boxing Association super bantamweight title against Ada “Ace” Velez (20-5-3). “She really is the fastest fighter I ever fought…I’d say she is the best fighter I ever fought,” 62-fight veteran Mia St. John said after losing a UD in 2004. As further testament to Jessica’s abilities, she lost a controversial SD to the highly respected Jenifer Alcorn back in 2003 in a bid for the vacant IWBF International Women’s Boxing Federation lightweight title
“Raging” has gone 2-0 against a prime Mia St. John, 3-0-0-1 against teak tough gatekeeper Belinda Laracuente (26-27-3), and 1-0 against a young McCarter. She also TKO’d England’s rugged Jane Couch in 2005 and beat slick Cindy Serrano three years later. Rakoczy’s stellar record stands at 33-3-0-1.
Speaking of Laracuente, a New Yorker by way of Puerto Rico, no one in female boxing has faced tougher opposition (although long-in-the-tooth Dakota Stone comes close). Her opponents include Rakoczy (three times), McCarter (twice), Mathis, Jamie Clampitt, Holly Holm, Melissa Del Valle, Duda Yankovich, Missy Fiorentino, Chevelle Hallback, Ann Saccurato (whom she beat 2005 in a giant upset), Mary Jo Sanders, Sumya Anani, Christy Martin, and Myriam Lamare (twice). For those who follow women’s boxing, this partial list reflects the very best of the best in women’s boxing.
A Virtual Hall of Fame
As good as these women are, their hope of ever getting into a Boxing Hall of Fame is slim. In fact, to my knowledge, there is no such place exclusively reserved for them. However, on October 24, 2009, undefeated Lucia “The Dutch Destroyer” Rijker became the first female to be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame, which is the smaller of the two recognized boxing halls, the other being the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.
In the absence of anything more definitive, let’s just call this my effort at establishing the first “Virtual Hall of Fame for Women Boxers” with the following nine fighters (in chronological order) as my INITIAL inductees.
Christy Martin (1989-2012)
“Not only was the bout between…Martin and…Gogarty…more competitive than the typical prelim, but it had more action and better boxing than the main event…and there was gore to boot, all of it Martin’s. After Gogarty rocked her in the second round Martin bled wildly from the nose; it was a harmless injury, but eye opening for the fans who were expecting Foxy Boxing.”—Richard Hoffer (Sports Illustrated)
While there were several top notch female boxers in the 1970s and ‘80s including Carolina Svendsen, Pat Pineda, Cathy “Cat” Davis, Lady Tyger Trimiar and Jackie Tonawanda, female boxing really didn’t grab hold until the 1990s when Christy “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” Martin broke the walls down. This boxing pioneer was already a three-time world champ when she met Deirdre Gogarty (from County Louth, Ireland) on the undercard of the highly anticipated Frank Bruno-Mike Tyson title fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 1996.
The fight, which was televised by Showtime, was a gory and brutal one that would provide an indelible memory for the millions who watched it. By the second round, blood gushed from Martin’s nose onto her pink trunks and by the fourth, both fighters were going after each other like a carpenters pounding on nails. While Deirdre had problems with Christy‘s fierce body attack and incoming bobbing and weaving pressure ala Mike Tyson, she responded brilliantly and was still on her feet at the end of a rousing and fierce war that supercharged female boxing more than any other single event. The fight made the covers of many magazines, and fans of Women’s Boxing considered it the female version of the “Thrilla in Manila.” Women’s Sports and Fitness magazine said the fight “ripped down the cutesy veil that had relegated women to the foxy-boxing fringes of the sport.’” The perceived “cutesy” had been replaced by no-nonsense, blood-spattering fury. Oh yes, Martin won by a six-round decision moving her record to 29-1-2.
Outside the ring, Martin endured a turbulent personal life but that’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say that Christy now resides happily with her partner and continues to train to stay in shape. Her last bout on August 14, 2012 was an upset loss to a somewhat shopworn Mia St. John after which “The Coal Miner’s Daughter” announced her retirement finishing with a 49-7-3 record and a legacy of being a true trailblazer in a new era of technically skilled and highly competitive female boxers.
As for Mia St. John (47-13-2), she is still fighting though her best days are behind her.
Regina Halmich (1994-2007)
This German-born female flyweight boxer was the German champion in kickboxing as an amateur in 1992, 1993 and 1994, a year in which she also earned the European title. As a professional boxer, she fought in five different weight divisions, and is among the most successful female boxers of all time. More to the point, Halmich helped popularize female boxing in Europe and her remarkable 54-1-1 record remains unmatched.
Halmich was a master boxer with one of the best jabs in female fight history. She won titles in the junior flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight divisions beating many high quality fighters along the way.
Her only loss was on cuts to Yvonne Trevino in 1995 for the vacant WBF Women’s International Boxing Federation flyweight title in a short but hard-fought affair in which both were on the canvas in the first round. The fight was held at The Aladdin in Las Vegas. Two months later, Halmich won the title by beating Kim Messer in Germany by SD. Her one draw, a controversial one, came in a 2004 fight for the WIBF Women’s IBF flyweight title against the capable Elena “Baby Doll” Reid out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Regina avenged the draw by beating “Baby Doll” the following year also in Germany.
On July 28, 2007, in Dusseldorf, Germany Regina retained her WIBF flyweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Wendy Rodriguez of Los Angeles. Then on November 30, 2007 in Karlsruhe, the 31-year-old Halmich claimed a final 10-round decision against Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer of Israel to finish her boxing career before an adoring capacity crowd of 7500.
Only Laila Ali came close to Halmich’s success in capturing the media attention and the financial rewards. And like Christy Martin in the US, Regina left a great legacy for the sport in Europe. What’s more, she reportedly earned about €10 million over her entire boxing career, thanks largely to the media popularity for women’s boxing that she herself had created—an achievement that has inspired younger German fighters to following in her footsteps with an eye to obtaining solid financial rewards for their efforts.
Lucia Rijker (1996-2004)
“I don’t want to think that someday Lucia will be walking with her kids and someone will point to her and say, ‘There goes the greatest female fighter who ever lived, but she never had a defining fight.’ That would be so sad.”—Emanuel Steward
“She (Rijker) generates more power in her punches than [Ann] Wolfe. Her right hand is by far the hardest I’ve ever felt…Rijker’s technique and speed is what sets her apart. Wolfe’s punches kind of push through the target, whereas Rijker’s are the quick, snappy kind that shut the lights off.”— Deborah “Sunshine” Fettkether
Sometimes called “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World,” Lucia won the WIBF super lightweight title in 1997 and the IBO light welterweight title in 1998. Her Muay Thai record was an astounding 37-0 with 25 KOs (she holds five world kick boxing titles). She moved into traditional boxing in 1996 and launched a dominating career that often would be marked by difficulties in finding willing opponents; in fact, at one point, scheduled opponents canceled out of four consecutive matches. In many ways, the “Destroyer” was too good for her own good.
Toward the end, Lucia beat Brit trailblazer Jane Couch in 2002 and then garnered win number 17 in a dominant 10-round decision over game and talented Deborah “Sunshine” Fettkether on May 20, 2004. Rijker said of Sunshine, “I was glad to have someone who wanted to fight, so I was happy we found a great warrior.” Rijker was then scheduled to fight Christy Martin on July 30, 2005, in a Bob Arum-promoted main event at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, but Lucia ruptured an Achilles tendon while training and the match had to be cancelled thus costing the fans a blockbuster of a fight and Lucia and Martin the biggest payday of their careers.
In 2006 Rijker stated that she would only consider one more fight—a bout with Laila Ali, but it never came off. She then retired with a perfect record of 17-0 with 14 KOs. A strong argument can be made that Lucia is the greatest female boxer of all time.
Rijker portrayed Billie “The Blue Bear” in the 2005 Academy Award winning motion picture “Million Dollar Baby,” appearing alongside Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, and Clint Eastwood. In fact, she trained Swank for her role in the acclaimed film. Now 45 years old, Lucia is an actress and has appeared in a number of film productions.
Ann Wolfe (1998-2006)“
We offered Laila and she agreed something like half a million dollars. You know how much I was supposed to get? Seventy-five thousand dollars. Then, I told them ‘you’ll have to give me more,’ and they were going to give me 150,000, while she was going to make 500,000 thousand, and that is the God’s honest truth, and it was signed and Laila STILL didn’t show up.”—Ann Wolfe
Many will remember Ann “Brown Sugar” Wolfe by her frightening knockout of Vonda Ward—generally considered the most spectacular knockout in women boxing history. While the best seldom fight the best in female boxing, this was not the case when in mid-2004 Ward, the 6’6” WIBA light heavyweight champion, faced the hard hitting multi titleholder—but underdog—Ann Wolfe. Ward, considered a premier fighter, was unbeaten in 18 fights having won 15 of those by KO and was calling out Laila Ali. Instead, she got the hardcore Wolfe. What WAS the case here and is frequently so in women’s boxing is that combatants are often forced to fight each other regardless of large disparities in weight. In this connection, Wolfe was a junior middleweight who was eager to show she belonged at the top.
Ward, known as the “All-American Girl,” was a former basketball player who made “Parade All American” high school teams twice. She then became a member of Pat Summit’s fabled Lady Vols, playing in one NCAA basketball championship game in 1995 during her college career at Tennessee.
As for the fight, it was over in 68 seconds as Wolfe landed a concussive right as Ward was jumping in, knocking Vonda out instantly and, at the same time, horrifying ringside observers. As a result of the devastating knockout, Ward suffered a neck concussion and was hospitalized for a short time. Thankfully, she went on to win several more times before retiring with a 22-1 tally. Wolfe finished with an equally splendid record of 24-1 and then became a successful trainer with James Kirkland as one of her on-again-off-again charges.
Ann’s lone loss came by way of early stoppage to another wolf—Valerie “The Big Bad Wolf” Mahfood in 2000. Ann avenged the loss threes year later thus beating every fighter she ever faced. As for the brawling Mahfood, like the aforementioned Laracuente, she fought everyone imaginable, finishing with a deceptive 19-14-4 record
Laila Ali (1999-2007)
“When Laila fought Martin, Martin wasn’t ****. She just went 10 rounds with Mia St. John, and after that, she done lost most of the time. You see how she lost, she was done already. I’d rather see Laila fight somebody like Lucia Rijker. Lucia would probably whoop Laila.”—Ann Wolfe
“She’s bad.”—Muhammad Ali
A possible misconception regarding women’s boxing may be that Laila Ali represented its best face, but given the level of her opposition and her reputation for avoiding other top boxers even though they called her out, perhaps a few other fighters arguably could be ranked above her. However, “She Bee Stingin,” who possessed quickness, mobility, reach and power, finished with a solid 24-0 record with 21 KOs. Among her victims were Jackie Frazier-Lyde (daughter of Joe Frazier) whom she beat in a spirited and entertaining eight-round slugfest before 8,000 fans in upstate New York, and an outgunned and smaller Christy Martin who normally fought as a welterweight. “She was just too big,” said Martin, “she was in great shape and she kept on coming. She still fights like an amateur, but all around she was just too big.”
Ali’s fight against Lyde was one of the closest of her career, though her fight against Erin Toughhill on the undercard of Tyson-McBride in 2005 was an extremely violent beatdown along the lines of her father’s win over Ernie Terrell back in 1967.Toughill and Ali disliked each other and Ali, showing an aggressive nature, made her pay.
In retrospect, it a shame that the naturally gifted Laila Ali never squared off against the likes of Rijker, Ragosina, Ward, Wolfe, and even Leatitia Robinson.
Giselle Salandy (2000-2008)
“Those whom the Gods love die young.”—Anonymous
The holder of an eye-popping eight international boxing titles, including Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles, which she successfully defended in her last fight—which took place on Boxing Day against the Dominican Republic’s Yahaira Hernandez and moved her professional record to 17-0. Her list of achievements is massive and her titles include the WBA, WBC, WBE, IWBF, WIBF, WIBA, and GBU
Sadly, the undefeated Trinidad and Tobago boxing champion died following a vehicular accident on the outskirts of Port of Spain on January 4, 2009. The 21-year-old boxing sensation succumbed to her injuries at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
She is not only considered Trinidad and Tobago’s greatest ever female fighter but also arguably their greatest fighter regardless of gender.
Holly Holm (2002-2013)
Three words come to mind when one assess Holm: quickness, speed and agility. Known as “The Preacher’s Daughter,” Holm is an 18-time world champion in three separate divisions.
A year ago while still boxing, the 31-year-old New Mexico native won the WBF, IBA Female and WBAN welterweight titles by avenging a vicious mind-numbing knockout loss to France’s Anne Sophie Mathis that is a highlight reel for female prizefighting. Then in May 2013, after announcing she was planning a full-time move to MMA and would be retiring from boxing, she earned a decision victory over Mary McGee.
In her final 28 bouts, Holm suffered just one loss. Her current record is 3-0 MMA and 33-2-3 boxing and has generally been considered to be at the top of the rung in today’s female boxing scene. Now, however, she has signed a multi-fight deal with the Texas-based Legacy Fighting Championship and will move in a new direction.
Mary Jo Sanders (2003-2008)
“This girl is unbelievable—her speed, her power. That’s the kind of girl that can make women’s boxing.”—Jackie Kallen
This rugged albeit beautiful light middleweight and superb all-around athlete out of Detroit is also the daughter of NFL Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders. Fighting often and winning often, she progressed rapidly garnering Rookie of the Year honors along the way.
In a highly anticipated bout in 2008 with Holly Holm, “The Preacher’s Daughter” won via decision. The two had a rematch four months later and fought to a rousing draw. It was the last time Sanders fought. Her final record is 25-1-1.
Natascha Ragosina (2004- 2009)
This attractive 5”11” super middleweight from Karaganda, Kazakhstan retired with a perfect record of 22-0, diminished ever-so-slightly by the fact she fought all of her bouts except one in her resident homeland of Germany.
On March 15, 2008 in Magdeburg, Germany, Natascha (aka “Miss Sledgehammer”) added the IWBF and WIBC super middleweight belts to her collection with a one-sided unanimous decision over Teresa Perozzi of Bermuda. Ragosina entered the fight with the WIBF, GBU, WBA, WBC and WIBA belts and left it with a record seven as she improved her record to 17-0 with 11 KOs.
In December 2009 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, a fit and ready Natascha (172 lbs.) won the vacant WIBF heavyweight title with an eighth-round KO of short and rotund Pamela London (237 lbs.) of Georgetown, Guyana, who was nothing more than a big bag that rarely punched back. A short and crisp right hand shot to the head finally decked London face first as the adoring Russian crowd went bonkers sensing that this might be the end of a great career, one in which Ragosina had been the longest reigning super middleweight champion in history; she also had an amazing record of 16-0 in world title fights and as icing on the cake, she retired as the undefeated champion.
Jenifer Alcorn (Honorable Mention)
With a final record of 18-0, Alcorn enjoyed a short but distinguished career (1999-2004) marked by wins over Jessica Rakoczy, Mia St. John, and Melissa Del Valle.
The Future
As women’s boxing evolves, more participants will be inducted into more Halls of Fame including the Amateur Athletic World Hall of Fame Museum, the World Boxing Hall of Fame, various state boxing Halls of Fame, and Halls of Fame in other countries. Hopefully, this will eradicate once and for all any notion that women’s boxing is more spectacle than sport. The days of two fighters flailing away at each other in an amateurish manner have long since been replaced by technical stylists who have a firm grasp of the fundamentals and who know precisely what they are doing at all times while in the ring.
Taking this one step further and to quote women’s boxing expert Jill Diamond, “I hate the term ‘Women’s Boxing.’ This isn’t a team sport. It’s not Basketball. It’s not Baseball. It’s not a Book Club. It’s comprised of freelancers—athletes, coaches, managers, cut men, officials—and gender should have nothing to do with it. So, as far as I’m concerned, there’s only good boxing and bad boxing. Personally, I like good boxing.” (NABF news.com 2012)
Based on this sage observation, maybe there should not be a Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame after all—and maybe what the World Boxing Hall of Fame did with Lucia Rijker is the correct way to go.
What do you think?
Cashing Out On Manny - In most cases a column on the Crawford-Postol junior welterweight clash this past Saturday night - might begin with the assumption that most boxing fans saw the bout and by now are well informed as to how the fight went. It was Crawford’s first PPV bout as the headliner and the buy numbers aren’t in as of this writing, but it’s a given the numbers won’t be anywhere near the million plus who would’ve seen the fight had it aired on HBO.
by Jeffrey Freeman
BIG DRAMA INDEED – Middleweight champion and global fan favorite Gennady Golovkin has repeatedly sought, without avail, the opponent to present the type of test to elevate and propel “GGG” to true greatness.