CHRISTY Martin wasn’t the first female boxer of note, but when she defeated Ireland’s Deirdre Gogarty on the Mike Tyson vs Frank Bruno rematch undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas almost 30 years ago, it was surely a seminal moment.
It was this fight, on a massive platform, that brought women’s boxing to the fore. It was a fight that showed the wider boxing community that women could put on exciting, hard-hitting fights, even bloody ones.
While Cathy ‘Cat’ Davis made the front cover of The Ring magazine in the 1970s, and Jane Couch was flying the flag for British women’s boxing in the 1990s, it was Martin vs Gogarty that gave women’s boxing the international impetus it needed. An estimated 1.1 million viewers saw Martin’s fight on the Tyson vs Bruno PPV show.
Christy was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated after her win over Gogarty with, inevitably, “The Lady is a Champ” as the headline. This was a big deal for women’s boxing. Martin appeared on TV talk shows. Don King featured her regularly on big-event undercards.
Richard Hoffer, who wrote the Christy Martin piece for SI, seemed mildly disapproving of women’s boxing, using words such as “disquieting” and “disturbing”. But he acknowledged Christy could fight, commenting favourably on her “considerable skills”.
Christy made it clear that she didn’t see herself as making a statement about a woman’s place in the boxing ring or breaking any glass ceilings. She was, she said, making her own way, doing it for herself. But it was Christy Martin who set the train in motion for women’s boxing with her bloodstained win over Deirdre Gogarty back in March 1996.
Other women attracted attention for their skills. Lucia Rijker, of the Netherlands, was, for instance, one of the best women fighters I ever saw. A match between Rijker and Martin would have been the first women’s superfight. It never happened.
Both women boxed in the lightweight division and Rijker had long wanted to meet Martin in the ring. The two women confronted each other at a public workout in March 2000 and, according to Michael Rosenthal’s report in the Los Angeles Daily News, Martin pushed Rijker and Lucia responded with a left hook. Martin’s side of the story is that Rijker sucker-punched her.
It was apparently quite the scuffle. Radio-show host Pedro Fernandez reported on his website that “it took eight men to separate the fighting females”.
You’d think that after such a wild and crazy scene, a Martin vs Rijker matchup would have to happen. But Don King said he wouldn’t “reward” Rijker by promoting the fight. Rijker drifted into retirement with an unbeaten record, perhaps most famous for her role as the intimidating Billie ‘The Blue Bear’ Osterman in the movie Million Dollar Baby.
Laila Ali also retired with an unbeaten record. The daughter of Muhammad Ali and Veronica Porsche, Laila figured in a PPV bout against Joe Frazier’s daughter, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, upstate New York. It was shamelessly billed as Ali-Frazier IV. Laila won a majority decision.
Laila’s meeting with Christy Martin in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2003 really shouldn’t have happened. Laila was a middleweight, Christy had been boxing at around 144lbs and she was 35 years old. Although Martin’s weight was announced as 159lbs, she weighed in wearing full camouflage gear. Ali predictably won in four rounds.
There was a sideshow element about women’s fights such as Ali-Frazier and Ali-Martin, but fast-forward to today and we’re getting intriguing, well-matched, high-quality fights. Women boxers today often have a solid grounding in the amateurs, competing in the Olympics and various international tournaments.
Who would have thought, back in 1996, that a boxing match between women would top the bill at Madison Square Garden? But the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano fight in 2022 ticked that box. And the fight itself perhaps even surpassed expectations, with 10 fast-and-furious rounds that just seemed to flash by. The rematch last year was thrilling, too.
On Friday we have the trilogy, topping an all-women’s card at MSG.
Britain had its own all-women’s card in March when Lauren Price and Natasha Jonas headlined in a fight for the undisputed welterweight title at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Women’s fights are no longer a supporting act, much less a sideshow or a novelty. We’re getting quality fights between boxers of genuine skill.
Fighters such as Taylor, Serrano, Price, Claressa Shields, Alycia Baumgardner, Gabriela Fundora, Caroline Dubois, Chantelle Cameron and Mikaela Mayer are at the forefront. I know there are others, of course there are, but these are just some of the names that immediately spring to mind. A personal favourite is Beatriz Ferreira, who brings action and aggression, and fights as if she’s having fun.
We’re getting storylines, too. The Taylor-Serrano rivalry, of course; the sister-brother world championship duo of Gabriela and Sebastian Fundora; the comeback of Holly Holm at the age of 43.
And permit me a word about Holm. The ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ from Albuquerque, New Mexico, returned to the ring last month after a 12-year absence, having competed in MMA and famously knocking out Ronda Rousey with a head kick. Holly looked as if she’d never been away, easily outpointing her Mexican opponent on the Jake Paul vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr undercard.
Her age? With Holly, age really does look as if it’s just a number. She looks as if she’s going to be a player in the lightweight division, which is quite astonishing after so long away. Newcomers with star potential include Tiah Mai Ayton, who is only 18 but fights with a maturity beyond her years. Ayton looked sensational in her pro debut last month.
Fan favourites would have to include Francesca Hennessy, 20, who brings a joie de vivre to her bouts. She’s 6-0 as a pro.
I like what I’ve seen in Ashleyann Lozada, who boxed for Puerto Rico in the Olympics. A late starter as a pro, the 33-year-old Lozada is a southpaw 122-pounder with a pleasingly aggressive style. She’s 2-0, 1 KO. Mark Taffett, the former HBO PPV executive who advises Claressa Shields, represents Lozada, so you know she must have something.
Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta, the WBO champion at 115lbs, is a former acrobat who brings fun, flair, skill and, naturally, athleticism to her fights. The southpaw Hiruta is 8-0 (2 KOs). She’s almost mesmerising with her pink hair and colourful ring attire.
Los Angeles promoter Tom Loeffler, who worked with the Klitschko brothers, features Hiruta on his shows in Southern California. Hiruta, who always seems to be smiling outside of business hours, trains in Los Angeles under the practised eye of Manny Robles.
The names mentioned here are just a selection and far from a complete list of the excellent women boxers from around the world. So, I think we can agree that women’s boxing has well and truly arrived. Friday’s all-female show is another step forward.
However, there have been sceptics, and in this regard, I turn to an article written by the late Bert Randolph Sugar back in 2001. The prolific author, while acknowledging women have the right to fight, added: “But I also retain some rights, such as the right not to watch.”
Those words were written a long time ago. Would Bert still hold the same opinion today, 24 years on? After the giant strides made in women’s boxing? I very much doubt it.
