1975: Boxing Match or Exhibition in women’s boxing? Bermudez vs. Mast

Documentation:  Tucson Daily Citizen, December 13, 1975, Page 12 Photo/Karen Mast

On October 10, 1975, at the Community Center, Tucson, Arizona, in what was probably the FIRST Professional female bout to take place Marion Bermudez, who had boxed a couple of males in the ring in the amateurs, made her pro debut this night.  Her opponent, a green belt in karate, Karen Mast,  stepped into the ring with Bermudez with no training or experience.  The fight ended in the second round by TKO.  At this time we have no further documentation on Mast ever fighting after this fight.

(There is another article from the Tucson Daily Citizen, dated October 10, 1975, Page 51, that states that this fight was a women’s exhibition Karate-boxing Three round bout between Marion Bermudez and Tucsonian Karen Mast.)

The Tucson Daily Citizen, dated December 13, 1975, Page 12 gives some background into how this fight ever took place:

“There’s one thing Karen Mast would like to make very clear about her appearance in the first women’s boxing competition in Arizona.  “It sure wasn’t my idea.”

Mast reported that she fought against and quickly lost to Marion Bermudez in an Oct. 10, 1975 bout in the Tucson Community Center Exhibition Hall, the first state-sanctioned professional women’s fight in Arizona History, is back to Karate now.

Mast told this news source that she went into the ring with Bermudez willingly, but didn’t quite know what to expect in the competition.  Particulary since she had only ONE DAYS NOTICE on the fight.

“My boss at Kenpo Karate School, said it would be a good idea for me to do it.    I don’t train as a boxer, and I don’t know much about it, but everyone said ‘don’t worry about it’.  That’s the attitude they said I should have.  It wasn’t a good attitude.”

Mast stated that she knew Bermudez casually and that Bermudez had more karate knowledge, plus Bermudez had training as a boxer.