Pioneer Female Boxer Teresa “Red Star Princess” Kibby passes away at age 68 years old

On September 4, 2021, in Brookings, Oregon,  pioneer female boxer Teresa “Red Star Princess” Kibby passed away at the age of 68 years old.  She was born on August 12, 1953.  Kibby was born to Emil and Evelyn Buckskin in Tollhouse, California. She was later adopted by the Kibby family of Smith River, California in 1957.  When she was 10 years old, she began boxing with her professional boxing brothers.

Kibby made her pro debut in February of 1976 fighting Sue TL Fox, of Portland, Oregon.  Fox was told that Teresa had only been boxing a couple of years, was out of shape and would be a good first opponent for her.  They then upped the rounds to three minutes per round a couple of days before the fight—with Fox not knowing that Kibby actually had been boxing for 12 plus years to Fox’s short training in a karate school for 3 to 4 months.

Fox interviewed another fighter, Lavonne Ludian, who fought Kibby at the beginning of her career, and to Fox’s surprise, Ludian said the same exact info that she was told Kibby was not in good shape, small, etc.  After  only training a few weeks Ludian was put in the ring with Kibby.  [Fox has the video interview with Ludian’s interview telling her that she experienced the same dilemma in those pioneer days- on file in WBAN Collection.]

Fox contacted the Oregon Athletic Commission to get more details of her mismatch with Kibby that took place in 1976, and after they failed to find anything on the bout, they told Fox it was not sanctioned, thus considered an exhibition. The Official Record Keeper of the Sport FIGHTFAX also said in 1999, that these bouts would be considered “exhibitions” as they were never sent in by the commission to report them as sanctioned bouts.

Kibby was known as a “true pioneer to getting the sport off the ground”, in addition to other female pioneer boxers as Sue TL Fox, Gwen Gemini, Lady Tyger Trimiar, Cathy “Cat” Davis, Dulce Lucas, Toni Lear Rodriguez, Lavonne Ludian, Laurie Holt, Cora Webber, Dora Webber, Pat Pineda, Caroline Svendsen, Charlene Anthony, and more.

Kibby was also ranked #2 World Welterweight with the Women’s Boxing Federation in 1977. One of her boxing matches was recorded on one of the first nationally-televised boxing match between women in the 1970s.  [WBAN is trying to research if in fact the first nationally televised female bout could have been in 1957 with Barbara Buttrick].

In  an online article they wrote, “Later in life, she made a career working with the Tolowa Dee Ni nation. Being employed by the Tolowa Dee Ni Nation for 20 + years was a start to new friendships within the office and the Tolowa community. She had started out as a receptionist and was promoted to being the Enrollment Specialist up until her passing. What she loved most about her job was the interaction she had with the members, she enjoyed talking to the elders and reminiscing about the good old days.”

Fox said of Kibby, “I got the opportunity to hang out with Theresa all day, when she was fighting on the National televised boxing bout.  She was extremely nice, sincere, down to earth, and humble.”

“It was very shocking to find out about Theresa this week, and I would like to give my condolences to the Buckskins, Kibby’s, friends and family”, added Fox.

According to the online article they said the following:  “Over the years Theresa looked forward to family gatherings whether it be weekend barbecues, birthdays, small road trips, and especially the holidays. Her eyes lit up when she would go and support her Grandkids during their games of soccer, basketball, and track. She was the loudest one cheering them on. They were the highlight of her life. They could always count on her full support in any aspect of their life because she was their number one cheerleader.”