Historical Timeline

In the Minneapolis Tribune, dated Friday, April 7, 1978, the following was reported:  “In another first for women in boxing, Joan Marcolt, 24, St. Paul, will meet Debbie Kaufman, 24, Minneapolis, Saturday in the bantamweight division of the state AAU boxing tournament at Fred Moore Junior High School in Anoka.  It will be the first amateur bout between women in Minnesota.” Little did these women boxers know that the AAU would block this bout, and Kaufman and Marcolt were not  allowed to participate in the competition that following day.    The women’s boxing organization which at that time was called the University of Minneapolis Women’s boxing club was furious, and they let it be known to the media.

In the Rapid City Journal, dated Saturday, April 8, 1978, page 8, in the Sports Section…..the article read, “Female Boxers Bitter” it read as follows:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A group of frustrated female boxers and their backers, prevented from appearing on Friday’s state AAU boxing card, have been told they can have their own bouts to determine state champions in May.  However, the boxers and Bill Paul, their promoter, are still bitter and plan to protest.  “All we asked for was four minutes on the card,” said Paul, who wanted Joan Marcolt, St. Paul, and Debbie Kaufman, Minneapolis, to fight at Anoka’s Fred Moore junior high school for the state female bantamweight championship.  By April 20, 1978, there were some negotiations between the Women’s boxer’s association and the AAU director and that it appeared that the women would be sanctioned by the AAU for this event.

November 19, 1979

“First Husband – Wife fight on same Boxing Card” -On November 16, 1979,  Lilly Rodriguez, a kickboxer and boxer, and William “Blinky” Rodriguez made history as the first husband and wife to box on the same professional card.  “You have no idea the pressure she put on me,” said Blinky Rodriguez.   “She (Lilly) went out there and dazzled them.”  Both Blinky and Lilly won their matches. The event was promoted by Don Fraser.

November  7, 1982
Matches between male and female  in CALIFORNIA were  approved in  November of 1982 – After the legality of boxing matches between women and men was argued by the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Athletic Commission voted to approve professional boxing matches between the sexes effective immediately. Don Fraser the commission’s executive officer said that they had no recourse but to approve it. The only female at the time that expressed an interest into fighting men was Shirley “Zebra Girl” Tucker.   The ACLU got involved in this issue.  Fraser said, “To my knowledge there is only one woman boxer interested in fighting men — and that’s Shirley Tucker of Santa Rosa,” Fraser said. But the mixed bouts may be difficult to come by. Fraser said he didn’t know of any men willing to fight women, and he added that any mixed sparring sessions would have to be watched by commission officials before approval of the mixed bout.”  *Note: there was never any man/woman bout that took place in California with Tucker or otherwise.   [Source/Miami Herald, dated 11/7/82]

1988

Sweden was the very first country to have female boxing competition sanctioned by the National Boxing Federation.  The date was 1988.  In 1994, there was a history first when they held the women’s national amateur championship!  Also, according to news sources, Sweden hosted the first Nordic Women’s Boxing Championships that took place in 1996.

March of 1993
Dallas Malloy became the first female to challenge the USA Boxing’s bylaw in a federal court. Her dream was to box against other women in the Olympic Games, a goal attainable only as a member of USA Boxing. For months she trained without any immediate hope of competing. Malloy’s lawsuit against USA Boxing would go to trial, unless settled, in December of 1993, before the U.S. District Court in Seattle. Judge Rothstein only took a few moments to grant the injunction.

January 1995
Woman vetoed as a judge in a world boxing title fight -A woman was vetoed in January 1985, as a judge in a world boxing title fight because the challenger’s manager said that a woman’s place was in the home. Carol Polis, an American, was on a list of possible officials for the World Boxing assciation welterweight match.

2005 – Female Prisoner in Thailand fights for a world title as a Pro debuter to reduce her Prison Sentence

Prisoner Nog Nai Siriporn of Thailand FIRST fought for a (WBC) World title bout, when she had never had a professional boxing bout.  But what makes this the MOST OUTRAGEOUS is that she was told that IF SHE WON, she could get out of Prison sooner—WBAN has never heard of anything any more outrageous than gauging a boxing match with a person’s freedom! Link to Story