Jill Lafler is Refused to be Allowed to Compete in the Golden Gloves

A federal judge in Michigan refused to allow Jill Lafler, 19 years old,  to compete in the Golden Gloves. Jill, a student at Lansing Community College, who has been working out with the men’s boxing team, had tried to register last month for the gloves but was turned down.

She appealed and Ingham County Circuit judge Raymond Hotchkiss ruled that she could fight, but his ruling was over turned by Federal judge Wendell Miles, who issued an eight page opinion.

Judge Hotchkiss’s ruling had suspended the competition in the flyweight class until Miss Lafler’s case could be heard.

Judge Miles said the difference between male and female anatomies made it unrealistic to believe that women could enter the sport of boxing and operate under the same rules with no detrimental effects on the safety of the participants.

Judge Miles also said that Lafler failed to prove that she would probably be successful or that she would suffer irreparable harm if she could not fight. Miles also said Lafler could not ensure that her participation would not hurt the tournament and could not prove “the public interest would be served” by her fighting.

The judge said he could find no evidence of sex discrimination and said a separate tournament could be set up for women to box women.  Miss Lafler was, as she put it, “zombied out: when she heard his decision.

“Just for a minute, I lost it, I thought for sure I was going to win.”

She is unsure as to her future, as there are no other women amateur boxers in Michigan. She had fought and defeated a fourteen-year-old boy in her only previous bout.  BOXING ILLUSTRATED “SEX DISCRIMINATION” – AMATEUR BOXING, Page 56, Women’s page , May 1982