One on One Interview: Lady Tyger Trimiar

One on One Exclusive Interview with Lady Tyger Trimiar – by Sue TL Fox – February 23, 1999

T.L.Fox: What has been happening lately in your life?

Lady: I just got featured in an article with VIVE Magazine, February issue. Actually, the article is about a current amateur fighter by the name of Alciver, but they go into the roots of women boxing and talk about my career, my struggles to obtain a New York Boxing license in the 70’s and the hunger strike that I did in the 80’s to gain better rights and wages for women boxers. It also covers when I first started boxing and my experiences in the different gyms in the 70’s.

T.L.Fox: How did it make you feel to finally feel vindicated for the many years that Cathy “Cat” Davis claimed to be the first woman to be licensed in New York City, when in actuality you applied first, and should have technically been “handed” your New York License first on September 19, 1978 when you , Cat and Jackie Tonawanda all received it on the same day?

Lady: Very good. Sue, that was one of the main reasons why I wanted to do the article. That has bothered me for so many years.

T.L.Fox: What kind of feelings were you going through, getting interviewed about the past?

Lady: I was having a lot of mixed emotions. I felt happy and sad at the same time. It brought back good times and some really bad times about the hunger Strike and all the struggles I went through to get the right to box.

T.L.Fox: Do you regret getting into boxing years ago?

Lady: No, not at all. Sometimes my family say things to me that are negative. Kind of like what did I have to show for all the misery it brought on in the past. But at the same time my family has said to me that if I didn’t get into boxing, I would not have met so many nice people.

T.L. Fox: Are you married now, or do you have children?

Lady: I am a single mother with a nine-year old son.

T.L.Fox: How many years did you stay in boxing?

Lady: About 15 years.

T.L.Fox: If you had not made your career choice as a professional female boxer, what would you have done in replacement of it?

Lady: I don’t really know. I guess I would have liked to have been a nurse.

T.L.Fox: In the 70’s when you dared to defy the public, and you shaved your head, what kind of public reaction did you have to that?

Lady: My family was SHOCKED. My mother literally dropped her jaw. It was funny, because I never planned to shave my head. I was in the hairdressers one day and all of a sudden just told them to shave it all off. I was called CoJack, and all kinds of names, including Mt. Baldy. One person accused me of shaving my head to blind my opponents under the bright lights over the ring?

T.L.Fox: Okay, speaking of “hair” or more appropriately named, “no hair”, how did the public react when you started wearing a mohawk?

Lady: Oh, I did that just for fun, and didn’t keep it that way for very long.

T.L.Fox: Have you had any physical or medical problems connected with boxing that you know of?

Lady: I don’t think so. I did get an offer from some medical institute to answer questions in regards to medical concerns.

T.L.Fox: In closing, Lady, is there anything you would like to say to the public?

Lady: I would like to say that I appreciate all of the fan mail and support and comments that I have received since being on WBAN’s website. It has truly touched me. I also would like to tell the women boxers to never give up. To fight for that dream, and for your rights to fight.