Tag: Malissa Smith

written by:  Christopher Benedict (An elderly Polly with heavyweight contender Jack Doyle) As an esteemed pioneer of women’s boxing in the 1950s, Barbara Buttrick, known as England’s Mighty Atom of the Ring, broke a good deal of new ground in her heyday.  Being a nonagenarian has done little to impede Barbara’s ability or desire to

Belle Martell was the first female boxing referee licensed in the state of California on April 30, 1940.She was also renowned as a Ring Announcer, boxing promoter for amateur fights, and a time keeper. Along with her husband, Art Martell, Belle was a fixture in amateur boxing beginning in the early 1930s through the 1950s.