The International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame Inducts first-ever former Boxing Commissioner by Bernie McCoy

(FEB 22) The International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) inductees skew heavily, in number, toward the retired boxers upon whom the sport has made it’s often arduous climb to it’s rightful place in the spectrum of professional sports. That circumstance is entirely as it should be, for without these athletes, their finely developed skill in the ring and their indomitable struggle for rightful recognition outside the ropes, Women’s boxing might still be a second rate attraction, drawing sideshow attention for many of the wrong reasons.

Instead, in late April, the sport will occupy main event status in what is still considered the Mecca of the sport, Madison Square Garden, as two elite female fighters, Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor, representing two international geographic hot beds of the sport, meet in what has, thus far, shown all signs of turning into the biggest attraction in the history of Women’s boxing.

However like every other major sport, boxing is kept functioning by an undercarriage of personnel who work in support of the sport, beginning with the day/day management and training of the athletes, often by dedicated boxing “lifers”, resulting in those athletes competing in bouts staged thru the auspices of promoters and independent boxing sanctioning organizations.

Add in the media, both print and broadcast, and you have an amalgam of often competing factions that have, amazingly, constituted the long lasting sport of boxing. And the almost impossible task of attempting to bring “order to chaos” to this dizzying conglomeration falls in each state to an independent boxing commission.

Over it’s nine years of existence, the IWBHF has bestowed honors on all segments of the boxing community, save one. No member of a state boxing commission had been so honored. On the plus side, it can be suggested that when that omission was corrected, it was done right. Meet Rose Trentman. From 1985 to 2000, she served as the Commissioner of boxing for the state of New York, which, during that period, was still one of the leading and most active states in the sport. More impressively, she was both the first female to hold the position, along with being the youngest New York boxing commissioner, ever. And, by no means, was this a politically sensitive appointment.

Governor Mario Cuomo, who made the appointment, was a former minor league baseball player, who “knew his sports”. And Rose Trentmen was recommended by Jose Torres, former WBC light heavy weight champion. During her fifteen years of service, Trentmen, in addition to being a strong advocate for the then burgeoning sport of Women’s boxing, spearheaded a number of important regulations in the sport which had been essentially moribund for far too long.

Included were moving championship round distance from 15 to 12 and establishing a 10 second notification for the end of a round. She also placed increased emphasis on establishing consistency within the sport by conducting timely seminars for all participants ranging from corner men to the boxing officials and inspectors working the bouts.

Trentmen, a native of The Bronx, exhibits a New York “tell it like it is” attitude when recounting her days as New York State Boxing Commissioner. “ I sensed initial rejection from certain staff members” but, as she correctly notes “they had no choice” and it was eventually resolved. Was gender an issue? Of course. Was it an uncomfortable situation? Certainly. But uncomfortable is no stranger to someone from the Bronx. And Rose Trentmen, in her words, “chose the high road”. As a result, she forged a decade and a half, in a job in which such tenure comes close to constituting a career. She did a tough job well and is now being honored with what can only be considered a deserving induction into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame.