WBAN Celebrates 22 Years on the Net!

(MAY 24)  This has been quite a journey so far, that began in 1996, after wanting to get in shape to run in the Race For the Cure in Portland, Oregon.   I joined a boxing gym in Portland, after not being in the sport for 17 plus years.  I learned about Christy Martin and the fantastic fight she had fighting Diedre Gogarty.   Being a pioneer boxer it peeked my interest.

What is odd, is WBAN would have never taken place in May of 1998, because originally, I  wanted to create a website on Breast Cancer, an informational site. 

At the same time, I discovered in September 1996, and only  by accident that the history of women’s boxing was not accurate—I knew “first hand” that in fact the 1970s and 1980s on the net was  inaccurate.  I knew that because  I was from that era of boxing. 

And so I changed from having a breast cancer info site to the “History of Women’s Boxing” online website, naming it Women Boxing Archive Network. I spent two solid years of researching the history of the sport, and by May of 1998, I was ready to go online.  I remember before going online that one of my family member’s told me that no one would be interested in the history of the sport—even though there was not ONE website on the net covering the true history of the sport! 

photo credit:  Mike Blair – Sue TL Fox/Photos taken for a Ring Magazine  – 2013

Little did that family member know that as soon as I went live on the net—-the site exploded with traffic.

From covering the history of the sport—within a short time became covering the current pro and amateur boxers who had contacted me about issues they were experiencing in the sport.

That ended up being my mission in life—-Giving any and all boxers exposure, whether they had one fight or 50 fights—and I have stuck true to that mission.

I did not care if anyone had ever heard of the female boxer, I would do any and all stories, biographies, updates, fights,  to give them exposure—some of it was not good exposure but the truth of what was going on which included mismatches, etc.

I continue to do in that in today’s sport of women’s boxing, and will continue to do that.

I want to thank any and everyone from photographers, writers, people who helped me to write better online (correcting me. lol) and all the people who have helped me with WBAN, with all the stories, bios, results, and more on the current boxers, amateur and professional. I could NOT have ever made the site this extensive without all of your help.