DENVER—Some notable moments in women’s boxing history, according to the Women’s Boxing Archive Network:
1904—Women boxers demonstrate the sport at Olympic Games in St. Louis.
1954—British flyweight Barbara “The Mighty Atom of the Ring” Buttrick and American Joan Hagen become first female boxers to fight on national television.
1987—Former lightweight Marian “Lady Tyger” Trimiar goes on monthlong hunger strike to advocate better money and conditions for professional female boxers. “Unless women get more recognition, we will be fighting just as a novelty for the rest of our lives,” she says.
1993—Sixteen-year-old Dallas Malloy challenges a USA Boxing bylaw barring women’s competition. A federal court decides in her favor. USA Boxing adopts rules incorporating women’s boxing into its amateur boxing program.
1994—International Boxing Association accepts women’s boxing.
1996—Christy Martin defeats Deirdre Gogarty in a fight many consider the birth of modern professional women’s boxing. The six-round slugfest upstages Mike Tyson’s easy win over Frank Bruno.
1999—Ali vs. Frazier IV: Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Laila, fights Joe Frazier’s daughter, Jacqui. They silence many women’s boxing critics with an entertaining eight-round bout won by Ali. The upstate New York fight draws more than 100,000 pay-per-view buys.
2005—International Olympic Committee rules women’s boxing not yet a global sport.
