Notable Female Boxers

Notable Female Boxers

This article relates to Headshot

Rita Bullwinkel's novel Headshot depicts the intensity and intimacy of a girl's boxing tournament. Although women's boxing was only officially introduced to the Olympics in 2012 and was banned by the USA Boxing organization before 1993, accounts of women boxing date back to the 1700s. Here are just a few of the trailblazing women boxers throughout the history of the sport.

Nell Saunders and Rose Harland

These two competed in the first known women's bout in the United States, taking place in New York City in 1876. The prize? A silver butter dish.

Cathy ("Cat") Davis

Davis, born in 1952, was the first woman to be featured on the cover of the boxing magazine Ring, in 1978. She also, along with fellow boxers Marian Trimiar and Jackie Tonawanda, successfully challenged the state of New York for the right to box there. Unfortunately, her legacy was tarnished when her manager/boyfriend, Sal Algieri, was accused of "fixing" the results of boxing matches.

Marian ("Lady Tyger") Trimiar

Trimiar, born in 1953, has been a staunch advocate for women's boxing. In addition to fighting for the right to box in New York State, in 1987 Trimiar conducted a month-long hunger strike to protest unequal conditions for female boxers. She said, "Unless women get more recognition, we will be fighting just as a novelty for the rest of our lives. There will be no future."

Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker

These two athletes are the first women to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, in a 2020 ceremony. Martin, known as the Coal Miner's Daughter, boxed professionally from 1989 until 2012, frequently appearing on the undercard of globally famous male boxers like Evander Holyfield. Rijker, known as the Dutch Destroyer, boxed from 1996 to 2004 and was unbeaten both in her boxing and previous kickboxing career.

Katie Taylor

Taylor is an Irish boxer who won the gold medal in the lightweight division at the 2012 Olympic Games after lobbying for the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to officially include the women's sport and carrying the Irish flag during the opening ceremonies. Since then she has continued to amass victories, becoming only the eighth boxer in history—male or female—to hold all four major boxing world titles—WBA (World Boxing Association), WBC (World Boxing Council), IBF (International Boxing Federation), and WBO (World Boxing Organization)—simultaneously. Taylor, along with Amanda Serrano (whom she defeated), participated in the first women's boxing match to headline Madison Square Garden, in a bout that was named Fight of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

Illustration of women boxing from The National Police Gazette, 1894, via Wikimedia Commons

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This "beyond the book article" relates to Headshot. It originally ran in March 2024 and has been updated for the March 2025 paperback edition. Go to magazine.