A History of Women's Boxing
Page 33
In April 1987 Lady Tyger organized a hunger strike with Pettis and Joan Metallo to raise attention on the plight of female boxers and their ill treatment at the hands of the big promoters. Under the auspices of her group, Friends of Lady Tyger (FOLT), the stated goals of the hunger strike were fairly straightforward. They spoke to the need for equity in the sport between men and women and the frustrations that women felt trying to earn a living as professional boxers. A flyer developed to publicize the women’s boxing hunger strike listed seven goals along with a plaintive request that said, “Please support our struggle. We don’t want to die.” The goals listed were:
Major Network coverage for women boxers.
Compensation from Networks/Promoters for loss of a livelihood.
Equal corporate sponsorship of Womans [sic] participation in boxing.
The promotion of boxing for girls and women as a means of self-esteem and self-defense
Economic parity for Women on all professional boxing cards.
The promotion of boxing as an amateur and professional sport for Women.
The licensing of all qualified female applicants in their respective states.[50]
To draw attention to their action the women picketed the WBC Middleweight Championship bout between “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Their object was to bring attention to their plight and to Bob Arum in particular, whom they viewed as “openly prejudiced” against female fighters. They also hoped to draw the attention of Don King to convince him to put women’s fights on boxing cards—something King would eventually do, but not at that time.
Given that Sugar Ray Leonard’s win rocked the boxing world, the actions of the three hunger-striking women were lost in the noise generated by the Leonard-Hagler outcome. It did not deter the three from continuing, nor stop the support—if limited—that they were receiving. An article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune in mid-April noted that two promoters, Marshall Christopher (a former police officer in Chicago), and his partner, Kristin Newman—who had put on successful amateur women’s boxing, drawing as many as two thousand fight fans—were raising money in support of the fast.
Lady Tyger, still buoyant and full of fight, admitted that while “starting to think about oatmeal,” she was still incensed by the ill treatment and lack of opportunity for women in the sport. As she told a reporter, “Mud wrestling and jello wrestling can get on television, but [boxing] can’t.” [51]
By April 28, Lady Tyger was the only one of the three who was still fasting. She’d lost close to “30 pounds since starting her water-only fast,” but had lost none of her fervor as she prepared to picket in front of Don King’s office in New York City with some of her supporters. Telling reporters boxing is “my heart, it’s my love,” she went on to say, “Unless women get more recognition, we will be fighting just as a novelty for the rest of our lives. There will be no future.”[52]
A few days afterward, realizing that the inaction of Bob Arum and Don King were not worth the further risk to her health, she ended her fast. Talking about it a few months later, she told a reporter that she would continue her activism on behalf of women’s boxing, adding, “Women should not be treated as weirdos to box. People say women have to be lesbian or crazy to box. That’s not true and it’s very unfair. They don’t say that about men.” [53]
What she touched on was a growing truism of the perception of women who participated in the sport—the vision of the female boxer as unattractive, muscle-bound, and likely or not, a full-on “dyke” with a motorcycle. These were the stereotypes that had been hiding in the shadows of female athleticism since the late 1890s. It had haunted Babe Didrikson during the early years of her athletic career and it had plagued “lady” wrestlers, footballers, Roller Derby “babes,” and female boxers for decades. The negative connotations also impacted the hopes that had been stirred with the passage of Title IX. While equality on the playing fields was beginning to unfold in school gymnasiums and on college campuses, women still had to fight their way into acceptance in sports.
Lady Tyger had voiced very real questions about the place of women in the world of boxing. Unfortunately the organizations that undergirded the sport were also fractured. Promotions for “name” fighters were in the hands of a few, with no true national umbrella to help regulate how the sport was conducted. When it came to women, the situation was much worse. Without money or support, there was very little an individual fighter could do, except to try to ply their trade with dignity and the opportunity to earn enough money to at least cover their expenses.
While the obstacles were huge, women continued to enter the sport, hopeful that each would be the one to break through. In so doing—despite all the problems—the number of women athletes boxing across the country grew, and with that growth came a stronger resolve to break down the remaining barriers to women’s full participation in the sport they so dearly loved.
1. Tom Archdeacon. “Women Boxers: These Ladies Love the Ring.” Miami News, June 6, 1980, p. 1C. [Google News]
2. Brian Kates. “Prettier Than Men: Cat Davis vs. Floyd Patterson.” Daily News, June 24, 2003, p. 27. [Malissa Smith Collection]
3. A 1973 yearbook from Louisiana State University identifies a junior named Cat A. Davis, along with an accompanying unlabeled photograph that bears a striking resemblance to her. [Ancestry.com]
4. “Seeks Women for Boxing.” Evening News, January 16, 1976, p. 12. [Google News]
5. “Gal Boxer’s a Knockout.” New York Post, June 8, 1977, p. 7. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
6. The P.O. box on the letterhead was one and the same as Algieri’s when the organization first started. By 1980 the letterhead reflected an address in New Rochelle, New York, where Gallello maintained his home.
7. “World Fight Sanctioned as World Title Battle.” Press release. Global Productions Ltd., June 24, 1977. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
8. “Cat Davis Deeps Women’s Mitt Title.” Cumberland Evening Times, June 30, 1976, p. 40.
9. “Davis Wins Women’s Bout.” Delta Democrat-Times, June 17, 1976, p. 27. [Newspapers.com]
10. Margo Nash. “Jersey Footlights.” New York Times, March 13, 2005, n.p. [NYTimes.com]
11. Joan Ryan. “Female Boxing Match Draws 2,400 Suckers.” Atlanta Journal, August 25, 1976, p. 4B. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
12. Margo Nash. “Jersey Footlights.” New York Times, March 13, 2005, n.p. [NYTimes.com]
13. Hank Narrow. “Cathy Davis Shows Ring Saavy in KO’ing Margie Dunson in Two.” [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
14. “Copy of typewritten note describing the Cathy Cat Davis v. Margie Dunson Fight at the Wagner Ballroom in Phila, Pa. Hand written date, 3/2/77.” [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
15. John Feinstein. “As Sport Returns to N. Carolina.” Washington Post, February 5, 1978, p. E5. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
16. Jack Newfield. Village Voice, October 9, 1978, pp. 1, 15–16. [Google News]
17. Davis v. New York State Athletic Commission. December 22, 1977. [WestlawNext]
18. “Women May Take Ring.” The Eagle (Bryan, Texas), May 20, 1978, p. 14. [Newspapers.com]
&
nbsp; 19. Will Grimsley. “‘Cat’ Hears Sad Tale of the Tyger.” September 20, 1978. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
20. Jeff Meyers. “Champ Woman Boxer Hopes She Never Looks the Part.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 23, 1978, p. 2D. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
21. Judy Kessler. “With Boxer Cat Davis, Cauliflower Doesn’t Come to Mind—Tomato, Maybe?” People, May 15, 1978, 9:19. [People.com]
22. “Remember Sal Algieri?” Sydney Morning Herald, June 25, 1978, p. 43. [Google News]
23. Don Pierson. “Woman Boxer Makes Name, but Whose?” Chicago Tribune, June 18, 1978, p. B1. [ProQuest.]
24. Randall V. Beriage. “They Know the Ropes—In and Out of the Ring.” August 21, 1978. [Folder: Fighters/Davis, Cathy “Cat.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
25. “New York Gives In, Grants Ring Permits to Women.” Lawrence Journal-World, September 20, 1978, p. 19 [Google News]
26. Sal Algieri. “‘Cat’ Davis, Woman Boxer, Could Be Start of a New Breed.” The Ring, August 1978, pp. 6–7, 42. [Malissa Smith Collection]
27. Jack Newfield. Village Voice, October 9, 1978, pp. 1, 15–16. [Google News]
28. “Cat Davis Stops German for Women’s Boxing ‘Title.’” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1979, p. D2. [ProQuest]
29. Jerry Kirshenbaum. “Scorecard.” Sports Illustrated, July 23, 1979, n.p. [Sportsillustrated.com]
30. Jamie Lowe. “Cat Davis: Boxing Pioneer Now Throws Hash, Not Punches.” Sports Illustrated, July 7, 2005. [Sportsillustrated.com]
31. Sue TL Fox. “Archived Exclusive Interview with Bill Dickson.” Women Boxing Archive Network. May 20, 1999. [WBAN.org]
32. Alastair Segerdal. “The Acceptable Face of Women’s Boxing: A Report from an All-Female Card in Hawthorne, California in 1979.” [Womensboxing.com]
33. Jack Hawn. “Woman Boxer Is a Nurse, Too.” Los Angeles Times, February 10, 1979, p. C9. [ProQuest]
34. “Baby Bear Roars Back into Town.” Tewkesbury Admag, June 23, 2011, n.p. [Tewkesburyadmag.co.uk]
35. An article on the fight (cf. 34) notes the sanctioning body as the Women’s Boxing Federation; however, Vern Stevenson, the promoter, was the head of the Women’s World Boxing Association (WWBA), and it is possible that the bout was actually sanctioned by the latter organization.
36. “‘Greatest Ladies Battle Ever’ Ends in Loss of Bonnie’s Title.” February 1979. There is a handwritten note from Vern Stevenson to Hank Kaplan on a copy of the article. “Please read completely Hank when you have time.” Certain passages of the article are also underlined. [Folder: Articles: Miscellaneous. Box 46. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
37. Tom Archdeacon. “Women Boxers: These Ladies Love the Ring.” Miami News, June 6, 1980, pp. 1C–2C. [Google News]
38. Tom Archdeacon. “Barbara Buttrick Has Renewed Love Affair with Boxing.” Miami News, June 7, 1980, pp. 1B, 6B. [Google News]
39. Gary Picknell. Ottowa Journal, September 14, 1979, p. 15. [Newspapers.com]
40. “Toughwoman Contest: Local Favorite Claims Her Secret Is Not to Get Hit.” Tyrone Daily Herald, May 21, 1981, p. 3. [Newspapers.com]
41. Malissa Smith interview with Bruce Silverglade, July 10, 2013.
42. Paul Sullivan. “These Women Go Toe-to-Toe for Extra Dough.” Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1987, n.p. [Chicagotribune.com]
43. Jim Jenkins. “Women Fight Discrimination in Battle for Bouts.” Sacramento Bee, April 18, 1985, p. D11. [Newslibrary.com]
44. Sue Dillingham. “Maine Lady Boxing Champ Has Local Ties; Her Goal Is to Annex the World Title” Lewiston Journal, January 14, 1982, p. 6. [Google News]
45. Paul Sullivan. “These Women Go Toe-to-Toe for Extra Dough.” Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1987, n.p. [Chicagotribune.com]
46. Lacy J. Banks. “Women Boxers Battle in 10-Round Title Fight.” Chicago Sun-Times, August 15, 1987, p. 106 [Newslibrary.com]
47. “Laura Holt Collects World Boxing Crown.” Bangor Daily News, March 26, 1986, p. 32. [Google News]
48. Lacy J. Banks. “Women Boxers Battle in 10-Round Title Fight.” Chicago Sun-Times, August 15, 1987, p. 106 [Newslibrary.com]
49. Paul Sullivan. “These Women Go Toe-to-Toe for Extra Dough.” Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1987, n.p. [Chicagotribune.com]
50. Friends of Lady Tyger. Hunger Strike Flyer. [Folder: Fighters: Trimiar, Marian “Lady Tyger.” Box 45. Series 13. Fistic Arcana. Hank Kaplan Boxing Archive, Brooklyn College Archives and Special Collections, Brooklyn College Library]
51. Leigh Behrens. “Boxer Hungry for Recognition.” April 19, 1987, p. 2. [Newslibrary.com]
52. “Woman Boxer on Hunger Strike, Demands Equality.” Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution, April 28, 1987, p. D2. [Newslibrary.com]
53. Lacy J. Banks. “Lady Tyger’s Fast Didn’t Help Cause.” Chicago Sun-Times, July 27, 1987, p. 114. [Newslibrary.com]
Chapter 9
Christy Martin and the Pinking of the Velvet Ropes
I didn't know anything about boxing. I’d never hit a heavy bag or done anything like that in my life. But I was an athlete. Athletes are cocky. I liked the challenge.
—Christy Martin[1]
Christy Martin became the public symbol of women’s boxing almost from the beginning of her professional career in the early 1990s. Known for her aggressive, no-nonsense style, she brought a little something extra that all boxers of renown of either gender seemed to share—a savvy acumen for promotion that propelled them above the crowd.
With her trademark pink boxer shorts and pink boxing gloves, Martin pushed her way inside “big” promotion to get her fights televised on the biggest fight cards of the day—something no female boxer had been successful in doing before. She also pushed her earnings higher than anyone in women’s boxing had before.
Martin’s desire was so great that she thought nothing of getting bloody and bruised in her efforts to win, training that much harder in the gym every chance she could, and spending hours and hours of focused effort to develop a hard, aggressive boxing style and the ring savvy to give her knockout wins.
Like other women who were taking up the gloves in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Martin pushed against the prevailing winds of discouragement to fight whomever, wherever, and whenever she could. She was also part of a movement of women who participated in everything from Toughwoman competitions and “boxercise” classes to the first female forays into amateur boxing competitions.
Christy, along with countless other women, was becoming a fixture in boxing clubs all across the United States. In the show-not-tell world of boxing, “walking the walk” began to trump gender as women proved that they could box with science—putting in the hours of training, roadwork, and whatever else was asked of them.
These factors—an increasing number of highly skilled fighters, the growth of new promotional opportunities, sponsoring organizations, and the advent of the amateurs—led to the second boom in women’s boxing in the mid-1990s. All of the increasing popularity aside, the true “birth” of women’s boxing in the mind of the public was the night Christy Martin fought an Irish fighter named Deirdre Gogarty on March 16, 1996.
Their fight was on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s otherwise lackluster heavyweight title challenge against the British champion Frank Bruno on a Don King Promotions pay-per-view extravaganza beamed around the world from the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
What happened after their bout was nothing short of an exponential leap into the stratosphere for women’s professional boxing.