Like this gallery?Share it :
Though women ’s boxing still skin to break into the mainstream , there is a retentive and storied account of distaff amour in the sport .
The phylogeny of gender equality in boxing went way rearward before its slow climb fore . The early 1700s had raw British female fighters like Elizabeth Wilkinson boxing other woman ( and even men ) in bare - chested , bare - knuckle style brawls . There were no “ rounds , " weight classes , or low gust . There were essentially no rule at all . Women betroth in bloody prize fights , mixed duo pugilism , and even matches involving cudgels or lowly sword .
Known as the “European Championess,” Elizabeth Wilkinson enjoyed a six-year career as boxer. For her final bout, she was paid ten pounds, a healthy sum in 1728.
It was n’t until the other 1800s that fisticuffs — though illegal through most of the 19th hundred — clear respectability and popularity in Europe . Unfortunately , this coincide with the British Evangelical Christian movement , which labeled women ’s liaison in the athletics an loathing . Relegated to sideshow “ functioning ” and nightclub acts , the female athletes now existed to entertain men on a sensationalist level .
Women ’s pugilism as a sport thus continued under the radiolocation — to a point . In the United States , the first women ’s world backup match occurred in 1888 in New York . Fighters Hattie Leslie and Alice Leary endured a brutal engagement that ended in black eyes . They also endured limitless disdain and ridicule from the press . The New York Heraldvilified and objectified the Boxer in the reporting of the event .
Such uproar take place that both Leary and Leslie ( the friend ) , Leslie ’s married man , and several other man involved were arrested and indicted . The charges include “ aiding and abet a prize conflict ” — though a fight like this between men was unglamourous .
Not long after , women ’s pugilism did appear at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis — but only as a demo bout .
Women fighters battled for par in the summercater for years . It was n’t until 1975 that Caroline Svendsen became the first fair sex to invite a pugilism license in the United States .
Even now , however , women ’s pugilism does not enjoy the regard that the men ’s segmentation receive or the popularity of modern MMA matches . The Olympic committee did n’t reinstate women ’s fisticuffs as an Olympian sport again until 2012 .
Here ’s to the women — retiring and present — who continue to step into the ring .
Next , meet thesuffragettes who defended women ’s rights with jujutsu . Then , discover the five most bad asswomen of the Civil War .
