Tag Archives: AIBA

Women’s Boxing: This is what women’s Olympic boxing comes down to … skirts!?!

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Women’s Boxing:  This is what Women’s Olympic boxing comes down to … skirts!?!

BBC Sports has a piece entitled, Women’s boxing split as governing body suggests skirts, they report on the recommendation made last year by the AIBA that women wear skirts in the ring at international competitions. Apparently this reared its head at the recently completed European Competitions with some nations opining that it makes a more “womanly impression.”

I’m sorry for the venom I’m about to spew but, WTF???

Female boxers are doing everything they can to get the recognition they deserve just to get in the ring, never mind have fair matches, get media coverage and opportunities to have their athleticism legitimized, and this is what the AIBA came up with as their great contribution!  Women should wear skirts in competition at the Olympics!!!

Isn’t it bad enough that the rounds are limited to two minutes instead of three???

Or the fact that there are only three weight classes in the Olympics in 2012???

As far as I’m concerned this is just BULLSH*T!!!

Have a read and spew.

Maybe I’m too damned old to think the notion of “optional” has meaning — as far as I’m concerned putting a woman in a mini-skirt smacks of nothing more than sexism pure and simple.  And heck, if a woman wants to wear a skirt in the ring great, and to that end, plenty of men wear them, but right, when a man wears a skirt in the ring it’s considered “gladiatorial.”

Give us a break already!

PS – Be sure and check out Michael Rivest’s exceptional article entitled A Conversation with Dr. C.K. Wu – More on Warriors in Skirts. 

Women’s Amateur Boxing Updates!

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Women’s Amateur Boxing Updates!

>>>AIBA’s Women’s and Youth Junior World Championships are set to begin in Ankara, Turkey on April 24, 2011 – May 1, 2011!

As noted by AIBA, “A total of 264 young women boxers from 45 different countries are set to compete.”  Junior boxers as young as 14 years old will participate in a total of thirteen different weight classes under official AIBA rules. Interestingly, the United States will not be fielding a team in either division.  Participating countries will include Russian, host country Turkey, Ukraine, India, Poland, Sweden and Ireland (with women’s boxing champion Katie Taylor leading the team), among other participating nations.

For further information click here.

>>>Team USA Dual Showdown

Congratulations to Team USA Women’s Boxing for their hard-fought victories and near misses in the two dual showdown events with a superb Mexican team on April 13th & April 15th in Harvey, Illinois.

4/13/11 – Friday’s USA vs. Mexico Dual Results
112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA, dec. Mariana Caballero, MEX, 29-9
132 lbs/female: Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA, dec. Reyna Cotija, MEX, 15-13

4/15/11 – Sunday’s USA vs. Mexico Dual Results
112 lbs/female: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA dec. Silvia Torres, MEX, 16-12

132 lbs/female: Erika Cruz, MEX, dec. Queen Underwood, Seattle, Wash./USA, 21-13

165 lbs/female: Tiffanie Hearn, Louisville, Ky./USA dec. Alma Ibarra, MEX, 16-7

For further information click here.

Women’s boxing news roundup, 1/25/2011

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Women’s boxing news roundup, 1/25/2011.

Women's boxing news roundup - 1/25/2011

Christy Martin, Credit: Casey Kelbaugh, NYT

For those who didn’t catch this over the weekend, the New York Times did a feature piece on boxer, Christy Martin as she readies herself for her comeback fight on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto v. Ricardo Mayorga bout to be aired on Showtime pay-per-view March 12th.  The article, written by Joyce Wadler, looks in-depth at Christy’s career and recent troubles.  The “money” quote of the piece is at the end in response to a snarky question if ever I heard one regarding Christy’s motivations for returning to the ring.   “You know,” she said, “I was a fighter before, so I’m just going back to work, and through my work maybe I can inspire other women, or give them strength to deal with situations and move forward.”   Way to go Christy!  The link to the piece is here.

Ana Julaton

Another great Philippine “Pac-Woman,” Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton has announced the “return of The Hurricane,” in her bout to be fought against Francesca “The Chosen One” Alcanter.  Of interest is the fact that the fight night will feature a mixture of Professional Boxing, Amateur kickboxing, as well as live music and comedy acts on three stages.  The event is set for February 25, 2011 at the Craneway Pavilion in Riverside, CA, and will be broadcast live in the Philippines.  For further information, check out the link here and here.

Flyweights, Ava Knight (r) & Gloria Salas

The Sweetscience.com is carrying a piece by David A. Avila, about Golden Boy Promotions’ recent efforts to support women’s boxing.  As Avila points out, “Golden Boy kept its word and female prizefighting was showcased on another fight card [this past Friday]. Working with Claudia Ollis, a new powerbroker in women’s boxing, the Los Angeles-based boxing giant Golden Boy has made waves in the boxing world. Now other boxing promotions are jumping on the bandwagon with female fighters included on their respective cards.”  This is great news for the sport and couldn’t come at a better time as we enter the countdown to next year’s debut of women’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics in London.  The article can be found here.

The new International Amateur Boxing Association’s (AIBA) is seeking to strengthen the position of women’s amateur boxing both before and after the 2012 Olympic games to include adding weight categories at future Olympic games.  As well, the association has set an agreement for the 2011 Women’s Youth and Junior World Championships to be held in Ankara, Turkey from April 28 – May 8.  For more information click here and here.