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| Kenia Enriquez has her arm raised in victory after defeating Selene Lopez. |
The future of women’s boxing looks brighter with each passing year. There are already more women boxing than most people think and there is no doubt the sport is growing and becoming more mainstream. This is great to see! Also appearing with greater frequency are inspiring and uplifting stores of women boxing as the popularity of boxing becomes more widespread. Some of these stories will make you want to pick up a pair of boxing gloves and head to the nearest gym!
Female Boxing is Thriving
Boxing is thriving in the UK and women’s boxing is no exception. This article, “Meet The Competitive Female Fighters Of Britain’s Badass Boxing Rings”, nicely summarizes the healthy state of female boxing in the UK.
http://www.konbini.com/en/lifestyle/female-fighters-britain-boxing/
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| Female boxing - growing quickly in the UK |
Female Boxing at the Olympics
Of course, the recent addition of women's boxing competition is a very inspiring story as are the stories of the many female boxers finally given the opportunity to compete for gold, silver and bronze. It was truly the dawning of a new era for women at the olympics.
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| Pleased with her performance, Sofya Ochigava (in blue) of Russia hugs Adriana Araujo of Brazil after their bout |
Inspiration from Successful Female Boxers
Success at the olympics breeds even greater interest in the sport. For example, "Women's boxing is becoming a popular UK sport since British fighter Nicola Adams won Olympic gold" which describes some of the benefits of boxing and where to find boxing classes for women.
http://www.tntmagazine.com/lifestyle-career/health-and-beauty/womens-boxing-is-becoming-a-popular-uk-sport-since-british-fighter-nicola-adams-won-olympic-gold
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| Nicola Adams |
Another example is Katie Taylor who is inspiring Irish women to take up boxing. This article which covers a teacher who becomes one of a growing number of Irish women who box.
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Women's boxing is growing very quickly in some countries. Argentina is seeing fast growth in the sport. Africa and India are also seeing interest in the sport expanding. Even China is seeing umprecidented interest in women's boxing. It seems that female professional boxers are fighting on a weekly basis in Mexico and the fights are televised. This is a great development but the support needs to spread around the world.
Here's a good article from the Sweet Science on how Mexico is taking the lead in women's boxing.
http://www.thesweetscience.com/news/articles-frontpage/21872-female-fight-update-mexico-taking-lead-in-female-boxing
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| Junior flyweight Kenia Enriquez |
The Tools of the Trade - Boxing Equipment
The needs of female boxers need to be met with the availability of suitable equipment. Colour may not be a major concern for serious boxers but many colours are currently available.
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| Boxing gloves - now available in many styles and colours |
A more serious concern is that the boxing gear fits properly and meets the needs of competitive female fighters. Gloves for amateur or professional boxing need to fit well on hands that may be smaller. Several manufacturers make boxing gloves for women, including Cleto Reyes.
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| Cleto Reyes Women's 8oz and 10oz Pro Fight Gloves |
A female boxer may wish to wear a breast protector and a suitable no foul protector for sparring. All this equipment is now available from major manufacturers. The bottom line is the wide availability of proper boxing equipment for women compared with the not-to-distant past shows how quickly the sport has grown!
Female Participation in White Collar/Charity Boxing Events
Once a men's only institution, many women are now participating in white collar boxing events White-collar boxing is a form of boxing in which men and women, usually but not always in white-collar professions, train to fight at special events - commonly for charity.
A ladies boxing charity group called Pink Collar Boxing. These contests have been a huge success raising about a quarter of a million Pounds for local charities.
http://www.pinkcollarboxing.co.uk/
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| Participant in Pick Collar Boxing Event |
More Boxers and Better Fights!
With each passing year, the number of women taking up boxing is increasing. As a result, we are seeing more and more talented female boxers in the amateur and pro ranks. This is producing some very good women's fights for fans of the sweet science. A memorable fight that took place here in Toronto featured Sandy Tsagouris of Brampton, Ontario vs Shannon O'Connell of Brisbane, Australia
This was a great fight! I have already watched it several times. It was an 8 round fight between two tough featherweights that went the distance. Tsagouris was knocked down by O'Connell in the fourth round but was able to get the unanimous decision win by dominating most of the fight.
Tsagouris was very impressive and was able to tee off on O'Connell landing a lot of solid punches. O'Connell showed all kinds of heart and earned a lot of respect from me for staying in the fight.
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| Sandy Tsagouris vs Shannon O'Connell - 8 Round Featherweight Bout in Toronto on September 11, 2015 |
This must-see fight is available here on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOcrBc9Uf-w
These are just a few examples that show how women's boxing is growing, great to watch and here to stay!
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