A night at the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame

Spending a few days in Las Vegas is never a bad thing. Having days without work makes it all the better, so in November 2021, I got a call from Sue Fox to let me know she’d been inducted into the 2022 International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame. . , you didn’t have to talk to me twice about planning a cross-country trip to the “battle capital of the world.”

Sure, it was a lovely vacation weekend with my bride, but more importantly, I met old friends, met people I covered but never met in person, and finally met some It was time to celebrate the fighters of the sport that made headlines last year.

I also got a cool shield and was able to stand side by side with some of the best boxers in the game. So it wasn’t that traumatic.

Oh yeah, I finally got to meet the Webber sisters. If you’re new to women’s boxing, you may not have heard of Cora and Dora her webber. But in the late ’70s and ’90s, they were two of the baddest women on the planet, so look them up. was with the killer almost every night, and in the case of the Webber twins, every night.

Dora’s (IWBHF appointment in 2021) record included the names of Kathy Collins, Leah Mellinger, Lucia Ryker, Jane Couch and Anani Sumiya. Cora (2022 Hall of Famer) fought the likes of Belindalla Laquente, Bonnie Canino, Melissa Del Her Valle. If you weren’t following sports, they were the best in the game and Webber didn’t duck anyone.

It may be my boxing nerd, but if I had to meet anyone in Vegas last October, it was the Webber sisters. night. It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than 20 years since they last stepped on the ropes, but we’re back in the “childhood” of boxing, so to speak.

It was the late 90’s and maintenance work for a living wasn’t for me, so I started writing for Cyber ​​Boxing Zone. At the time, this internet thing was fairly new, and most of the industry powerhouses didn’t take “internet” writers too seriously. Outside of the kind and positive souls who sympathized with us, offered good seats on game night and facilitated interviews, if there was a www in front of the outlet it would be difficult to get access bottom.

What if you don’t want to write your opinion all day while covering the fight from your couch? In my case, I had to get creative. That meant finding fighters who were as press-hungry as you gave them. It was a savior. .

And the stories these women had. Riker, Anani, Christy Martin, Mia St. John, Cathy Collins and my favorite Jill Matthews. Forget Harry Greb. The fact that there is no footage of Matthews’ professional fights on her YouTube is a crime. At least there’s her NY Golden Her Gloves match with my buddy Dee Hamaguchi, but digressing. Matthews was furious on fight night and was the best quote ever outside the ring.

“Old school people wanted to see the fight,” Matthews told me when I caught up with her for an article in Ring Magazine in 2016. All the new fighters have been technical and castrated, and the bar brawl aspect has been removed. When I fought it was do or die. They are trying to get me and I am going to get them out as soon as possible.”

Add that she was in a punk band with her husband, and the fact that she never became a global superstar is an even bigger crime than the lack of professional footage of her on the internet. .

This was how some women basically paid to fight, and if they didn’t, they went home with peanuts in their wallets. , was an embarrassing situation for those who train as hard or harder than men.

So when Fox, one of the sport’s pioneers in and out of the ring, launched IWBHF in 2013, the women finally had a place to honor the sacrifices they made.

“I’ve been thinking about this for years. If I have a job, I want it to be successful. To do it, I just want to take baby steps and be myself.” But I didn’t want to just do it and drop the ball.”

This October, IWBHF will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Las Vegas. I don’t think Fox dropped the ball, but seriously (and I mentioned this in my inaugural address), even if she fought for such an honor, she’d be in the HOF she started. You should have a place to live.

And she was running around every corner during the entrance ceremony weekend to make sure everything went smoothly, but still doing everything with a smile. In return, she spent the night bringing honors that those inducted will never forget. But they got that recognition from the sport because of what they gave the sport.

When it was my turn to speak, I had nothing prepared, but I had a theme. First, I wanted to make the case that Sue Fox had secured her spot in the hall. I had to remind people that it wasn’t easy. It followed up with my New York friend Kathy Collins on the mic and let people know I fought for the Golden Gloves two years after she fought. Collins went on to win multiple world titles in the professional ranks. I touched my gloves and woke up in an ambulance 63 seconds later with two guys telling me I was fine.

It elicited laughter, and it should have, but the point was that these women did what the smallest percentage of the population could do, and they were willing to pay for the money or praise given to their male counterparts. They did it without getting it. If it’s not for the love of gaming, what is it?

While Claressa Shields, Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, and their pals at the top of the sport finally get their reasons, let’s not forget that they didn’t invent women’s boxing. She is a fighter in the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame, and they should all get a standing ovation for it, even if they are decades behind.