JOANN HAGEN,
a fighter in the fifties, was the only female to defeat Barbara Buttrick. HAGEN was a tall, beautiful blond-haired woman. She was
very graceful in her movements when she boxed in the ring.
Some interesting tidbits on Hagan (from The
Police Gazette-June 1950), Hagen had appeared on the Steve Allen Show in
November 1956.
According to Barry N., who sent in this information and had viewed
the tape, said
that the tape was "Pretty Wild." and that Hagen appeared with
Phyllis Kugler, and they were billed as "Champion Women
Boxers". The whole thing was played very tongue in
cheek. First they both come out in evening dresses
(Hagan is gorgeous!). Hagen also was a guest on "What's
My Line" in 1956.
Then they made them change into their boxing
duds on stage, behind a screen! All the while Allen continued to
interview them , coyly shielding his eyes with one hand. After they came out, Hagan sparred a little with Allen, who
quickly gave up, then with Kugler. Hagan announced that she and Kugler
were having a title match." (A special thanks to Barry for sending in
this information.
WBAN received some fight info in April 2010,
from a relative of Pat Emerick, a female boxer who fought Hagen in 1949.
They stated the following: The boxing match was held
November of 1949 in Council Bluff, Iowa. Mom won this fight and the
Ladies Championship In the 3rd round by a TKO. Miss Hagen couldn't come
out in the 4th round.The only thing she has left of her boxing career is
the Golden Glove that was on top of her Championship Trophy. The rest
was destroyed by fire that was accidently set by children playing with
matches. "
Photo donated to the History Museum by
Victor Verhagen, she poses for a promotional photo.
link
On April 30, 2018, there was
an interesting article that was published on the South Bend Tribute,
stating the following giving more historical details on JoAnn Hagen:
"After World War II, women’s sports became more popular, and many of the
pioneers in women’s boxing hailed from St. Joseph County.
In the 1940s, a local promoter named Johnny Nate began recruiting women
and training them in his gym.
His most famous recruit was a woman named Jo Ann Verhagen.
Verhagen worked at the local Bendix plant and was recruited after she
hit a fellow worker who was harassing her. The incident was witnessed by
Nate’s brother.
Verhagen boxed under the name Joann Hagen and, along with Nate’s other
recruits, fought in matches all over the Midwest. Even so, female boxers
were still not widely accepted; many of the matches organized by Nate
were shut down when the venue discovered he had women on the ticket.
Some boxers assumed more masculine pseudonyms, including two other local
women — Phyllis Kugler, who boxed as Phil, and Arvilla Emerick, who
appeared as Pat. To raise awareness of their sport, Kugler and Verhagen
began appearing on national television, facing off in 1954 in the first
nationally televised female fight.
Verhagen’s run ended when she was defeated by Phyllis Kugler in a match
at St. Joseph High School in 1956 — Verhagen’s last match. She later
joined the U.S. Marines and lived in South Bend until her death in
2004."
