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PAT PINEDA PAT PINEDA was a female boxer in the later part of the
70's, early 80's. She at one time fought Kim Maybee at the Olympic Stadium,
and lost the bout. She trained with Lady Tyger Trimiar
and was managed by John Dubliss (who is now deceased). It is unknown if she had any other bouts at
this time. Pat Pineda did not have very many professional fights,
and is best known for being the FIRST woman in California to obtain a Boxing
license. Dee Knuckles her manager, was very instrumental in helping Pineda
accomplish that goal. Knuckles managed
Sue TL Fox (booked fights for Sue TL
Fox without a contract) many women fighters, including,
Britt VanBuskirk, and many others.
CHERYL BROWN
Cheryl Brown of Waterville, Maine,
set a record for that state
when she stopped Pat Poland, in only ten seconds at the Augusta Civic Center. That was the
quickest kayo either among the pros or the amateurs. Ms. Brown's kayo was even quicker
than the one recorded by Al Couture over Ralph Walton back on September 26, 1946, which
was listed at ten and a half seconds including the count. The shortest fight on record was
an amateur bout, stopped without a count. In only four seconds in Minneapolis,
MI in 1947.
YVONNE BARKLEY
YVONNE BARKLEY, who was from Harlem, New York and a mother of two
children. According to newspaper sources, BARKLEY fought Lilly
Bayardo on 10/9/79 in Houston, Texas, and had lost by a decision. BARKLEY fought Sue "KO" Carlson on 11/20/79, and won in the fifth round by
TKO. That fight was three minutes per rounds, 10 rounds, and 8 oz. gloves, which
apparently is customary in Texas. BARKLEY also defeated Lady
Tyger Trimiar in the 80's and was #3 in the World in 1984.
BILLIE JO FINLEY BILLIE JO "FLASH" FINLEY, a Bantamweight
from Canada was a very energetic and gutsy boxer. She had a match with
Zebra Girl Tucker in 7/23/82. The fight resulted in a loss for
Finley, but it was a very exciting match to watch. (WBAN has the
video on this fight)
SUE TL FOX Sue TL Fox, creator of WBAN (Women Boxing Archive Network), and as of 2014, the IWBHF (International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame) boxed from 1976 -
1979. Fox was
Ranked #1 in the World
as a Super Welterweight at that time. In that division there was no
champion and it was vacant in super welterweight division. Fox
was never offered to fight a world title during her boxing career.
Fox is now a retired police officer as of 2008 from the State of
Oregon. Full Biography
LAURIE HOLT
LAURIE HOLT, a dynamite super-featherweight that
defeated Cora Webber in a 15-round World Title Fight in the 80's
in Denver, Colorado at the Radisson Hotel. She won by a unanimous
decision. HOLT was a very quick, and skillful boxer. She was light on her
feet, hard-puncher, with great timing. (WBAN has a tape of
this fight).
HITOMI CHIKANO
HITOMI CHIKANO,
a leading Japanese contender was knocked out by Britt Van Buskirk
when it was only BUSKIRK'S second bout.
GWEN GEMINI
GWEN GEMINI, was one of the
most accomplished and versatile welterweight female boxers of the 70's
and early 80's. She had the skills and finesse to mesmerize any
audience, who had the pleasure of watching her fight.
GEMINI had the boxing moves of a male fighter, with a strong left jab, a
dynamite left hook, and a tremendous right hand. She had the "Ali"
shuffle down to a science and moved very skillfully in the ring. GEMINI
had a long reach, and her defense skills were very good. With those
combinations of attributes, she was a tough fighter to hit.
Before women were able to fight sanctioned bouts in the states, GEMINI
and Tyger Trimiar would perform exhibition fights in different states.
When women were finally able to get boxing licenses in some of the
states, GEMINI was already ahead of the game. In 1976, GEMINI, 24
years old, came to Portland, Oregon, and fought Theresa "Princess Red
Star" Kibby at the Exposition Center, and won the fight by a decisive
four-round unanimous decision. Full Biography
DENISE COLEMAN
DENISE COLEMAN, a featherweight
from Los Angeles, California, fought Amy Levit on
1/10/80, but lost the fight by a decision. No other info on her at this time.
DONNA JENSON
DONNA JENSON, a
fighter from Seattle Washington, had a fight on 10/02/79 in Reno, Nevada against JUDY
JAMES of Nevada. She won the fight when she KO'd JAMES in the 3rd round.
FRANKIE JONES
FRANKIE JONES, 168
lbs., had a fight in Belleville, Illinois, a small town near St. Louis. The fight
occurred on 11/27/79. She won the fight, but the fight had to have been a novelty
fight, because her opponent, LINDA HARRISON, weighed in at only 144 lbs.,
JONES won the fight.
GINGER KAUFMAN
GINGER KAUFMAN,
appears to have had the misfortune to fight Graciela Casillas,
a great fighter, on 7/31/79 in a 10-round bout with 8-ounce gloves. KAUFMAN
had to have been a fairly good boxer to withstand ten rounds with
CASILLAS. She
lost by a decision. Reports were that KAUFMAN was "battered."
KAUFMAN went on to fight another well-known fighter in the 70's, Karen
Bennett, on
11/23/79. The fight was a draw, and reports were that both girls were
"cautious." Also, Kaufman was mentioned as an Amateur fighter
in Minnesota, check out Setting the Record straight on the first
sanctioned amateur bout. All news reports
internationally recognize Dallas Malloy as the first sanctioned amateur
fighter in the U.S., but WBAN uncovered documents to disprove that!
PATRICIA LADD
PATRICIA LADD fought
SANDRA PECK on 7/17/79 in a four-round bout in Memphis, Tennessee. She lost the
fight by a decision.
CHERYL LAUDD
CHERYL LAUDD,
a Bantamweight, had a fight against Paula Trichel on 1/10/80. She
lost by a decision.
LOUISE LOO
Louis "Frisco
Kid" Loo, a very dedicated boxer in the early 80's came from San
Francisco, California. She was quick, and skillful, and a very
entertaining boxer to watch. WBAN was sent in some boxing tapes, and
a Television Special featuring this fighter. Some of the highlights of
Loo's career was fighting noted boxers, Nancy Thompson, Lily Rodriguez,
Angel Rodriguez, Paula Trichel. Loo's last fight was against a former kickboxer by the name
of "Mackwood" who was making her pro debut. A
television special was covering this fight, and Loo came into this bout
with a 6-2 record. Loo lost the fight, where Mackwood appeared to be
more than determined to win her first pro fight. Loo's record dropped to
6-3. Link to more and videoDENISE MOOREHEAD
DENISE MOOREHEAD,
a
featherweight from Los Angeles, California fought Zebra
Girl Tucker
on 1/10/79 and lost by a KO in the 2nd round. She also participated in a six-bout
fight in Japan, but her opponent is unknown.
SANDRA PECK
SANDRA PECK had a
four-round bout against PATRICIA LADD in Memphis, Tennessee on 7/17/79. She won the
fight by a decision.
NANCY THOMPSON
NANCY THOMPSON,
known as "LIttle Rock", from San Diego, fought Louise Loo
on 11/3/83 at the El Rancho Tropicana in Santa Rosa, California. She lost the fight
by a KO.
GINATE TROY
GINATE TROY, a
Bantamweight, fought Zebra Girl Tucker on 12/11/79 in San Jose,
California. She lost by a TKO in the 2nd round. She had another fight
with Lily "Squeaky" Bayardo on 7/13/80 in Los Angeles,
and again had lost the fight.
CHARLENE ANTHONY
CHARLENE ANTHONY a
welterweight/middleweight from Hawaii, fought out of Las Vegas, Nevada.
In February of 1977, ANTHONY at 0-1, then fought Sue
TL Fox but lost by a unanimous decision. ANTHONY's
goal was to have a bout against Sahara 21-dealer, LaVonne
Ludian for the city championship. In one news report in
the Las Vegas Sun they wrote, "The most exciting match on the
undercard was, for a change, the women's welterweight four-rounder between Sue Fox of San
Pedro and Las Vegan Charlene Anthony." Mike Marley, Sun Sports Writer, February
1977 Las Vegas, Nevada. ANTHONY, RANKED #6 World Welterweight
with the Women's Boxing Federations, approved by the WBB and WBBA 1977
ROSETTE "ROSI" REED
Deceased October 21, 2021
Rosetta (Rosi) Reed was a pioneer female
boxer from the late 1970's and 1980's, hanging up the gloves in
1985.
She made her mark in women's boxing and is one of the great female
pioneers from the past. She won the World Flyweight Title
Championship in 1978, when she defeated Prestwood. She
eventually earned a law degree after leaving the world of boxing.
Rosi, a talented and inspiring woman who seemed able to do anything
she set her mind to, died Oct. 21, 2021 from complications related
to COVID-19 at the age of 71. Born in Tehachapi on Jan. 5,
1950 and raised in Mojave until her family moved to Bakersfield when
she was in high school, Reed excelled in an almost unimaginable
variety of endeavors.
LILLY RODRIGUEZ
Deceased January 2007 LILLY
RODRIGUEZ was one of the most
versatile featherweights in women's boxing in the 70's and early 80's.She had
already made great strides and successes as a kickboxer, and came from a famous family
that pioneered kickboxing. She was a very talented fighter that
could excite the crowd so much that they would literally throw money into the
ring. As
Bridgett
Riley
told WBAN, "She was an awesome fighter in her day, and
was a true pioneer in the sport." Full
StoryTONI LEAR RODRIGUEZ
Toni
Rodriguez began
her fighting career as a welterweight in about 1976.
Rodriguez eventually
dropped about 20 pounds and switched to the featherweight division.
Rodriguez went on to fight for the sanctioned
World Champion featherweight division against Baby Bear in 1979.
Rodriguez defeated Baby Bear and was named the Featherweight World Champion in Boxing Illustrated in 1979,
April issue. Toni Rodriguez also fought under names of Tony Lear, and
"Tough" Toni Rodriguez. This fighter fought off and on
up to about 1993. WBAN discovered an article about her fighting a 0-2
fighter and telling a radio announcement that she was something like 73-0
and was a past world champ (I guess she forgot about the below listed
fighters who defeated her). Then she lost to the 0-2 fighter that night of
1993! Her response to losing that fight to the 0-2 fighter:
Toni said that she "let" the girl defeat her.
(Rodriguez lost twice to Fox by unanimous decisions
to Fox at Incline Village in Lake Tahoe, and in Utah).
JACKIE TONAWANDA
JACKIE TONAWANDA,
was first introduced to the sport of boxing by a young friend at the age of nine.
TONAWANDA immediately took to the sport. According to reports, for thirteen years, TONAWANDA boxed
professionally, although WBAN has NOT BEEN ABLE TO SUBSTANTIATE A BOXING
RECORD that is listed in newspapers on this boxer. When the New York State Athletic Commissioner Edwin Dooley refused to
issue her a boxing license, she took it to court and won. TONAWANDA still remembers
vividly the day in October of 1974, when she applied for her boxing license. She was told
to expect an answer in a month. She never heard from them, and after a few months of not
receiving her license, she let her lawyers take over. THREE BOXERS
RECEIVED THEIR LICENSES AT THE SAME TIME. Tonawanda, along with Cathy
"Cat" Davis, and Lady Tyger Trimiar were all responsible for earning the right
to box in New York State. TONAWANDA was the first woman to fight at the Madison
Square Garden, when she matched up with a top contender male kickboxer. She knocked
him out in the 2nd round. She thought that the New York Athletic Commission would
finally be convinced that she had a right to get a boxing license. They still did not give
in. WBAN has now received
information from MANY boxing sources that say that Jackie
Tonawanda's boxing record is basically a figment of her
imagination. WBAN will have to concur with that as it has yet to find
ANY documentation to substantiate her outlandish claims of having a
26-0-0 record, 32-0-0 record (depending on what news source). WBAN has
her at 0-1-0 at this time in women's boxing, one documented
kickboxing/boxing exhibition match when she boxed a male.
JULIE MULLEN
JULIE MULLENS, a
boxer out of Nevada boxed in the later part of the 70's and early 80's. She was the
welterweight Nevada State Champion in 1979, and ranked #3 by the Women's World
Federations, and she was also still ranked in 1984 as the #2 welterweight. She
was defeated by Britt VanBuskirk, a fairly new fighter, in 1979, in Las Vegas, Nevada by
a KO in the 2nd round. MULLEN was known for her strong punching ability.
Julie Mullen has also defeated Lavonne Ludian.
AMY LEVIT
AMY LEVIT, a 112-pounder, that not only tried her hand at boxing, but was also an
inspiring actress. LEVIT appeared on several TV shows and films.
She LEVIT trained at the same gym as Graciela
Casillas in Los Angeles,
California.
JACKIE HOLLEY
JACKIE
HOLLEY, a 27-year old in 1984, and a World lightweight Boxing Champion was a very
dedicated boxer. She had won the World Title by fighting 15 rounds. She worked long hours
training in the gym, but HOLLEY felt it was worth it. She loved the sport and
the excitement that women boxing brought to the public. On August 24, 1984 in Pensacola, Florida, and sponsored by the
International Womens Boxing Assn., that was based in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, she was defending her title against Dora
Webber, who was 24 years old at the time and fighting out of Los
Angeles. HOLLEY supplemented her pro boxing career
with a job as a security officer at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. HOLLEY had to admit
that it was very difficult to work a regular job, and try to train at the same time.
HOLLEY who came from a family with seven
brothers, the Detroit Michigan native said that having so many brothers in a family helped
to develop her confidence in sports. HOLLEYs other athletic passions, included
volleyball, basketball, baseball, touch football, tennis and racquetball. She was also
well-skilled in karate and kick boxing. HOLLEY had been boxing
since 1981. Article on Holley:
Copyright 1984 U.P.I. -
July 29, 1984, Sunday, BC cycle-
HEADLINE: Female boxing champ says it's all just routine -
BYLINE: By ANNA V. SHAW
DATELINE: PENSACOLA, Fla. "The long hours of training in a hot gym
are routine, and so are the swollen eyes, the bruised face and sore
muscles, but the Women's World Lightweight Boxing Champion says it is
worth it. ''I just like the sport. I like the excitement,''
explains Jackie Holley, 27, during a break in her training routine for
the August defense of her title. ''I get a lot of self
gratification out of it. Ms. Holley won her title in a 15-round bout in February. The
challenge match will be held Aug. 24 in Pensacola, sponsored by the
International Women's Boxing Assn., based in Albuquerque, N.M. Ms.
Holley will defend her title against Dora Webber,
24, a Los Angeles housewife and mother, who began boxing in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla. Ms. Holley supplements her pro boxing career with a job as a security
officer at Pensacola Naval Air Station. It hasn't been easy juggling her
job schedule with her training schedule, which includes daily sessions
of two to three hours. Boxing generally is considered a man's
sport, Ms. Holley acknowledged, but said that, like many other male
-dominated sports, boxing is gaining popularity among women. She added
that she would not hesitate to recommend it for other female athletes
who want to try a challenging sport. ''It's just like anything else. If
you want it, you can do it,'' she said. ''It's just a matter of
putting your mind to it.'' While there's a great deal of pain
involved in the sport, particularly after a bout, Ms. Holley says she
doesn't let it distract her during a match. ''I look at it for
what it is,'' she said. ''You block out the pain during the match. Of
course, I don't go into a match intending to get hit.Vern Stevensen, IWBA founder and director, said Ms. Holley is the
only female boxer in the area. ''She's one of the finest boxers
around,'' he said. The lone girl in a family with seven brothers,
the Detroit, Mich., native said growing up in a family of boys helped to
develop her confidence in sports. ''I was always right in
there with them when they played any sports, and I had to learn
how to defend myself, too,'' she laughed. An active participant in
numerous sports, she rattled off a list that includes volleyball,
basketball, baseball, touch football, tennis and racquetball. It was her
training in karate and kick boxing, however, that led her to try boxing,
she said. ''I wanted something with more contact and I guess I just
bounced around in sports until I found one,'' she said. Ms. Holley has
been boxing since 1981, and has no plans to retire in the immediate
future, even if she loses the upcoming match. ''I don't see
quitting anytime soon,'' she said. ''I won't quit until I just
don't want to come in to the gym anymore and that doesn't seem to be in
the near future.'' She paused for a moment and added, ''In the meantime,
I won't refuse any takers.''
BABY BEAR JAMES
BABY BEAR JAMES, aka "Tansy O'Brien" was one of the top female boxers
in the world who fought professionally from 1976 - 1978. Her
boxing records was 5-2-1 (5KO). Baby Bear James paved the road in
many aspects as a pioneer fighter, being a trailblazer for many "firsts"
in the sport. She not only boxed for a living, but she was a
boxing referee, who may have been the first to ever ref in the United
States.
Baby Bear James originally came from Cheltenham, England, and at
the time weighing 180
lbs., she crossed the Atlantic to become a nanny in Canada.
Just two years later, and at a trim 128 lbs., she was fighting for a
junior lightweight world title title.
Full Story with
boxing memorabilia articles and photos!
PAULA TRICHEL
PAULA TRICHEL,
a female boxer from Rohnert Park, California. In 1979, she was 24 years old,
5'3" and 118 lbs. She fought in the Bantamweight Division.
In one bout, after she defeated Cheryl
Laudd, she grabbed the microphone and challenged Shirley "Zebra Girl"
Tucker, who was the number one Bantamweight at the time. It is unknown if she
ever did fight Zebra Girl Tucker. Some of her other opponents were Louise
Loo, where she was KO'd in the third round. Trichel's brother was also fighting
on that card, and had been knocked out, just before she stepped in the ring and also got
knocked out. It was the first time that a brother and sister ever got
knocked out on the same card. In May of 1982, TRICHEL had also defeated
LOO, but LOO
apparently thought that TRICHEL had won, because they fought in TRICHEL'S home town.
DARLINA VALDEZ
DARLINA VALDEZ, of Santa Fe, was in the women’s first Bantamweight
World Championship bout before more than 1,000 screaming fans in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. She fought a 15-round battle and won a
unanimous decision over Holly McDaniel of Muncie, Indiana. Apparently
the fight was a crowd pleaser, and it was reported that the crown
"roared with delight" at the performance of the two women. McDaniel, a
high school beauty contest winner and mother of a three-year-old got her
nose broken in the 11th round, but continued bravely to the finish. The
rules at the time in 1983 for fighting a championship was the same as
men’s, 15-round for championship fights and eight-ounce gloves. Chest
and abdomen protectors were optional and that only about 50 percent of
the women wore them. ERNESTINE JONES
ERNESTINE
JONES, AKA: CONNIE SMITH, was a lightweight. In the 70's, she had a
TKO in the fourth round against Cathy "Cat" Davis.
After the fight, Davis's manager was able to get the results of that fight reversed, and
it was classified as a "no contest."
ANGEL RODRIGUEZ
Angel Rodriguez, a very
quick and skillful fighter fought Louise Loo. Loo defeated Rodriguez
in the early 80's. (WBAN has this fight on video for documentation).
LAVONNE LUDIAN
Lavonne Ludian was one of
the top women boxers in the world in the late 70's. She fought on
CBS Spectacular against Theresa Kibby and has fought many of the top women
boxers in the past. She had a draw with SueTL Fox, three weeks
before fighting for a World Welterweight Championship in March of 1977. For
full biography, go here.
THE
TOP BEST PAST WOMEN BOXERS
PRE-1970'S WOMEN BOXERS
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