PORTLAND, OR---The newly formed International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) has announced the scheduled induction of Regina Halmich into the initial class of seven women to be honored on July 10 in Fort Lauderdale, FL., in conjunction with a US National Female Golden Gloves tournament. Halmich is generally recognized as the boxer who, during the decades of the 1990s and 2000, brought the sport of female boxing to sold out popularity in Germany while also establishing credibility for the sport throughout Europe, with her finely honed ring skills.

Halmich enters the IWBHF along with Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker, two of the most highly regarded professional boxers during the 1990/2000 era; Barbara Buttrick, a pioneer female boxer in the 1940s and 50s, who, today, continues to be active in the sport; Bonnie Canino, a highly ranked professional boxer during the mid1990s and early 2000 years, who is currently a major contributor to the sport of amateur female boxing in the United States as both a highly sought after coach and a promoter; Christy Halbert, a former professional boxer, a current boxing coach and a leading force behind the successful effort to bring the sport of Women's boxing to 2012 Olympics and Jo-Ann Hagen, a top ranked professional boxer, during the 1950s, whose award will be posthumous.

Regina Halmich's professional career began in 1994 and in her tenth professional bout (June '95), she captured the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) flyweight title with a ten round win over Kim Messer. From that point, until Halmich retired from the ring in 2007, she defended her title an incredible forty five times, beating, in the process, such highly ranked fighters as Elena Reid, Maria Jesus Rosa, Wendy Rodriquez, Viktoria Pataki and, in Halmich's final bout (November '07), Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer. Over Hamlich's thirteen year professional career, covering fifty-six bouts and four hundred and fifty-five rounds, the only blemishes on her record were a loss to American Yvonne Trevino, in Halmich's ninth bout (April '95), which was stopped after the fourth round due to a deep gash on her cheekbone and, during her remarkable reign as WIBF title holder, a ten round draw with Elena Reid (April '04). Halmich, as defending champion, retained the WIBF title as a result of the draw. In May 2006, with a successful ten round title defense against Viktoria Milo, Halmich reached the fifty win summit in her professional career, a mark once deemed unachievable for female boxers. In the next eighteen months, Halmich added four more wins to close out her career with 54 wins (16 KOs) 1 loss and a draw.

As with Halls of Fame for other sports, the IWBHF's first class of inductees is a special assemblage of the best of the best from the sport of Women's boxing. The seven women being inducted in July represent an impressive gamut of ring skills, coaching abilities, promotion capability and on-going, present day contributions to the sport, a group into which Reginia Halmich has been awarded a richly deserved inclusion.

You can also follow the IWBHF on www.iwbhf.com  or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/iwbhalloffame  or on WBAN’s group Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/womensboxing/

Written by:  Bernie McCoy