BWAA Announces The Christy
Martin Women’s Fighter Of The Year Award
Source/BWAA
NOV 18) NEW YORK – Throughout
boxing history, women have made a significant contribution to
the sport, both in and out of the ring. These contributions have
often been met with little recognition from the media and the
public at large, including those within the boxing world.
But today, the Boxing Writers Association of America is pleased
to announce that beginning with the 2017 award season, the
organization will present a Women’s Fighter of the Year award,
to be presented each year at the BWAA’s annual dinner.
“With the recent influx of talent from the amateur ranks, the
beginning of network television support and the willingness of
major promoters to have female fights on their shows, we’re
entering a Golden Age of women’s boxing,” said Thomas Gerbasi,
chairman of the BWAA women’s boxing committee. “And as such,
there is no better time than now for the Boxing Writers
Association of America to start recognizing the women who are
not just deserving of this award, but all women who step through
the ropes to compete.”
Joining Gerbasi, the current women’s boxing columnist for The
Ring magazine, on the voting committee for this award will be:
Sue Fox, a former boxer and pioneer of women’s boxing coverage
who created WBAN (Women’s Boxing Archive Network) and the
International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF).
David Avila, a respected journalist and longtime supporter of
the sport who is currently chief editor for ThePrizefighters.com
and writer for TheSweetscience.com.
“While women's boxing can be loosely traced in its beginnings to
London in the 1720s, and throughout the ensuing decades with
various exhibitions and scattered bouts, efforts to legitimize
the sport came up short in the 1950s and 1970s,” said Fox. “As
with most other sports, it was not until the media began
covering the sport in the last decade of the 20th century that
women were afforded the opportunity to display their ring
skills.
“And it was a boxer named Christy Martin who took that
opportunity and, presented with a 1996 undercard spot against
Ireland’s Deirdre Gogarty on a Mike Tyson PPV telecast,
demonstrated to boxing fans everywhere that women, indeed, could
not only climb through the ring ropes but, once there, give
positive proof that they belonged. Since then, the sport of
women's boxing has increased in both size and the talent of the
athletes, culminating in 2012 when the sport was accepted for
Olympic competition, more than a full century after it was
granted exhibition status at the 1904 Games.
“A natural progression, at this point, is to afford the sport a
deserving spotlight with the establishment of a Women's Fighter
of the Year award in conjunction with, and under the auspices
of, the Boxing Writers Association of America.”
“Women’s prizefighting has gained a foothold around the world
and has already anchored itself in many countries,” said Avila.
“This year, the U.S. has been televising female boxing and that
was the first major move in this country in a long time. Female
boxing continues to grow rapidly and is supplanting male boxing
as the main event in countries such as Argentina, Mexico,
Germany and Japan. In the U.S., it’s only a matter of time until
fans will discover what other countries have learned: women’s
boxing attracts fans.”
The first order of business for the committee was to name the
award, and it was unanimously decided that each year, the top
female boxer in the world will receive the Christy Martin
Women’s Fighter of the Year award.
Martin introduced herself to the boxing world as “The Coal
Miner’s Daughter,” and her tenacious fighting ability landed her
on several Mike Tyson undercards in the 90s, as well as on the
cover of Sports Illustrated. For many, Martin was the first
female boxer they had ever seen, and she opened the doors for
the boxers to come. Owner of a 49-7-3 record over the course of
a 23-year pro career, Martin’s impact has been felt far beyond
the ring over the last few years, as she survived an attempt on
her life by her ex-husband in 2012 and has been a staunch
advocate for bringing awareness to the epidemic of domestic
violence. Now working as a teacher in Charlotte while also
leading Christy Martin Promotions, the 49-year-old is the
epitome of a fighter.
“It’s really overwhelming and satisfying because now I feel
people did take notice of my career and they remember that what
I did open a lot of doors for the women that are coming along
these days,’ Martin said. “This is forever. In five, ten,
fifteen years, they’re going to say it’s the Christy Martin
Award, so people are going to have to Google Christy Martin to
see what she did. (Laughs) There’s satisfaction in that because
everything I did will live on forever.”
As for the award that bears her name, Martin said, “It’s
important because it shows that women are now finally getting
recognition with a Fighter of the Year award. In the past, it’s
always been the male fighters and the female fighters never got
the same recognition. But I think with amateur boxing programs
now being an option for women, it’s opened up and the sport is
finally getting exposure worldwide.”
The inaugural BWAA Christy Martin Women’s Fighter of the Year
award will be presented in the spring of 2018 at a date and
location to be announced.
