Why
is it you feature fighters that have obvious mismatches?
If I were to eliminate fighters from WBAN just
because they do something the public does not approve of, there would
probably be no fighters to talk about, including myself. When my book is
published you will read about some of my fights and some of the
not-so-good experiences that I had as a fighter. I am not here to pass
judgment on fighters, only to try and improve the sport in a positive way.
When I write to one of the WOMEN BOXERS on
FANMAIL,
do they all answer back by email?
Not all women have a computer or an email address, but most of them do.
What
happens is the fighters who have an email address, I forwarded it directly to the
fighter and then she in turn answers your email directly from then on.
ALL
FIGHTERS who are listed, know that being on FANMAIL means that they make an effort to
respond to the person who writes in. If a fighter does not respond within about six
weeks, notify my site so that I can see what is going on.
If they do not have a
computer or access to their email, how
do they get my email?
WBAN takes the responsibility to get your email to the fighter. WBAN will either mail the emails directly to her, or call the fighter by phone. Luckily, there are only a FEW fighters on the list that do not have access to computers.
Which fighter are the ones that do not
respond back via by
email?
Presently, Lady Tyger Trimiar; Gwen
Gemini; and Sumya Anani are getting their information via the postal service or I phone
them.
What prompted you to have a
health survey
for women on your website?
I personally experienced two very serious
independent health crises, that I was always suspicious of being connected with my
participation in boxing and full-contact karate. I am very interested in
getting feedback from other women because of what I went through.
My health is
back to 100% now. It is important to network together so that we can keep track
of possible health problems in the future.
What kind of a
breast protector did you use
in the 70's, or did they even have that type of equipment?
It was a requirement that women
wear a breast protector when fighting in a professional bout. The breast
protector looked like two salad bowls, that the woman would sew on
the inside
of the bra.
Did you wear a breast protector when you trained in the gym?
NO.
I wish that I had. I
developed problems later in life, and now wonder if it was because the majority of the
time I trained, I had no protection. I have heard other comments on this
subject by
women say that "you don't get hit in that area" and so why is
there a concern. I do not believe that. Especially when a lot of times
the woman's sparring partners are men. Also, many of the female competitors came
from a previous background of karate and kick-boxing. They cannot say that no one
ever kicked them in the breast at one time or another.
I never heard of any female boxers in the
70's and 80's. I thought women were only into kickboxing then?
In the 70's and 80's, we not
only had to fight to get a bout, fight to get boxing licenses to get
permission to fight, but in the 70's and 80's, it was not cool for a woman
to want to box. We were called a "novelty." The media did not give us a lot
of coverage. Boxing promoters, boxing magazines, etc., were discouraged by
featuring us. When Cathy "Cat" Davis was featured on the cover of Ring
magazine, you would have thought the world was coming to an end. To my
knowledge, Ring magazine never did any other feature stories on
female
boxers in that era.
I noticed that the women's boxing records vary greatly
from one from another, why is that?
While doing the research for my website, to my
surprise, it was very hard to verify any of the female boxers' records.
When I
contacted various State Athletic Commissions to obtain information, they did not have
records going back before 1978. I am still working on this project.
Another thing that I noticed is that I believe that some of the records were either
embellished, or that the women are counting countless unsanctioned bouts, from kick-boxing
matches to whatever. I would be more inclined to evaluate a female boxer in
the past by who she fought, not by any of the records that they claim to
possess.
What type of
physical examination did a
woman have to go through before a scheduled sanctioned boxing bout?
This varied from state to
state. In Oregon, they were very thorough. I went to a doctor's office
and had a complete physical. In Nevada, I had one doctor come up to me about an hour
before my bout, he looked at my hands, checked my wraps, and said, "Your
alive." That was the extent of my
examination. That particular fight, I
was running a 102 temperature and had the flu. When I fought in Utah, I heard the
physician talking to my opponent shortly before the fight, which he didn't sound like he
was checking her out by judging by their conversation. He then came into my room to
examine me, and wanted to look at my breasts. It would have been one thing
for a doctor to examine a fighter's
breast augmentation
before and after the
fight to ensure that no damage would be done or had occurred, but that was
blatant disrespect and harassment. I told him that he did not request
that from the other fighter in the adjoining room, and that if he insisted on examining my
breasts, that I would not fight. He backed down, and left the room.
What were some of the disadvantages female boxers faced in the 70's and 80's that have
changed since then?
There
were many events that have changed since the 70's and 80's, which make me a firm believer
that female boxing is NOW going to make it's mark and is here to stay.
First,
one very significant change is that
women can now compete on an amateur level before
turning pro. In the 70's and 80's, a woman trained for awhile, sometimes, for
only a few months, and then was thrown into a "Lion's den" and the got the
wholly daylights beat out of her. It didn't make much of an exciting match.
Many, MANY, women who started boxing in the 70's and 80's, would quit after
having one or two fights. They did not have a fighting chance.
Between
being mismatched, and unable to get their feet wet in an amateur setting first.
Secondly, the women boxers of today are treated
like athletics. They are getting televised fights that reach out to the public,
whereas, the women in the past did not get very much media coverage and were at times
considered some kind of novelty act.