Home Page
Search WBAN
Latest News-Women
Biography- Sue TL Fox
Boxer's Profiles
Fight Results
Upcoming Events
Knockouts!
Past/Present Ratings
Fight Photo Gallery
Boxing Trivia
Tiger Tales by Fox
Amateur Scene


2021 TICKETS!
VIVA LAS VEGAS!
International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Event with Dinner and More! August 14, 2021
The Orleans Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
 2021 IWBHF Tickets
*Press Release 2021

Women Cops who Box
Bust a Fighter!  
Mixed Matches
Mismatches
About WBAN


Sue Fox Named  in the "Top Ten" Most -Significant Female Boxers of All Time - Ring Magazine - Feb. 2012

HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

Historical -All links
Historical Events
History Firsts
Flash from the Past
Past Boxer Profiles
70'S/80'S Past Boxers
Pre-70'S Boxers
Past Amateur Boxers
About Sue TL Fox

FREE TOP GALLERIES!

Video streaming, over
11, 500 photos, and more! 
   

Hot Hot HOT Photo Galleries!Flash Photo Slideshows!
   

Boxing Records for women boxers..archived records!
To Check out Go Here
 

History-First
"Women's Boxing"
Database

 

Having Problems
 with the website?
Send an Email

Directly to WBAN!





 

 

 

 

                  
                                                                                                     
                                                                                            
   

 
 

J
O
A
N
N


H
A
G
E
N

 
     
     
     
   
   
   

 

   
   
   

JOANN HAGEN
Full name: JoAnn Verhaegen
ONE ON ONE INTERVIEW OF BOB HOLLOWAY

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.

Permission granted, all credit and property of photos are from Amazons in Action magazine, article:  eight-part series, Lady is a Boxer, Copyright©1979, Swish Publications LTD, 47 Great Guildford St. London SE1

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."

International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame

On July 10, 2014, JoAnn Hagen was inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame. The Induction ceremony took place in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. http://iwbhf.com/news071014inaugural-2014-induction-ceremony.htm

[JoAnn Hagen passed away in the 2000's we do not have an exact date of her death].
 

 
     
     

 

     
     
     
   
 
Back to WBAN
     
         
         
         
         

 

 Free to Public!  Huge Database of Boxing Records with Galleries, over 15,000 photos, Galleries connected with the boxing records, Videos. Mpegs, and More!   Go Here!

 

 


         [
HOME [ADD YOUR SITE] [EMAIL TL FOX]  [DO YOU HAVE A TIP?  [WBAN'S MISSION]  [PRIVACY POLICY] 
AUX   
 
              GOOGLE NEWS  [WBAN DISCLAIMER]   [PROBLEMS WITH WEBSITE OR FORMS? EMAIL TL FOX]   
                                        WBAN™ (WOMEN BOXING ARCHIVE NETWORK) Copyrighted© MAY 1998