(FEB 22) The
International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) inductees skew
heavily, in number, toward the retired boxers upon whom the
sport has made it’s often arduous climb to it’s rightful place
in the spectrum of professional sports. That circumstance is
entirely as it should be, for without these athletes, their
finely developed skill in the ring and their indomitable
struggle for rightful recognition outside the ropes, Women’s
boxing might still be a second rate attraction, drawing sideshow
attention for many of the wrong reasons.
http://www.iwbhf.com
Instead, in late April, the sport
will occupy main event status in what is still considered the
Mecca of the sport, Madison Square Garden, as two elite female
fighters, Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor, representing two
international geographic hot beds of the sport, meet in what
has, thus far, shown all signs of turning into the biggest
attraction in the history of Women’s boxing.
However like every
other major sport, boxing is kept functioning by an
undercarriage of personnel who work in support of the sport,
beginning with the day/day management and training of the
athletes, often by dedicated boxing “lifers”, resulting in those
athletes competing in bouts staged thru the auspices of
promoters and independent boxing sanctioning organizations.
Add in the media, both print and
broadcast, and you have an amalgam of often competing factions
that have, amazingly, constituted the long lasting sport of
boxing. And the almost impossible task of attempting to bring
“order to chaos” to this dizzying conglomeration falls in each
state to an independent boxing commission.
Rose Trentman/former boxing
commissioner/writer and more...
Over it’s nine years of existence, the IWBHF has bestowed honors
on all segments of the boxing community, save one. No member of
a state boxing commission had been so honored. On the plus side,
it can be suggested that when that omission was corrected, it
was done right. Meet Rose Trentman. From 1985 to 2000, she
served as the Commissioner of boxing for the state of New York,
which, during that period, was still one of the leading and most
active states in the sport. More impressively, she was both the
first female to hold the position, along with being the youngest
New York boxing commissioner, ever. And, by no means, was this a
politically sensitive appointment.
Floyd Patterson (former NY
Commissioner) posing with Trentman
Governor Mario Cuomo, who made
the appointment, was a former minor league baseball player, who
“knew his sports”. And Rose Trentmen was recommended by Jose
Torres, former WBC light heavy weight champion. During her
fifteen years of service, Trentmen, in addition to being a
strong advocate for the then burgeoning sport of Women’s boxing,
spearheaded a number of important regulations in the sport which
had been essentially moribund for far too long.
Included were moving championship
round distance from 15 to 12 and establishing a 10 second
notification for the end of a round. She also placed increased
emphasis on establishing consistency within the sport by
conducting timely seminars for all participants ranging from
corner men to the boxing officials and inspectors working the
bouts.
Rose Trentman - 2022 IWBHF Inductee
to be inducted
Saturday, October 22, 2022 - Orleans Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
Trentmen, a native of The Bronx, exhibits a New York “tell it
like it is” attitude when recounting her days as New York State
Boxing Commissioner. “ I sensed initial rejection from certain
staff members” but, as she correctly notes “they had no choice”
and it was eventually resolved. Was gender an issue? Of course.
Was it an uncomfortable situation? Certainly. But uncomfortable
is no stranger to someone from the Bronx. And Rose Trentmen, in
her words, “chose the high road”. As a result, she forged a
decade and a half, in a job in which such tenure comes close to
constituting a career. She did a tough job well and is now being
honored with what can only be considered a deserving induction
into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame.
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