Fearless female boxers pushing the sport forward

By Ruth Raper

THIS past weekend, we saw three shows headlined by female boxers, a fact that would have been unheard of only a few years ago. It is true that, at present, few female fighters draw in big crowds. For example, Dixon v Harper fought for a world title in Sheffield last Friday but drew in fewer than 2,000 fans.

On the other hand, there are women who have fan bases that warrant big events, and it is these women who are paving the way for their lesser-known counterparts. Two of the biggest names in women’s boxing, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, made history as the first women’s fight to headline the legendary Madison Square Garden back in April 2022. 

Their much-anticipated rematch will feature as the co-main event alongside Mike Tyson v Jake Paul on November 15th. Knowing that these two trailblazers will share the stage with what is ultimately a gimmick, stings. However, you can only assume that they will both be getting paid well and exposed to a bigger audience than ever before. The show will be part of the Most Valued Promotions (MVP) boxing partnership and will stream live globally on Netflix. 

When a female fight is included on a show, it is not uncommon for that fight to be the most entertaining contest of the night. This has a lot to do with the structure of women’s bouts: 10 x 2-minute rounds. This shortened format tends to result in fights that are high-tempo and action-packed. Although they may be more entertaining, some argue that elite women require more time to show their class. 20 minutes just isn’t enough. 

Ultimately, women’s boxing is still a reasonably new sport, and it would make sense to see progression in the way the female fights are formatted. Why not try 10 x 3 minute rounds for championship fights? Amanda Serrano has been vocal about her desire to compete in the same format as her male counterparts, and in October of last year competed in the first-ever female boxing match to be fought over 12 x 3 minute rounds. As a result, Serrano’s WBC title was not on the line as the sanctioning body refused to endorse the longer format for women. 

The WBC’s president, Mauricio Sulaiman, proclaimed that the two-minute rounds create more action and emotion and that longer rounds can lead to dehydration and tiredness. You have to ask the question: Surely the same is true for our male athletes? To help women’s boxing build an audience, the short format makes sense. There’s no denying that the fights we’ve seen from our female athletes over the short format have gained the women’s game new fans. However, isn’t change part of progression? 

An extra 10 minutes in the ring means boxers have more time to finish their opponents when they’re hurt, a greater chance of a knockout, and fighters can execute a game-plan. The longer fights would suit the more elite fighters like Serrano, Shields, Taylor and Mayer, and would give them the opportunity to showcase their skills and boxing IQ.

We’ve seen that women do not hesitate to take risks and go out of their way to make the big fights happen, often jumping up numerous weight classes to do so. In truth, they do not have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for opportunities to come to them. The biggest fights come when a rivalry is involved. Some are lucky enough to have these rivals; others are not so lucky. 

Claressa Shields is arguably the greatest female boxer of all time (two-time Olympic Champion and five-weight world champion and self-proclaimed “GWOAT”), yet she lacks a worthy dance partner to match her skills and her personality. This means it is likely that she will not receive the admiration that she deserves. 

The next Riyadh Season show will feature its first ever female contest: Skye Nicolson v Raven Chapman. As happy as I am to see a women’s fight on what will be one of the biggest shows of the year, I’d question why it’s taken so long for a female fight to feature on one of the Riyadh Season shows? 

Raven Chapman. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)

Hasn’t the entertainment and quality provided by female fighters over the last few years earned them the opportunity to be part of these huge shows? And is this just a box-ticking exercise? Only time will tell. 

We can only hope that with time the divisions will fill out and we will see more matchups that get the fans’ attention. Although women’s sport has a long way to go and patience will be needed if we want to see it reach its full potential, it is also clear that there is an obvious double-standard at play. 

Men’s sport is judged on its potential, whereas women’s sport is judged on where it is today. We must continue to invest time and money into the grass roots of women’s boxing, as well as promoting representation at the highest level. Ultimately the progression of women’s boxing reflects boxing’s progression as a whole.