COMMISSIONER’S CORNER FULFILLMENT By Randy Gordon
John L. Sullivan. Jack Johnson. Jack Dempsey. Joe Louis. Henry Armstrong. Sugar Ray Robinson. Willie Pep.
circular, golden earrings, enhanced her cover girl model looks. The court’s decision in Trimiar’s favor would have most likely turned Trimiar into boxing’s first female superstar. Unfortunately, her dream turned into a nightmare. Despite losing the lawsuit and being forced to grant licenses to the trio of women, the NYSAC quietly let it be known that promoters and managers who approached the commission with requests to promote a female bout would be turned down. Opponents and their medicals would be rejected. The NYSAC saw to it that women’s boxing did not take place in the state. Trimiar was forced to fight in other states. Several times, she fought on Native American reservations against local women, with friends and even relatives serving as the referee and judges. Trimiar retired in 1985 after winning by second-round knockout. She was only 32. While her final record sits at 18-4 (5 KOs), according to BoxRec. com, Trimiar says several victories – perhaps as many as 10 – are not listed. “Only the male bouts were covered at that time, especially the ones on the reservations,” she said. In the late 1980s, Trimiar went on a hunger strike, attempting to bring attention to women’s boxing. Promoter Don King persuaded her to end the protest. “I was at the end of my career, but I pleaded with Don to start promoting females.” Soon after, he did, and what a star he developed. Her name was Christy Martin. She was known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter.” King featured her on several of his major cards, underneath such stars as Mike Tyson, Julio Cesar Chavez, Hector Camacho, Michael Nunn, Mike McCallum and Ricardo “Finito” Lopez. In 1996, when Martin became the first female boxer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, her popularity – and the popularity of women’s boxing – exploded. Phenomenal talents who were also loaded with charisma, charm and
mystique – such as Mia St. John, Lucia Rijker, Laila Ali, Ann Wolfe and Regina Halmich – came into the sport. They were followed by an array of highly-gifted female boxers named Holly Holm, Cecilia Braekhus, Seniesa Estrada and many more. By the time Martin was wrapping up her career in 2012, every boxing jurisdiction and arena in the world was wide open for women to step into the ring. Boxing gyms were seeing more women than ever walking through their doors. As Martin was saying goodbye to in- ring competition and hello to her new life as a promoter, two Olympic gold medalists were saying goodbye to the amateurs and hello to the professionals. Claressa Shields won gold twice for the U.S., once at the 2012 Games in London and again at the 2016 Rio Games. Katie Taylor won a gold medal representing Ireland in 2012. They turned pro within one week of each other in November 2016. Both have had Hall of Fame careers. Shields’ career is still going strong and will most likely remain just as strong for as long as she continues to compete. On September 5, Taylor wrapped up her fabulous career with a romantic movie-like ending. For months, Taylor told us she wanted to go out with her final fight taking place at Croke Park, a spacious stadium in Dublin. She got her wish. She faced France’s Flora Pili, who entered with a record of 12-0. Pili had her own dream. That dream was to beat Taylor in her backyard. It was not to be. On that night, more than 83,000 adoring fans packed Croke Park to watch Taylor throw the first punch of the fight, the last punch of the fight and everything in between. “Let me just look around for a second,” said Taylor, taking the microphone from the announcer at center ring after her near-shutout victory had gone into the books. “This is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.” She also said the night of April 30,
2022, at Madison Square Garden was very special. That’s when Taylor faced Amanda Serrano for the first time. That night was special not just to Taylor. It was also special to the former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, who was covering the fight from ringside. Back in the summer of 1994, when that chairman decided to allow female boxing in New York, his predecessor, former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres, admonished him for the decision. “Boxing is not for women,” Torres told the chairman. “Why not?” the chairman asked. Torres just held up his hands. “Please change your mind,” he begged. The chairman shook his head, took a deep breath, looked Torres straight into his eyes and spoke. “Jose, I have a vision that female boxing is going to be at least as big as male boxing.” Torres put his hands to his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Don’t say that too loud, Commissioner. If you do, you’ll be laughed out of boxing!” Nearly 30 years after Torres and I had our exchange, that night happened. Two women fought at Madison Square Garden in the main event. They fought in front of a packed crowd. It happened near the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. There was fear that the crowd would be tiny. Every seat in the main arena at MSG was filled. That night, Katie Taylor won by a 10-round split decision. It is regarded as perhaps the greatest fight ever contested between two women. Nobody laughed me out of boxing. Thank you, Katie and Amanda, for what you gave us that night. Thank you, as well, for two subsequent classics. And Katie, a very special thank you for your fantastic Hall of Fame career. Your joy at the end made it all that much sweeter!
Rocky Marciano. Muhammad Ali. Joe Frazier. Larry Holmes. Mike Tyson.
Over the decades, managers, trainers and promoters dared not get involved with a woman who could fight, for fear of being blackballed in the all- male sport. In the late 1970s, three women in the New York City area – Marian “Lady Tyger” Trimiar, Cathy “Cat” Davis and Jackie Tonawanda – all applied for licenses in New York. All were turned down by then-Commissioner James J. Farley. They tried to bring their “I want to fight as a professional” stories to the media, but the writers had editors who nixed the idea of writing about women boxing. Nobody cares about that, they were basically told. Unable to make their living in the ring and unable to get any publicity, the three frustrated women got together and chose to “get ink” a different way: They decided to go after Farley – not physically, but in a lawsuit. A sexual discrimination lawsuit. They won. Grudgingly, Farley and the NYSAC were forced to grant licenses to all three women. It was a dream come true for Trimiar, Davis and Tonawanda. “I was sure that was the moment we were waiting for. I had dreamed of fighting for a world title in Madison Square Garden,” Trimiar – a 2021 inductee in the Trailblazer category at the International Boxing Hall of Fame – told The Ring. Trimiar was a lightning-quick 135-pounder. Her boxing talents were second to none at the time. She was well-spoken and respected in every New York gym she walked into. Black and beautiful, her clean-shaven head, along with large,
T he chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission sat at his desk and pondered a question he had been asked by one of his staff members earlier that day: “Would you allow a female bout to take place in New York State?” It was 1994. Until then, no two women had ever faced each other as pros in a boxing ring in the Empire State. The chairman’s predecessor, and
Trailblazer Marian Trimiar fought for the right to fight in the 1970s and ’80s .
the one before that, and the one before that … all rejected the idea of what they deemed the “weaker sex” competing in the “sweet science,” which for over 100 years had been ruled by alpha males, some of them the greatest names in the world of sports.
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