Against The Ropes

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday July 16, 2005

LISA SEWELL

More and more women are being drawn to boxing but, under NSW law, it's illegal for them to compete. LISA SEWELL reports on those fighting to overturn the ban and bring the state in line with the rest of the world.

IN A dank and cheerless Los Angeles gym, her senses assaulted by the sweat, grunts and insults of the male clientele, determined boxer Maggie Fitzgerald pounds out her frustrations.

Her struggle to enlist the assistance of the Hit Pit's veteran trainer Frankie 'I don't train girls,' Dunn is just the start of her battles in the male-dominated sport.

"You seem like a nice girl - let me give you some advice," Dunn tells her. "You're going to find a trainer, if not in this gym, then somewhere else - it's the latest freak show out there. The only trouble is you're going to be wasting your time."

This scene between actors Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood from last year's multi-award winning Million Dollar Baby has doubtless been played out countless times at gyms across the world and highlights the fight women boxers still wage to break into the sport.

High profile female boxers such as Laila Ali - daughter of boxing great Muhammad Ali - and Australia's own world featherweight champion Sharon 'Wild Thing' Anyos are doing much to challenge traditional stereotypes and increase the profile of women's boxing.

Hollywood is doing its bit too, with a number of recent movies focusing on women in the sport including Million Dollar Baby, Against the Ropes with Meg Ryan and 2000's Girlfight.

Even the boxing fraternity seems to be changing with the times, with the World Boxing Council last month issuing its first rankings of female boxers and the rival World Boxing Association set to follow suit - sure signs that women's fighting is gaining more acceptance. Women's boxing is even being considered for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

But while such advances have motivated more women across the globe to step into the ring - and fitness centres to increase women's classes - female boxers' battle for recognition continues.

Nowhere is this more evident than in NSW - the only state in Australia and, boxing experts claim, the world - where is it illegal for women to participate in an amateur or professional boxing match or in any other contest or display of boxing skills.

So while there are more than 1150 male amateur boxers registered with Australian state boxing authorities, only 57 female boxers are on the books and in NSW, out of 319 registered amateur boxers there is just one female. In the professional arena, just a handful of women are registered nationwide as opposed to some 220 men.

Australian women are not only battling legislation - the 1986 NSW Boxing and Wrestling Control Act's ban on women's boxing is as strong as ever after a recent review left it in place - but the opinions of many in and out of the boxing arena.

None more so than veteran boxing official, the outspoken and often controversial Arthur Tunstall, who makes no secret of his belief that "a woman is a petite person, not to be knocked around". The Australian Medical Association is another mighty opponent - although the organisation is consistent in its opposition to competitive boxing for both men and women.

Queensland's Anyos, 34, is the latest in a line of women who have tried to take on the State Government to have the ban overturned. The last time the NSW ban was seriously challenged was in 2001 when Sydney kickboxer Holly Ferneley took the Boxing Authority of NSW and the NSW Government to court because she could not register officially as a professional kickboxer. She failed to get the ban overturned.

Anyos remains hopeful. In May she sent a letter to NSW Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Sandra Nori outlining her case. Last week she told the Mercury, while she had not received a reply, she thought the time was right for the ban to be lifted.

"My career as a female boxer in Australia has been very hard - there's been so many obstacles I've had to overcome and so many still to overcome," Anyos says.

"But since I started competing seven years ago, I've broken many historical barriers for the sport in this country - I was the first woman to fight in a sanctioned bout in Australia, the first woman to fight for a world title - and win; the first woman to fight overseas - and win."

Anyos says the ban in NSW - where the majority of major fight nights are held - limits her ability to gain the recognition, and income, she deserves.

"The vast majority of promoters are based in NSW as well as most of the big bouts," she says.

"For instance, my promoters (who are Sydney-based) staged 27 shows last year - 23 of those were in NSW. As a competitive athlete this affects my chance of earning an income and also of being on some of the biggest cards in Australia."

And it's a race against time for Anyos to get the ban lifted, as she stands to lose her current world title. "I have a certain time frame to defend my world title in. In fact I need to do so before August," she says. "But the only major events available before that time are being held in Sydney, so the chance of me being stripped of my title are quite high."

And Anyos looks to have a major fight on her hands with Nori, who refused to respond to the Mercury's questions regarding Anyos' concerns. Instead she issued a blanket statement on women's boxing.

"I am aware of the range of views within our community on the participation of women in combat sports like boxing," Nori states. "At this time however, there is no compelling reason to relax the current restriction on women participating in boxing."

The fight by female boxers to be taken seriously has spanned centuries, and continents. Women's boxing traces its beginnings to London in the 1720s. During the 1890s it was featured in saloons and the vaudeville circuit. Sources suggest it was a display event at the 1904 Olympics. Over the following decades there were various exhibitions and bouts until the 1950s, where several fighters increased the profile of the sport - including English-born Barbara Buttrick, the first woman to have her fight broadcast on US national television.

In the 1970s new life was breathed into the sport with the decade characterised by a number of women's firsts, including many states lifting boxing bans, issuing first-time licences, sanctioning matches and the various commissions approving more than four rounds for women's bouts.

USA Boxing finally lifted its ban on sanctioned women's boxing in 1993 (but only after losing a landmark court case), and in late 1996 the Amateur Boxing Association of England voted in favour of lifting the 116-year ban against women competing.

In NSW, women's boxing advocates remain pitted against the state's law-makers. Women who flout the ban risk hefty fines - their promoters even more so. A NSW Department of Sport and Recreation spokesperson says the legislation remains "in line with community views".

But Anyos believes public opinion has changed, with younger generations embracing females in the sport. "I am blessed with the support I get from the Australian public. I get quite dramatic audiences of up to 2500 people," she says.

Anyos started karate aged five, later moved to touch-contact and then full-contact kickboxing. She followed in the footsteps of her father Les by becoming a champion kickboxer before switching to boxing in 1998. In all that time she has sustained no injury more serious than a black eye.

"I take the safety rules very seriously - I use a mouthguard, a breast protector and a kidney belt," she says.

"And both women and men are paired with opponents of similar weight and levels of expertise, plus there are many safety barriers in place before, during and after a fight.

"As a professional athlete - I don't step into the ring with aggression, I don't think 'I'm going to hurt (my opponent)'. I go in thinking, 'I'm the fittest, I'm the more technical and I've got the best game plan'."

Anyos concedes the death of US amateur boxer Becky Zerlentes in April will make her campaign tougher but she stresses the tragedy was the first recorded fatality in the 12-year history of sanctioned women's boxing in that country.

Anyos' colleague, Shannan 'The Bulli Blaster' Taylor, supports women's right to fight. The World Boxing Federation super middleweight champion says seeing women in action stopped any reservations.

"When women first started taking up fighting more and more I didn't really like the thought of it - I thought it was a man's sport," he says. "But after seeing some of the girls putting the training in, putting a big effort in - I thought 'why not?'. If they want to compete then no-one should stand in their way.

"Women like Sharon and Ali put a lot of heart and soul into their punches. They might not have the power of some of the men, but they put the desire into their training and heart into their fights."

Illawarra's top boxing trainers are also supportive of women's boxing. They claim the popularity of boxing and kickboxing among women has been steadily increasing over the past decade. However, the NSW ban is stopping the sport - and women - reaching its full potential in this country.

Lee Carr, who trains Taylor, has been involved in the fighting arts since 1969. "I think if a girl trains hard and is prepared properly by her coach, then it's up to her if she wants to compete," he says. "There's a lot of women overseas boxing, like Ali, but we're so far behind America, it'll take another few years before it really catches on here."

Reflex Martial Arts Centre master instructor Dominic Lavalle adds: "I think instead of banning women competing, the authorities should first watch women in action and then maybe look at tweaking some of the rules and regulations to suit."

Danny Jones, of Khrop Khrua Muay Thai Gym in Albion Park, was recently recognised as one of the top 10 trainers in NSW by International Kickboxer Magazine.

"A lot of people say they wouldn't like to see girls fight but women are good to watch as they are a lot more technical and a lot less brutal," he says.

Illawarra police officer Vito Gaudiosi, a former Australian middleweight boxing champion, runs Crocker's Gymnasium in Dapto.

"NSW is the only state in the world that doesn't allow women to box, and the only state where boys under 14 aren't allowed to box," Gaudiosi says. "I think NSW keeps up with the trends eventually, so I do believe these bans will be overturned in the future."

However support from where it is needed most - within the higher echelons of the boxing fraternity and the State Government - remains lacking. Tunstall, Boxing NSW's secretary finds women's boxing "disgraceful".

"I don't believe in it," Tunstall told the Mercury. "I see women doing boxing training every day for fitness and I'm all for that. But there's a big difference between being fit and punching pads, and being in the ring and boxing an opponent - it's a different proposition altogether. Women's bodies are just not built the same way as mens - they're not built to be belted and knocked around."

Australian National Boxing Federation NSW secretary and referee Charlie Lucas is a proponent of the ban on professional women's boxing in NSW.

"It's a difficult one," he says. "I do know that people established in boxing in NSW understand that women have their rights but I think the majority of people involved feel that it's not a problem that women can't box.

"Personally I don't particularly like it. I have a daughter and I like women - I don't think it's the sport women should be doing. I think it's great they go to gyms and get aerobic exercise from boxing but I don't think they need to be in competitive boxing."

Australian Medical Association vice-president Dr Choong-Siew Yong says both men and women risk sustaining acute neurological injuries from boxing, ranging from mild concussions, to brain swelling and haemorrhage and death. Over time, boxers are vulnerable to developing pugilistica dementia, or punch drunkeness.

"Boxing is unsafe for any sex, any age," Dr Yong says.

"In the 21st century when people are so concerned about safety, at a time when there are attempts to make other sports safer, this is the one sport that really stands out.

"Other martial arts are about employing certain skills, wrestling is about pinning your opponent down, but in boxing you win by knocking your opponent out - by hitting them in the head until they become unconscious."

Dr Yong says while there have been arguments that women's breasts are more sensitive, that their neck muscles are not as well developed - it is the ongoing brain damage for both sexes that concerns the medical profession.

"When a person is punched, their head flies in one direction and their brain in the other direction. When the brain - which is the consistency of jelly while we are alive - hits the skull it causes bruising and tearing of blood vessels," he says.

"There is recovery but the more a person boxes, the harder it is to recover. Ultimately there is some permanent damage.

However Anyos and other female boxers claim it's their choice. They just want the same opportunities as the men in their sport. And so they continue the age-old fight to be taken seriously, at a time when their male counterparts are making serious money, sponsorship deals and solid careers.

Anyos claims professional female boxers make about 10 per cent of what the men make. "It's been a struggle but it's been worth it," she says. "I hope my efforts can pave the way for the next generation of women boxers."

And perhaps the last word should go to the lady with boxing in her blood, one who has been dubbed the 'Queen of Boxing'.

"There are always going to be critics of women's boxing," Laila Ali told reporters in Washington last month. "We've been taught that women should be protected. A lot of people don't like women fighting, and I can understand that. But it ain't going to stop the show. I'll tell you one thing: a lot of those men who have something to say can't whip me."

© 2005 Illawarra Mercury

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