A History of Women's Boxing by Malissa Smith

Author:Malissa Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

The latter issue of appearances became a theme in many of the articles, from the standpoint of not wanting to see women get hurt to purported squeamishness by the boxers themselves at the prospects of getting punched in the face. In Bentsen’s piece, however, the fighters themselves dispelled some of the myths.

Pineda said of getting hit, “When I’m in the ring I hear people going, ‘Oooooh! Aaaaah!’ Like they feel every punch [but] it’s not so bad.” Pineda and Maybee both pointed out their rough beginnings in neighborhoods where people fought regardless of gender. Pineda related a story of how in one fight “one of the girls kicked me in the back while I was on top of another girl, hitting her in the face and cutting her eye. . . . I fought this girl about three times, and finally I got her by the hair, threw her and said, ‘You can’t even fight.’”

Maybee also told of her days fighting in her neighborhood, whether it was kids on the street or her brothers, saying, “Hey, I’ve fought so many times since I was a little kid, it’s ridiculous!”

A member of the SAC had expressed such concern over the matter of “girls” fighting that he went so far as to contact the world-famous retired tennis player Althea Gibson about it. She had recently joined the New Jersey Athletic Commission, which was responsible for boxing and wrestling there. From her perspective, girls fighting and boys fighting were not different, contending that in the kind of neighborhoods she’d come from it wasn’t a big deal.

If it was “okay” for girls from the “ghetto” to wale on each other alongside their brothers, then the question of maintaining a feminine appearance could not be so readily dismissed. Even Kim Maybee self-reflexively asked how she would contend with Pat Pineda’s perceived good looks in the ring.

“‘One thing I worry about is Pat’s face,’ she said. ‘She is pretty. Wow! If I hit her—I’ve seen the aftereffects of hitting someone in the jaw. Sheeeewwww! I figure, one round. That’s all I need.’”[18]

Both fighters seemingly dispelled the questions surrounding female appearance in the boxing ring, although the questions by no means went away. The promoter, however, attempted to turn the conversation to the usual publicity surrounding well-publicized fights. Both women participated in open workouts and press events held at the old Main Street Gym in Los Angeles. This was a good strategy as the gym was the stomping ground for all of the great fighters in L.A. and a popular locale for “boxing pressers” (publicity events for sports reporters prior to fights).

Along with Pineda and Maybee, Fraser was also promoting Danny Lopez and Octavio Gomez, who participated in the press events. Fraser’s focus, however, was clearly on getting the word out about the historic nature of the Pineda-Maybee bout as the first fully sanctioned professional female fight in California. Fraser even had both women spar with Danny Lopez, who, when asked to pick a winner for the bout between Pineda and Maybee, chose Maybee because she was the harder puncher.

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