Many boxing fans think of women's boxing as a recent development, but women have been involved in boxing since at least the 1720s. In 1722, Elizabeth Wilkinson defeated Martha Jones in a bout in London, and women have boxed ever since, although often without official sanction. For at least 100 years, women boxers have fought in a traditional uniform of trunks and a sleeveless shirt or vest.
EARLY WOMEN'S BOXING UNIFORMS
USA Boxing did not officially allow women's amateur boxing matches until 1993, so before that date there was no real standardization of the sport in the U.S. Despite the lack of official status, women boxers have been using their traditional uniform for a long time. A photograph of an anonymous woman boxer from 1911 already shows a uniform recognizably similar to the one used today -- a pair of trunks and a sleeveless shirt. A photograph of boxer Jeanne LaMar from 1927 shows the same type of uniform.
VARIATIONS
Because of the lack of standardization in women's boxing in the past, not all women boxers wore the customary uniform of trunks and sleeveless shirt. Posed photographs from the 1920s show women boxers wearing ankle-length dresses, although none of them are shown attempting to fight this way. The cover of an issue of "Gay Times" magazine from 1937 shows women boxers in sleeveless shirts and short skirts. In a 1949 bout between JoAnn Hagen and Pat Emerick, both boxers wore trunks and ordinary T-shirts. In the 1970s, there was a fad for films of scantily-clad female boxers, many of whom had no genuine boxing skills, fighting each other in what were essentially bikinis.
RECOGNITION
Women's professional boxing began to gain more recognition in the 1970s, as several female boxers were granted professional boxing licenses. The fighters from that era wore the sleeveless shorts and trunks that are now considered the traditional uniform. It took a lawsuit from Dallas Molloy in 1993 to force USA Boxing to sanction amateur women's boxing competition, but women's boxing is now fully supported by the organization. Women boxers can wear breast protectors if they prefer, and they are not allowed to compete if pregnant. Otherwise they fight under similar rules to men. Until 2010, women boxers fought in their traditional uniform.
CONTROVERSY
In 2010, the International Boxing Association announced a set of new guidelines for women's boxing uniforms, requiring them to compete in skirts instead of the traditional trunks. At the Women’s World Championships that year, 36 out of the 40 fighters disregarded the rule in protest and fought in the traditional uniform instead. Eleven of the fighters who did wear skirts indicated that they were doing so only under protest. Many women boxers and fans of women's boxing believed that the new guidelines were a step backward, as if the association wanted to send the message that gender was more important than boxing ability.
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