#BOXING RING GIRLS FULL#

The winner was often irrelevant, except to those with money on the outcome.Įlizabeth Stokes fought alongside her husband against other couples, in much the way you might play tennis doubles today. Often, in the records I found, there was no mention of which woman won, although there would be a description of what they had been wearing – or not wearing, as they sometimes fought stripped to the waist.

#BOXING RING GIRLS FULL#

Many female pugilists stripped to the waist while boxing, but others took the more modest route: Petticoats and Punches: Vintage images reveal the bizarre history of female boxing where women fought their opponents in full Victorian dress.Īll Things Georgian takes a deep dive into a portrait of two 18th Century Female Bruisers.ĭelve into The Bloody World of Georgian female boxing by author Anna Freeman (via HistoryExtra), which includes riveting primary source references to real bouts:įemale boxing fell into this category – a bloody novelty act, as opposed to a serious sport. With the crowd gathering round, bets placed and rules made clear the fight got underway. Often women prize fighters would strip down, losing unnecessary clothing, sometimes down to the waist. Well-seasoned scrappers Mary Callaghan and Alice Davies were pitted against each after boasts from their fans in local pub, so called respectful admirers, over who was the best and it was decided they should “fight it out” for the prize of 5 shillings.Īrrangements were made overnight and early in the morning a ring was set up in a field overlooking Shrewsbury on the other side of the river, outside the loop.īoth ‘champions’ arrived on time, accompanied by a bottle holder whose job it was to sponge their faces, give them water and provide a knee for them to sit on between each round. Boxing was how some of them resolved disagreements or sought revenge for being wronged in some way.ġ868: Prize Fighting Women of Shrewsbury provides a play-by-play of an 1868 bare-breasted, bare-knuckle bout between two female ballers who didn’t give a shit about prizefighting rules: Female boxers didn’t always fight for prize money, either.

Women pugilists could scratch, kick, and pull hair if they so desired, which had the potential to make their bouts more brutal than those of male boxers. Most of these boxers were probably poor or working class, so it’s not like they had tons of spare clothes.įemale boxers also weren’t as bound by the prizefighting rules male bare-knuckle boxers had to follow. Onlookers probably found the boob display titillating, but presumably, this strategy would help prevent unnecessary damage to the boxers’ clothing (which was often a dress).

One of the most fascinating aspects of female boxing history concerns boxers who, during Georgian and Victorian times, stripped to the waist before duking it out with their equally bare-breasted opponent. Women (of all kinds) have been slugging it out with each other in the boxing ring for a long, long, long time-all the way back to the 17th century, in fact.

Boxing ring girls