The dictionary defines trivia as “matters or things that are very unimportant, inconsequential, or inessential; trifles.” So, read on and just enjoy this piece.
Silliman University holds the distinction of being the first in the Philippines to offer coed boxing in its collegiate physical education program. I searched the internet for any other institution in any part of the globe that offers coed boxing, but found none.
Women’s boxing, first came to prominence in England in 1720 and appeared as a demonstration sport at the 1904 Olympics. However, there was no attempt to bring it back into the Olympics and the IOC rejected its inclusion in the 2008 Olympics “over concerns about medical safety and low participation worldwide.”
The London Olympic Games in 2012 will allow female boxers to compete for the first time. Last August 2009 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decreed that 36 places would be available in London to the world’s elite female fighters, who would compete across three weight classes: flyweight (48-51kg), lightweight (56-60kg) and middleweight (69-75kg).
In London, there will be 12 slots available for each of the three women’s divisions, making a total of 36 fighters. To make room for the female boxers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) scaled down the men’s divisions from 11 to 10, removing the 48-kilogram lightflyweight category from where the Philippines has collected a silver and two bronzes.
The Women’s International Boxing Federation was formed in 1993 by woman boxing legend Barbara Buttrick. “Battling” Barbara Buttrick (born 1930) was a world champion in women’s boxing in the 1940s and 1950s. Born in England, Buttrick is considered a pioneer of women’s professional boxing. Known as “The Mighty Atom of the Ring”, Buttrick, at 4′ 11″, fought from 98 lbs. to being the World’s unbeaten flyweight (112) and bantamweight (118) champion from 1950 to 1960. Buttrick allegedly fought many exhibition bouts against male opposition. She retired from boxing in 1960. (Wikipedia)
On February 9, 2006 the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), the government’s regulatory body for professional sports, unanimously voted to conduct women’s professional boxing in the Philippines.
Gretchen “Chen-Chen” Abaniel of Puerto Princesa City, Palawan is the current WIBA or Women’s International Boxing Association minimum weight champion. She successfully defended her title last March against Fahpratan Looksaikongdin of Thailand.
Last June 30, 2010, a Filipina, Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton, won the Super Bantamweight Championship of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), in Ontario, Canada by a split decision over Maria Elena Villalobos of Mexico.
Mitchel Martinez was the first world-class female boxer produced by the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP). She won gold medals at the Southeast Asian and Asian level and two bronze medals in the World Championships. She retired recently and joined the ABAP coaching staff.
The name Annie Albania became synonymous with Philippine women’s amateur boxing since that day when Freddie Roach singled her out as the amateur boxer that really impressed him. This was when Roach was in Baguio training Manny Pacquiao for Miguel Cotto and saw the amateur fighters in action. Roach told the Philippine sports press corps that the female boxers were “better than the boys.” Albania lived up to the hype when she won a SEA games gold and another gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games.
Recent Manila visitor Nieva Tesoro Embuldeniya, vice president of the AIBA (Association Internationale de Boxe) Women’s Commission and the only AIBA female executive committee member, said she expects Asian countries to show the way in the race for medals in the London Olympiad. Embuldeniya, who is based in Sri Lanka with her husband and former AIBA executive committee member Herbert, said Asian countries which are unsuccessful in winning an Olympic gold in men’s boxing are now turning their attention to female fighters as potential medal winners. The Philippines and Sri Lanka are prime examples.
At the fifth World Women’s Boxing Championships in Ningbo City two years ago, host China topped the medal standings with five golds, two silvers and four bronzes. Three Asian countries finished in the top five among 17 of 42 participating countries that won medals. Aside from China, the others were fourth placer India and fifth placer North Korea. The Philippines tied with Sweden and the US with a silver and two bronzes for 10th place. Bantamweight Annie Albania took the silver while pinweight Josie Gabuco and lightflyweight Analisa Cruz settled for bronzes for the Philippines.
In 2001, Laila Ali, the daughter of “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali, fought Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, the daughter of “Smoking” Joe Frazier, in a continuation of an old feud billed as Ali-Frazier IV. In a exciting showdown that drew a lot of media coverage, Laila won a majority decision. She would go on to win multiple titles at supermiddleweight and light heavyweight in an eight year career.
Steve Acunto, who served on the New York State Athletic Commission for 49 years, proclaimed that boxing is a manly science and art. In 1995 he taught the only accredited boxing course in the USA at Westchester Community College. He said that women signed up for his class and were entering the ring. Acunto who fought as a professional in the 1940’s declared that he does not think women should box.
Cuba has the best amateur boxing program in the world. That’s because they’ve done the hard work of building up a top-flight program, and also because its best boxers are forbidden from leaving the country and has to defect under cover of darkness if they want to turn professional. After Olympic officials announced the addition of women’s boxing to the lineup –Cuban officials have announced that they will not be fielding a team. “We have no plans at the moment to participate in any international events because we don’t think the sport is appropriate for women,” Jose Barrientos, president of Cuba’s boxing association, said as reported by Cuba’s official news service, Prensa Latina. Cuban head boxing trainer Pedro Roque told Cuban radio that while he recognized that the discipline was under development for women elsewhere, Cuban women “are made for beauty and not to take blows around the head.”
In Nov 1996, Dr. Adrian Whiteson, chief medical adviser to the British Boxing Board of Control, said: “I’m terribly concerned about this. I don’t think enough is known about the potential risks to women for such a decision (allow women boxing) to be made. Blows around the breast or chest can induce bruising, and the nodule which is created is difficult to distinguish from cancer.
After the death of a male fighter in October of 1997, the Federazioni Pugilistica Italiana outlawed female boxing entirely. They even stopped a televised WIBF flyweight fight that was to be in Milan to enforce this ban.
The Vatican newspaper L’Oservatore Romano in an editorial said: “The basic argument (against boxing) is a moral one, the question always the same: Is it legitimate to continue to accept a sport whose fundamental aim if to ‘inflict corporal damage to the adversary,’ as the World Medical Assembly held in Venice some months ago defined it? Physicians are in their majority of one mind in responding that it is neither legitimate nor moral. But opposition is manifold…Nonetheless, boxing remains a violent sport, if not in the intention of the contestants at least in its form of expression…No sporting discipline nor any king of ‘show’ can be accepted by a civic conscience if it endangers human life. Much worthier causes call for putting live at stake.”
Dr. George Lundberg, editor of the JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association wrote: “The scientific articles that we have published in our journal, plus those in other journals, have become general medical knowledge now, and these articles indicate that chronic brain damage is a very frequent occurrence among fighters who’ve had a significant number of fights.”
The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Olympic Committee believe that our country’s first Olympic gold medal will be won by a Filipina boxer in the 2012 London Olympics. Basketball association President Manny Pangilinan promises a P3 million cash prize for the Maria Clara who will bring home the gold medal.
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