Jackie Tonawanda (September 4, 1933- June 9, 2009), who dubbed herself "the Female

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

" and born Jean Jamison, was a pioneer American female

heavyweight boxer Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. Tonawanda was a well-known figure in the sport and was featured in many newspaper articles and magazines. While being dubbed, by herself, as the female Muhammad Ali, several sources claim that her story was largely made up and she had only 1 professional fight, against Diane Clark in a six-round fight in 1979, which she lost. In 1975, Tonawanda sued the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

(NYSAC) for denying her a professional boxing license because of her gender. This resulted in the case ''Garrett v. New York State Athletic Commission'' (1975) at the New York Supreme Court (Tonawanda was also known as Jacqueline Garrett) which was decided in her favor. However, this did not overturn the law in New York against women boxing. But

Cathy Davis Cathy Davis (born c. 1952) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1976 and 1981. Some of her fights were fixed. Career Davis sued the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) in 1977 because she was denied a boxing lic ...

sued the

in 1977 because she was denied a boxing license because she was a woman, and the case was decided in her favor later that year, with the judge invalidating New York State rule number 205.15, which stated, “No woman may be licensed as a boxer or second or licensed to compete in any wrestling

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

with men.” In his opinion the judge cited the precedent set by ''Garrett v. New York State Athletic Commission'' (1975), which “found the regulation invalid under the equal protection clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions”. The NYSAC filed an appeal of the ruling, but later dropped it. She was thus one of the first professional female boxers in New York. On June 8, 1975, Tonawanda participated in the interstylistic All Martial Arts Tournament, part of the Aaron Bank's Oriental World of Self Defense show, held in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, where she fought kickboxer Larry Rodania, knocking him out early in the 2nd round with a left to the jaw. She was the first woman to box in Madison Square Garden. On June 9, 2009, Tonawanda died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

at Harlem's Mount Sinai Hospital.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Larry Rodania , KO (punch) , All Martial Arts Tournament , , align=center, 2 , align=center, ,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonawanda, Jackie 1933 births 2009 deaths American women boxers Boxers from New York (state) People from Suffolk County, New York American female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women