History

While not being urged to avoid competition, women had few opportunities to compete in sport in Australia until the 1880s. After that date, new sporting facilities were being built around the country and many new sport clubs were created. Boxing classes were being offered to women in Australia by 1892, at locations such as the Brisbane Gymnasium on Turbot Street, close to the city's railway station. While classes may have been offered for women, serious training was not permitted for women by the 1900s and women were banned from pursuing the sport in a competitive way. Women were also barred from attending boxing matches.

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

banned women's boxing from 1986 to 2009. Women's boxing was resumed in NSW with an exhibition fight between Kaye Scott and Ramona Stephenson in October 2009. Women's boxing was legalized in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in 2000.

Culture

Female boxers in Australia have historically faced problems with acceptance of their involvement in the sport. In many places, they have been unable to find places to train and faced difficulties with the law prohibiting them from competing. In 2005, a PhD student in Australia was doing research on the history of women's boxing in the country.

Competitions

In 2002, Desi Kontos of South Australia became the first Australian woman to represent the country at the boxing world championships. In 2008, several national championships happened in Australia for women. These events were held in July in Melbourne and included the Australian Under 17 Women's Championships, Australian Senior Women's Championships and the Australian Women's Championships Medal Winners. In 2008, the women's national championships were unable to be held alongside the men's because women's boxing was illegal in

. The Australian 2010 Women's World Championships 75 kg Selection Trial were held from 3–4 July in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. The Australian World Elite and Junior Teams Selection Trials were held from 27 to 29 March in 2009 in Port Adelaide. Naomi Fischer-Rasmussen was the first female boxer to represent Australia at the Olympics when she competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Caitlin Parker became the first Australian female boxer to win an Olympic medal when she won bronze at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Notable women fighters

* Louisa Hawton * Erin McGowan * Sharon Anyos *

Susie Ramadan Sunduz "Susie" Ramadan (born 10 April 1979) is an Australian professional boxer. She held the IBF female bantamweight title in 2011 and the WBC female bantamweight title from 2012 to 2014. Biography Ramadan was raised in the Western suburbs ...

* Diana Prazak * Deanha Hobbs

References

Bibliography

* {{Women's sport in Australia