Female Boxing in Canada The Canadian Amateur Boxing Association was formed in 1969 with no recognized boxing for women. Females were prevented from boxing or wrestling in public by the Provincial government. Both women and girls were accepted into boxing clubs in the 70' and 80's for the purpose of training. Some of these females stayed in the profession as officials, coaches and administrators. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom made gender discrimination in sports illegal in the late 1980's. Rules and medical rules for female boxers were developed by a special Medical Commission. click image to view larger picture The development of rules was spearheaded by the National Medical Director of CABA, a female sports medicine physician, and an internationally respected member of the AIBA medical commission. By the 1991 Annual General Meeting of CABA, female boxing amendments were approved. Sanctioned bouts between female boxers, under CABA Rules were also given full support and approval. Facts The number of female competitors has grown to over 300 since 1991. This number is still only about 10 % of the male competitors. There are female coaches and officials at all certification levels. There are over 2,000 female boxing club members who are participants of fitness and "boxercise" programs, not including the many unregistered fitness classes using boxing club facilities. Female boxing is not a separate division of CABA as the numbers are still too small. Boxing is fully gender-integrated. Females train and spar together with the male club members. The National Championships, as of 1995, are for both men and women, with the finals being held separately. From these Championships, a National Female Boxing Team became a reality and these female boxers represented Canada internationally. Boxing is for both males and females and is fully accepted today as routine by the media and the public. The injury rate in all the hundreds of bouts since 1991 has been zero for females. With regard to bout results, the point totals for female matches are, on the average, much lower than for bouts with male boxers. This seems to indicate that female boxers, on the average, appear to adopt a somewhat more defensive style than that typical of the male boxers. Female boxers are very dedicated, disciplined, and highly motivated athletes. They are keenly interested in learning and reaching the highest levels of proficiency and skill in this fledgling female sport. This high standard appears to have been achieved as represented by the female National Team. Female boxing may bring back the true meaning to the term "sweet science" that boxing was once called. HOME PAGE | PROFILE | BOXING STATS KICKBOXING STATS | MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION internet DREAM WEAVER HOME PAGE EMAIL ©1998/2000 internet Dream Weaver