The bible never got a sequel, but thankfully for fans of the sweeter science, the bible of the sport, “The History of Women's Boxing,” has had a second volume published, and in the decade since the first book was released, author Marissa Smith has plenty to write about in “The Future of Women's Boxing.”
“Firstly, the addition of the Olympics to the sport is a game changer, but also, it's fair to say that the quality of women's boxing has improved dramatically since Christy Martin fought Deirdre Gogarty on a Mike Tyson card,” said Smith. “That was 28 years ago, and in 28 years the caliber of talent has gone up enormously. You look at Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano and you know boxing is the best.”
It's hard to believe it's been nearly 30 years since Martin and Gogarty clashed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and brought the underground sport to prominence. After the bout, Martin appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and fans eagerly followed the exploits of Martin, Lucia Rijker, Laila Ali, Ann Wolff and their ilk for a time.
But then there was a lull and women's boxing went underground again, but as Smith says, that all changed when women boxers began competing in the 2012 Olympics. And that's where “The Promise of Women's Boxing” begins, although there is a lengthy preface to catch readers up on the history covered in the first volume.
Given that Smith is a prolific writer, a member of The Ring magazine's women's boxing ratings committee and a chronicler of history, one would think that a history spanning more than 12 years would be preferable to one that stretches all the way back to the 1700s. But meeting the deadline was not always smooth sailing.
“I'll just say it was a different challenge,” she said. “The good thing is I'm writing about a contemporary subject that I'm living in, so I have a lot of access to a lot of resources, especially in the last 10 years. There are resources everywhere now, YouTube videos, fighter posts, so there's a lot more material to access. Plus, I've been able to interview quite a few people. The challenge is, what's the story, what's the point of view? And considering this is only one of two books published in 10 years, there's a lot of pressure to get it right.”
She did. As with A History of Women's Boxing, Smith takes a comprehensive look at an underrated sport while making it entertaining and insightful. This isn't a factual recitation, but rather tells compelling stories of the big names who've dominated the sport over the past decade, like Claressa Shields (who wrote the foreword), Katie Taylor, and Amanda Serrano, as well as fighters who are still operating under the radar.
“I definitely didn't want to write a reference book,” Smith said. “The goal of the book was to tell a story and tell the story from the fighters' perspective, what they do and why they do it. I focused on different fighters at different times. I also wanted to write about women who were fighting and winning titles right before the Olympics and contrast the differences with the Olympians when they became professional fighters. I wanted to show how differently these fighters were treated, what opportunities they had, how they were able to fill demands that nobody else could, and how the momentum shifted. So that was very important to me.”
But what about the future of women's boxing? Is Smith optimistic about the future?
“I'm cautiously optimistic,” she says, “I believe in the women who are fighting, and I believe they have more tools. They're getting better at using social media. They're learning how to be entrepreneurs to market themselves, and they're not putting up with the crap. And I think there's a real sense of sisterhood in boxing that's starting to emerge. I think there's a real sense that if we don't help each other, no one's going to help us.”
