Claressa The Magnificent

We started off with three young women who were part of the Team USA Boxing team that went to the 2012 Olympics.

Queen Underwood was tough, but unfortunately, she lost a close fight in the lightweight category early on.

Marlen Esparza, who had been beating down everybody all her way up to the Olympics, tried her best.  But she ended up on the wrong side of a decision during the flyweight semifinals.  Esparza had to settle for a bronze medal. 

The American male boxers fell one by one, some due to bad decisions, some due to not bringing it when they were inside the ropes.  Then 17-year-old Claressa Shields, from Flint, MI, became America's last hope to bring home a gold in boxing. 

Claressa Shields fought a great fight, and now she is the youngest person and first woman to earn a gold medal in boxing at the Olympics.  She won in the middleweight category against Russian Nadezda Torlopova.  A great day for women's boxing!

All of the women made history, and all are champions!

The Queen Falls and More Olympic Problems

I was half-asleep this morning, with the TV on and the VCR/DVD player already recording the first women's boxing matches of the 2012 Olympics.  My fading in and out ended when Queen Underwood stepped into the ring against British boxer Natasha Jones.  Announcers Teddy Atlas and Bob Papa mentioned that Underwood had fought against Jones before and lost.

Now there have been some bad referee calls and judges' decisions all throughout the men's boxing matches (Errol Spence Jr.'s match really stands out).  But Queen Underwood's loss -- a close one, according to sports observers -- appeared to be justified.  The female fighters fought four, two-minute rounds.  It seemed that Queen Underwood didn't do enough the first three rounds, but rallied in the fourth round.  However, she couldn't make up the lost points that far into the match. 

Underwood did a mighty job of holding back her emotions as she answered a reporter's questions right after the match.  I felt so bad for her that I was wiping away tears.  Partially because she lost, but mostly because of all she went through to get to the Olympics.  I wasn't aware before today that she and her sister had been victims of abuse from their father.  Boxing helped save her life.  Gotta give her respect.  Today, she became the first American woman to have a boxing match at the Olympics.  Like Laila Ali who was commentating on the women's matches said, Queen Underwood is still a champion.

Elena Savelyeva (in red in the photo above), a Russian who became the first woman to win a boxing match at the Olympics, stated that there is no prejudice against women boxing in her home country.  If only that was the case every where else in the world!

There was a match where one woman held another woman by her arm up against the ropes (sorry, I can't remember their names at the moment).  The woman against the ropes was punched four or five times in the face.  The referee should have got on the other boxer about holding, but nothing was said.  In another match, a woman was knocked to the canvas with a right.  It should have been counted as a knockdown it wasn't.  Atlas and Papa were grumbling all morning about the bad calls and dubious judges' decisions.  I couldn't blame them, and I was agreeing with them.  It appears the women boxers are getting jacked just like most of the male boxers have been so far.

Respect The Women

A friend of mine from high school stated he wasn't going to watch the women's boxing events at this year's Olympics.  A lot of men -- and some women, as well -- don't believe female athletes competing in sports that were formerly the exclusive domain of men can bring the heat.

In the case of boxing, some don't want to see women trading blows.  "Women are delicate, women should be frilly, fighting is not ladylike," and other tired, played out statements are uttered.

There are still male coaches who like Frank, Clint Eastwood's character in the move Million Dollar Baby, who growl, "I don't train girls."  Some like Frank, eventually see the light.  I've heard male coaches, including the one I have now and the one I had before him, say that females are easier to work with because they listen better.  Females don't appear to come into boxing gyms with the ego problems that a lot of males -- regardless of their experience or lack of  it -- seem to have. 

The first boxing matches between women took place in 1720, in London, where the 2012 Olympics are being held right now.  Those women had to be rough, because they were allowed to maul, scratch, kick, and use their knees in order to get a win. 

This year's Olympics is the first time women's boxing has been included officially.  But during the 1904 Olympics held in St. Louis, women's boxing matches were included as a featured event. 

The first official women's boxing match was held in 1876 in New York City.  I could keep going on with other historical facts about women's boxing, but the point is, women's participation in the sport has been going on for awhile.  It's not going away despite the disrespect that continually is hurled at it. 

I'm concerned that if none of the American women on the boxing team come home with medals -- doesn't matter if they are gold or not -- critics will use that as justification to continue to not raise the profile of women's professional boxing, but to downgrade women's participation at the amateur level, too.  Women have fought too hard, both literally and figuratively, to be put back in a corner. 

I will be cheering on all of the female boxers from every country who's participating in this year's Olympics.  I'm especially proud of the young women from America who worked hard to get to London.  All of deserving of respect for reaching for excellence in the toughest sport in the world.