From small club shows and Toughwoman tournaments to sold-out arenas, women’s boxing has transformed from a novelty to a global draw. Along the way, a handful of fighters didn’t just win belts. Some opened doors simply by insisting on a place on the card. Others turned Olympic breakthroughs into professional empires, or dragged entire weight classes into the undisputed-title era.
This article spotlights professional women boxers whose accomplishments and cultural impact truly shook up the game, from trailblazing pioneers to multi-division rulers.
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Top Female Boxers of All Time
Here are some of the greatest female boxers who have left an indelible mark on the sport:
- Claressa Shields is the only boxer, male or female, to become an undisputed world champion in three weight classes in the four-belt era, adding a heavyweight sweep in 2025 to previous undisputed reigns at middleweight and light-middleweight. She also won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016 (the first American to do so in boxing), then headlined the U.K.’s first all-women card in her undisputed win over Savannah Marshall.
- In under a decade’s time, Laila Ali compiled a perfect 24-0 (21 KOs) record, capturing multiple world titles at super middleweight and light heavyweight.
- Nicknamed “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Christy Martin was the face of women’s boxing in the ‘90s, building a 49-7-3 record and holding the WBC female super welterweight title. Promoted by Don King, she was the first woman he signed and fought on Mike Tyson undercards, bringing women’s bouts to massive pay-per-view audiences and even landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
- Norway’s Cecilia Brækhus became the first woman to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO titles simultaneously, ruling as undisputed welterweight champion for years and defending that crown repeatedly.
- Ann Wolfe, often cited as one of the most devastating punchers in women’s boxing, held world titles in three weight classes at the same time.
- An Olympic lightweight gold medalist at London 2012, Katie Taylor was central to getting women’s boxing into the Games. She then turned pro to become undisputed lightweight champion and later a two-division undisputed titlist.
- Amanda Serrano won recognized world titles in seven weight classes, a record for women’s boxing, and was a unified and undisputed champion at featherweight.
- Savannah Marshall became the first British woman to win an amateur world title in 2012 and remains the only boxer ever to defeat Claressa Shields in the ring, handing her an amateur loss at that same World Championships. As a professional, she captured the WBO middleweight belt and later became undisputed super-middleweight champion, then headlined major U.K.
- Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada holds the record for fastest knockout in women’s boxing, stopping Miranda Adkins in seven seconds in 2020. She went on to become undisputed minimumweight champion in 2024 after previously claiming titles at mini flyweight and light flyweight, retiring undefeated at 26-0.
- Brooklyn’s Heather “The Heat” Hardy emerged from Gleason’s Gym to win the WBO featherweight title in 2018, after earlier success at super bantamweight. She fought on the first televised women’s boxing bout in nearly two decades, became the first woman to box at Barclays Center, and later crossed into Bellator MMA.
Pioneers of Female Boxing
This Women’s History Month we are celebrating the best female boxers: five women who pioneered female boxing and demonstrated enormous courage in the face of adversity.
| Boxer | Born | Boxing Record | Notable Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbara Buttrick (“The Mighty Atom of the Ring") | 1929 | 30-1-1 | Fought over 1,000 bouts with men, won a world title against Phyllis Kugler, inducted into the International Boxing and Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1990, and founded the Women’s International Boxing Federation in 1993. |
| Marian Trimiar (“Lady Tyger”) | 1953 | 14-4 (5 KOs) | The first woman to be granted a professional boxing license by the New York State Athletic Commission, and won the women’s world lightweight championship in 1979. |
| Lucia Rijker | 1957 | 17-0 (15 KOs) | Earned the Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIDF) Welterweight title and a kickboxing record of 35-0-1 |
| Christy Martin (“The Coal Miner's Daughter”) | 1968 | 49-7-3 (31 KOs) | Signed with Don King and rose to fame as the lightweight women’s champion of the world, earning her a place on the Sports Illustrated cover. |
| Laila Ali | 1977 | 24-0 (21 KOs) | Held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF, and IBA female super middleweight titles, as well as the IWBF light heavyweight title, and inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015. |
Barbara Buttrick: The Mighty Atom of the Ring
Born in England in 1929, Barbara Buttrick was known as the “The Mighty Atom of the Ring." At age 15, she spotted a story in the Sunday paper about Polly Burns, a female prizefighter in the early 1900s. Buttrick bought her first pair of boxing gloves and found a trainer in London where she worked as a shorthand typist by day and trained (to eventually become one of the best female boxers) at night.
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“I was small, but I was mean,” Buttrick told The Miami Herald in a 1998 interview.
Buttrick began her boxing career in 1948, touring Europe as a bantamweight in the boxing booths of carnivals before coming to North America in 1952 before moving to Dallas, TX in 1957.
By the time Buttrick arrived in Texas, she had fought over 1,000 bouts with men, as well as 18 professional women’s fights. It was then in San Antonio that Battling Barbara truly made history, winning a world title bout against Phyllis Kugler, solidifying her position as one of the most famous female boxers of all time.
After moving to Miami Beach with her husband, she defeated Gloria Adams in what is believed to be the first female boxing match in Florida in 1959. She fought her last fight in 1960 while four months pregnant before retiring to raise her children and pivot careers to be a ringside photographer.
Buttrick was inducted into the International Boxing and Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1990, and she founded the Women’s International Boxing Federation in 1993. A stage play called Mighty Atoms inspired by Buttrick’s life premiered in the UK in 2017.
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Marian Trimiar: Lady Tyger
Bronx-born Marian Trimiar is the first woman to be granted a professional boxing license by the New York State Athletic Commission.
Trimiar, known as “Lady Tyger,” began boxing right out of high school at age 18 and was fighting in exhibition matches before it was legal for women to fight in sanctioned matches. Trimiar applied for a boxing license in her home state of New York only to be denied.
“I slept, ate, ran boxing. It didn’t give me nothing back,” Trimiar told The Grueling Truth. “You don’t realize the prejudice out there. Of all the isms, and I know them all, sexism is the worst.”
After a long legal battle, the Lady Tyger was finally issued a boxing license by New York State in 1978 and went on to win the women’s world lightweight championship in 1979.
Lucia Rijker: The Most Dangerous Woman in the World
Lucia Rijker started training in judo at the age of 6, became part of the Dutch National Softball Team at age 7, and was named Netherlands Junior Fencing Champion at age 14.
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Rijker started training in kickboxing at 15 years old, knocking out the American Kickboxing Champion Lily Rodriguez and continuing to gain a 36-0 record with four world titles, ensuring her place as one of the most famous female boxers in history.
Rijker’s boxing career was equally impressive with 17 wins and 14 KOs, earning her the Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIDF) Welterweight title and legendary status.
Known as the “Most Dangerous Woman in the World” and the “Dutch Destroyer,” Rijker took a short hiatus from the ring to pursue several acting roles.
Christy Martin: The Coal Miner's Daughter
Christy Martin began her fighting career winning three consecutive titles in ‘Toughwoman’ contests.
She launched her professional boxing career with a six-round draw against Angela Buchanan in 1989, winning the rematch one month later with a KO in round two. Christy went on to win 19 consecutive matches.
Christy, nicknamed the “Coal Miner's Daughter,” started training with boxing coach and husband James Martin in 1991. After the couple moved to Florida, Christy became the first woman to sign with Don King, and debuted in Las Vegas, NV in 1994.
Two years later she rose to fame as the lightweight women’s champion of the world, earning her a place on the Sports Illustrated cover and an immediate pay increase from $15,000 to $150,000 per fight, guaranteeing her place in history as one of the best female boxers ever.
Christy’s stardom continued until her first KO loss to Laila Ali in 2003, followed by a string of more losses and festering personal turmoil that would soon come to a head.
“Boxing was the best therapy I could find,” Salters told Sports Illustrated in 2016. “That’s where I felt the safest.”
In 2010, Christy was stabbed repeatedly and shot by her husband James Martin after years of abuse. The gunshot missed her heart by only 4 inches. Against all odds, Christy miraculously survived. James was convicted of attempted 2nd-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
After everything she had gone through, Christy wasn’t ready to give up boxing yet, and 193 days after almost losing her life she re-entered the ring only to have her trainer stop the fight when it was clear her hand was broken. She subsequently suffered a stroke, officially ending her career in 2012. She had to fight another long road to recovery, eventually taking up work as a substitute teacher and aiding military veterans in finding employment.
Christy spoke on Capitol Hill in support of the Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act in 2013. “If that’s why I had to go through what I did, to help save other people,” she says, “that’s O.K. with me.
Laila Ali: Daughter of a Legend
Inspired by watching a Christy Martin televised match, Laila Ali began boxing at age 18 despite initial resistance from her famous father, Muhammad Ali. Her father was concerned for his daughter’s safety, but she knocked out her opponent April Fowler in round one of her first match in 1999. She went on to seal her superstar status with 9 wins in a row.
In 2003, Ali got the chance to fight her inspiration Christy Martin and won with a KO in the 4th round. Laila Ali has held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF, and IBA female super middleweight titles, as well as the IWBF light heavyweight title. She retired from the ring in 2007 and is considered by many to be the greatest female boxer of all time.
Laila Ali became an accomplished television personality and co-authored an autobiography Reach!: Finding Strength, Spirit, and Personal Power. She was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015.
Laila Ali: Early Life and Career Beginnings
Laila Amaria Ali was born December 30, 1977, in Miami Beach, Florida, the daughter of boxer Muhammad Ali and his third wife, Veronica Porché. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old. She was raised as a Muslim, but later left Islam despite her father's initial disapproval.
Ali was a manicurist at age 16. Her turbulent childhood of arrests and abuse led to her to living in a group home for girls. She graduated from California's Santa Monica College with a business degree. She owned her own nail salon before she began boxing.
According to Ali, her father opposed her decision to become a boxer due to his Muslim faith; in an interview she said, "My father first of all, did not believe that women should be boxing. My father was Muslim, I'm not.
Ali began boxing when she was 18 years old, after having first noticed women's boxing when watching a Christy Martin fight. She first publicized her decision to become a professional boxer in a Good Morning America interview with Diane Sawyer. When she first told her father, Muhammad Ali that she was planning to box professionally, he was unhappy about her entering such a dangerous profession.
Professional Boxing Career
In her first match, on October 8, 1999, the 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m), 166-pound (75 kg), 21-year-old Ali boxed April Fowler of Michigan City, Indiana. They fought at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino on the Oneida Indian Nation in Verona, New York.
Attention to Ali's ring debut was further boosted because it occurred on the eve of what was supposed to be the first male-female professional bout ever to be sanctioned by a US state boxing commission - later ruled an exhibition. As WomenBoxing.com explains: "The near-alignment of the two events focused more attention on female professional boxing than there had been since Christy Martin's 1996 pay-per-view fight with Deirdre Gogarty."
Ali knocked out Fowler - described by WomenBoxing.com as an "out-of-shape novice" - in the first round. Ali also won her second match by a TKO with only 3 seconds left on the clock. In that match her opponent was 5'4" Shadina Pennybaker, from Pittsburgh, who was making a pro debut after earning a 2-1 record as an amateur.
Ali captured nine wins in a row and many boxing fans expressed a desire to see her square off in a boxing ring with George Foreman's daughter, Freeda Foreman, or Joe Frazier's daughter, Jacqui Frazier-Lyde.
Ali vs. Frazier-Lyde: Ali/Frazier IV
On the evening of June 8, 2001, Ali and Frazier finally met. The fight was nicknamed Ali/Frazier IV in allusion to their fathers' famous fight trilogy. Ali won by a majority judges' decision in eight rounds (79-73, 77-75, 76-76). Frazier-Lyde ended the fight with a swollen eye while Ali had a fractured left collarbone and a bloodied nose. This match by Ali and Frazier was the first main-event pay-per-view match between two women.
Title Wins and Defenses
She won the IBA title with a second-round knockout of Suzette Taylor on August 17, 2002, in Las Vegas. On November 8, she retained that title and unified the crown by adding the WIBA and IWBF belts with an eight-round TKO win over her division's other world champion, Valerie Mahfood, in Las Vegas. Ali stopped a bloodied Mahfood in eight rounds.
On June 21, 2003, Mahfood and Ali fought a rematch, this time in Los Angeles. Once again bloodied by Ali, Mahfood lost by TKO in six rounds while trying to recover her world title. Nevertheless, Ali suffered a bad cut on her right eyelid for the first time in her career, inflicted by Mahfood.
On July 30, 2004, she stopped Monica Nunez in nine rounds, in her father's native city of Louisville, Kentucky.
Ali vs. Toughill: WBC Title Win
On June 11, 2005, on the undercard to the Tyson-Kevin McBride fight, Ali defeated Erin Toughill in round three to remain undefeated and won the World Boxing Council title in addition to defending her WIBA crown. She was the second woman to win a WBC title (Jackie Nava was the first). Toughill and Ali disliked each other, and prior to the fight Toughill joked about Ali. Ali promised she would punish Toughill, much like her father did with Ernie Terrell back in 1967.
On December 17, 2005, in Berlin, Ali fought and defeated Åsa Sandell by TKO in the fifth round. Following Ali's hard right to Sandell's face with 17 seconds remaining in Round 5, Sandell was struck by numerous undefended shots to her head. The referee stopped the bout with 12 seconds remaining.
While a guest on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith on June 7, 2006, Ali announced that she would be making a world tour, and said that she was looking forward to fighting Ann Wolfe in October 2006. However, the fight with Wolfe never materialized.
Television and Media Appearances
In 2000, Ali played herself in an episode of The Jersey called "Bat Girl" in which Morgan Hudson (played by Courtnee Draper) turns to her in order to get a little more of a perspective as she learns the true meaning of girl power. In 2002, she appeared as herself on the UPN sitcoms One on One and Girlfriends.
In early 2002, Ali appeared in a boxing role for the music video "Deny" by Canadian hard rock band Default. The video gained airplay on music channels including MTV2 and MMUSA.
In mid-2007, Ali was a participant in season four of the American version of the television show Dancing with the Stars; she had no previous dancing experience. She and her professional dancing partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, were widely praised by the judges, receiving the first "10" from judge Len Goodman for their rumba.
Ali hosted the revival of American Gladiators alongside Hulk Hogan. In 2012, Ali was picked to co-host Everyday Health with Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca. The show aired on ABC Saturday mornings and profiled everyday people living with health issues, who aspired to not let their issues keep them from helping others or doing extraordinary things. The show lasted for one season.
On February 4, 2013, Ali appeared on the NBC reality series, The Biggest Loser in the episode "Lead By Example". In the episode, she boxed alongside Dolvett Quince's team, consisting of Jackson Carter, Joe Ostaszewski and Francelina Morillo.
In March 2013, Ali started appearing as a co-host on multiple episodes of the E! talk show series Fashion Police filling in for Giuliana Rancic, who was on maternity leave. In May 2014, Ali participated in an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap. She swapped places with singer Angie Stone and tried to instill healthier habits on the family.