Boxing Road Have you ever wondered who the best female boxers in history are? Boxing is generally considered an extremely masculine sport.
However, women have shown strength and versatility in sports for decades.
The first female boxer in history, Elizabeth Wilkinson created a legacy and a platform for other women.
She fought when brutal violence, anger, revenge and excitement were the constant norm in sport and, interestingly, against the male gender.
Until today, several boxers have embraced the sport and immortalized their names with various incredible feats and achievements.
In this article, we take a look at what we believe to be the 10 greatest female boxers in history.
The list is compiled based on an in-depth review of their professional boxing achievements, records and influence in the sport.
The best female boxers of all time
10. Mia St. John
A look at her will give you a bad impression of Saint-Jean.
Her stunning looks might fool you into thinking she’s just a model.
But in addition to good looks, there is a serial boxer who would send one to the star world with just one punch.
The American professional boxer made his professional boxing debut in 1997 against Angelique Willian.
The fight against Angelique Willian earned Mia St. John the nickname “KO” for knocking out Willian 54 seconds into the first round.
The former World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight champion had a total of 65 fights and won 49 of them, including 19 by knockout.
He is truly a great boxer that the sport will never forget.
9. Natashka Ragosina
Undefeated Russian boxer Natashka Ragosina
Undefeated Russia Ragosin is an impressive fighter, which the boxing world has witnessed.
Out of a total of 22 bouts, Ragosina is undefeated throughout his career, winning 13 by knockout.
She is the only female fighter to hold the WBA and WBC super middleweight titles for the longest time.
In December 2009, Ragosina went the distance, fighting for her weight category against the then world heavyweight champion Pamela London, who weighed 65 kilograms lighter.
However, she was a shocker when she beat London by knockout to win the World Boxing Federation (WBF) heavyweight title.
Ragosina has won every major women’s super middleweight title, as well as two heavyweight belts. Impressive!
8. Giselle Salandy
Salandi was the best welterweight boxer in history as she never lost or drew in her career.
She made her professional boxing debut at the tender age of 13 and became the youngest boxing champion at 14, defeating Paola Rojas, who claimed the WIBA IBERO title.
However, a temporary break in her career came when the law on minors prevented her from boxing.
When she lasted 17 years and five days, she returned to the ring and successfully defended her title.
Salandi set a second record by winning the NABC World Championship title, becoming the youngest woman to win it.
In 2008, she became the first female boxer to win eight title belts in one fight.
The following year, she defended all six titles against Yvonne Reiss.
Giselle has won several awards, including a national award from the president of her country, Trinidad and Tobago.
Unfortunately, Salandi’s illustrious career was cut short by the sudden hands of death.
In 2009, she was involved in a car accident that took her life.
For her boxing achievements, she was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016.
His boxing career is the summation of greatness.
Salandi is truly one of the greatest boxers of all time.
7. Holly Holm
Holm is another famous boxer who has many achievements in this sport.
His name alone causes fear to tremble in the hearts of opponents.
In his career, Holm held the featherweight, featherweight and middleweight titles and successfully defended the titles in 18 different fights.
She had a total of 38 fights and won 33, winning 9 by knockout.
She has twice won the title of “Fighter of the Year” in “Ring” magazines.
BoxRec voted her the best fighter of all time.
6. Christy Martin
Popularly known as “the miner’s daughter”, Martin is famous for being one of the most inspirational female figures in boxing who broke the stigma of women playing physical sports such as boxing.
During his career, after two unsuccessful attempts, Martin won only one title – the WBC super middleweight title.
No boxer has had as much influence on women’s boxing as Martin.
In recognition of her incredible work in boxing, Martin was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016.
5. Ann Wolfe
No boxing punch hurts like the great Ann Wolfe.
One of the toughest women the boxing industry has ever seen, Wolfe’s boxing style saw her win three world championships not only in one weight class, but in three different weight classes.
That says a lot about his boxing disbelief.
Wolfe, who now works as a trainer, has never shied away from the glamor of fame.
She starred in the 2017 blockbuster Wonder Woman, playing the role of Artemis, a female Amazon.
4. Regina Halmich
Halmich is one of the greatest boxers in the world and helped popularize women’s boxing as a sport in Europe.
She first took the boxing scene by storm in her professional debut in Germany in 1994 against Klee, which she won.
This was the birth of his glorious boxing career.
In the years that followed, she won the WIBF Featherweight and Light Heavyweight titles and was crowned World Super Lightweight Champion.
She had a total of 56 professional fights and won 54.
She won most of her victories by unanimous decision.
Halmich is one of the most successful boxers in the world in this sport.
3. Laila Ali
Lyla stepped into her late father’s shoes and carved out a name and legacy as she did so.
She is the eighth child of nine children of the great Muhammad Ali.
She entered professional boxing in 1999 and her father’s name gave her the right platform to show her worth in the ring.
Hundreds of sports journalists and influencers attended her first fight, which she won.
Ali became the IWBF light heavyweight champion and the WBC, WIBA, IWBF, IBA super middleweight champion.
Laila Ali competed from 1999 to 2007 and won all 24 of her professional bouts, winning 21 by knockout.
2. Cecilia Braekhus
Cecilia, the oldest reigning boxing champion, has already participated in 36 bouts without losing a single one and winning all of them.
However, a loss in her 37th fight against American Jessica McCaskill marred her victory.
However, she remains one of the greatest boxers the world has ever seen.
Brehus won the featherweight title in 2014 and has successfully defended it to this day.
She won the WBC, IBF, WBO and WBA titles, becoming the first female boxer to hold all four titles simultaneously.
In 2016, she added the IBO title to her portfolio and became the first female boxer to hold five world titles simultaneously.
1. Lucia Rijker
Before entering professional boxing, Rijker was a famous kickboxer and was a champion of the sport.
It is not surprising that she transferred the same cheerfulness and dexterity to boxing.
His punches were extremely brutal and his fights were aggressive.
Rijker’s fighting style earned her the nickname “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World”.
She won the WIBF world light heavyweight titles and the WIBO junior middleweight titles.
Rijker was undefeated throughout her kickboxing and boxing career, a feat that deserves to see her atop the list of the greatest female boxers of all time.
Conclusion
Now you know that if men can box, so can women.
As with all top rankings in sports, we know this list is questionable.
However, Lucia Rijker definitely deserves the top spot on this list of the greatest female boxers of all time.