There have been some superb female fighters over the years and we are lucky to have some of them still in action today. Here we take a look at the five best of all time.
Christy Martin
Christy Martin was also an inaugural inductee into the Boxing Hall of Fame and she led the way for mainstream female boxing. The Coal Miner’s Daughter fought on the undercard of boxing’s biggest stars, including Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and she held the WBC female super welterweight title.
Martin had 59 professional bouts and incredibly she won that WBC belt in her 57th bout.
Laila Ali
Laila Ali has said that she was inspired by Christy Martin, and as the daughter of Muhammad Ali, boxing was always likely to be the chosen path.
The Florida fighter held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female super-middleweight titles and she also held the IWBF belt at light-heavyweight.
Ali was unbeaten in her 24 professional contests, when calling time on her career in 2007 and she is widely regarded as one of the best female boxers of all time.
Lucia Rijker
Lucia Rijker was the first ever female inductee into the Hall of Fame and she can certainly be considered one of the greatest female boxers of all time.
The Dutch Destroyer was a two-time world champion and she was unbeaten in 17 professional contests. Rijker was a huge puncher and 14 of her 17 wins came via stoppage. The Amsterdam boxer was dubbed the most dangerous woman in the world and she also enjoyed a successful stint in the kickboxing world.
Ann Wolfe
Ann Wolfe was a ferocious puncher and the hard-hitting Texan won 16 of her 26 fights by knockout.
Brown Sugar held world titles in three different weight classes simultaneously and things certainly weren’t handed to the American.
Wolfe and her two daughters were homeless for a period of time, before she took up the sport and she was only defeated once in her boxing career.
Katie Taylor
We are lucky enough to still be able to watch Katie Taylor in action and in terms of skill and boxing ability the Bray Bomber can be considered in a league of her own.
KT is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight queen. Following her victory over Delfine Persoon, Taylor became one of only eight boxers in history (female or male) to hold all four major boxing belts simultaneously.
In the amateur ranks, Taylor won five consecutive gold medals at the Women’s World Championships, gold six times at the European Championships and gold at the 2012 London Olympics. The Bray Bomber is without doubt one of the greatest of all time, and she may even add to her achievements.