First For Women: A “Tyger” in Our Tank – First-ever female fight in Connecticut – January 10, 1976

A midst tremendous controversy, the first women’s professional boxing bout in Connecticut took place on Saturday, January 10, 1976.  In order to give you a firsthand report on the bout, Jo and Jeff Bray were at ringside.   The fight was between Gwen Gemini of Springfield, Massachusetts, 23 years old, 152 lbs., her fourth fight, and Marian  “Tyger” Trimiar of New York City, 22 years old, 148 lbs., her second fight.

Prior to the fight, it was suggested that the promoter had the women on the card just to pack the house.  If that was his motive, he surely succeeded, as according  to our count, there were approximately 3,000 people in attendance at the huge Waterbury Armory.   (At $5, and $7 per seat.)   We assume the tickets were all sold out, because we know that two days before, it was almost impossible to find tickets at any locations.  Regardless of what prompted the promoter to have women on the card, it was obvious to us  that the women were serious about their boxing and had trained hard for the fight.

State officials reluctantly approved the bout on the conditions that the women wear Aluminum and leather bras (sounds like something from the stone age, doesn’t it?), and that there be no decision in the bout unless a KO was scored.

We felt that the majority of the crowd there that night were regular fight fans.  However, there were also quite a number of people, like ourselves, who were there just to see the women’s bout.   As the time came for the women to appear, a wave of anticipation and apprehension came over the crowd.

Moments after “Tyger” entered the ring, she through off her hooded robe to show her bald head and then sashayed  across the ring, blowing kisses.   These bits of showmanship seemed to break the ice and allowed the audience to become more at ease.

Round one started out with both women boxing cautiously, jabbing, dancing and jabbing.   As the round progressed, each landed a few good punches.  The crowd now realized that two women could give an acceptable account of themselves in the ring, and began to react and cheer during the rest of the fight, the way  they did during the rest of the fight, the  way they did during the men’s bouts.

The second round showed aggressive action by both during the first 45 seconds, with “Tyger” throwing lots of punches (most of which were blocked) and Gwen counter punching and scoring with many jabs.  The both fighters seemed to coast for about 45 seconds, and the crowd began to cheer them on to more action.   The round ended with a flurry from each.

Round three followed the same pattern as round two had.  By this time, it was obvious  that the crowd was enjoying “Tyger’s” showmanship and rooting her on.

The final round showed “Tyger” swinging wildly,  sometimes connecting,  and Gwen counter punching steadily.  Each time “Tyger” would attack, Gwen  would step back, block the  punch, and counter punch.   The fourth round ended without a KO, and therefore,  no decision.

Our assessment of the fight as a whole was that the women did as well in the ring, as two men with equal experience would have done; no better no worse.   The bout did not show the power and bloodiness that most of the men’s bouts did that evening, but did show skillful boxing and counter punches.   The action was sporadic-good at times, lagging at other times.

WBAN has on VHS some video segments of this fight.  Source/The Glove – 1976