Women’s Boxing: A Hard Sell? by Carol Ann Weber – Nov. 1, 2000

By Carol Ann Weber/November 1, 2000

After reading Sue Fox’s commentary regarding the recent press conference held for the Tapia/Ayala fight in Las Vegas, where she noticed the screaming absence of any female boxers, I realized that our femme fatales of the ring could use a little guidance in not only getting their faces out there, but how and when to do it. I’m launching this series on marketing women’s boxing with an interview with four-times world champion, Kathy Collins, with whom I had the pleasure of spending some quality time on the eve of the Women’s Sports Foundation Awards Banquet held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York a couple of weeks ago. You say you want mo’ fights and mo’ money? Well, touch gloves with Kathy and look out. She comes out swinging.

KATHY COLLINS INTERVIEW

CAW: Since marketing the sport seems to be one of the biggest issues of women’s boxing, where do you think it should begin: with the boxer herself or the people she has working with her?

KC: I think it’s a combination of things. It is our responsibility to make ourselves marketable. And a lot of that has to do is how we carry ourselves and present ourselves in public. In addition to that, a lot of that has to do with the people you surround yourself with and their responsibility to get you out there in the public and get you into avenues where you can be marketed. There are a lot of opportunities for female boxers, it just hasn’t happened yet.

CAW: One of things Sue Fox mentioned when she attended the Tapia/Ayala fight, she didn’t see one female boxer at the press conference. You are making your presence known here at the Women’s Sports Foundation Awards and representing all of women’s boxing. What do you have to say to other female boxers about making public appearances?

KC: That’s absolutely a necessity. If you can get there. A lot of times on male-dominated fight cards, a lot of time they shun the women and we do steal the thunder. We show up and we get the attention. I had it happened in my last fight when the main event got offended because I was on the poster and they weren’t. You have to persevere and when you come to events like this where it’s geared towards women where you’re treated with class and you have to carry yourself with a lot of class, you’re made to feel welcome. But a lot of times when you try to get to those male cards where you’re not so welcome, you’ve got to show up anyway. Let them keep seeing your face, you’ve got to keep sticking it out there. If they see you long enough, they can’t keep telling you “no.” You have to make a nuisance out of yourself. That’s the only way to get anything done.

CAW: In fact, the night of the Tapia/Ayala fight, when Mia St. John walked into the arena, the whole crowd went nuts and totally ignored the fight in the ring. That shows to me the power of attraction that the women boxers have if they know how to use it.

KC: I think that has something to do with the lack of quality male fights that they are putting on. If you put on a lame quality male fight and know you’re going to get a good quality fight with the women, sooner or later, you are going to see a change in the tides because people want to see a good quality fight, regardless of the gender. And that, I think, is most important.

CAW: One of the biggest criticisms of women’s boxing is that there is such a disparity between the best and the worst. One minute you’ll see something that’s televised that’s a bum fight and everyone says “why are we wasting the airtime on women’s boxing.” I’ve been to several boxing cards where the best fight on the card was the women’s match, and it didn’t get televised. How do you see this and what do we do about it?

KC: I think the reason that’s happening predominantly is because the fights that are getting on TV are the boxing daughters that are inexperienced or the Playboy bunnies also inexperienced in championship fights, that’s what the public is getting exposed to and that’s what they have learned to expect of women’s boxing. They are not getting to see the championship women boxers. I have to be honest. At this point in my career, I’m a little frustrated and I really don’t know which way to go. Being one of those championship women, I can’t explain why I can’t get TV time. They say that there aren’t enough boxers in the talent pool and I strongly disagree. If the women were to get more coverage you would see a lot more of the depth of talent stepping out of the amateurs into the pro ranks. But why should they do that right now when they are getting so much more recognition for staying amateur. I really can’t blame them when you have to work so hard for so little on the professional level.

CAW: As Billie Jean King said in the press conference, it’s a chicken and egg thing in women’s sports. But that’s no reason to quit. That’s one of things Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Sports Foundation together so women will not quit and continue to persevere. And one of the questions you had for Billie Jean King is asking her how we can make women’s boxing an Olympic sport, as you feel that is a key for women’s boxing to gain credibility. Let’s talk about that.

KC: That’s the ticket for women’s boxing. Don’t misunderstand it. It doesn’t matter TV time, it doesn’t matter promoters, it doesn’t matter who your daddy is, it doesn’t matter. If the Olympic Committee takes in women’s boxing, it will then have the credibility it needs. But what they are saying now is that women’s boxing doesn’t have the validity yet to make it as an Olympic sport. So it is totally a chicken and egg thing. But my main mission in coming to this Women’s Sports Foundation function to see people like Wilma Rudolph who were running on tracks lit by car headlights. They didn’t give a damn. They persevered and look where they are now. For me, it’s a re-charge of my battery to come here. In addition, I wanted to speak to Billie Jean King and people who were key figures in getting their sport the notoriety and acclaim that it now has. I want to know not that just me as a person can do, but what information can I spread to the other women in my sport so we can rally together and make it happen. I know that the other champions, even though we fight in the ring, I honestly believe we can fight together for this cause. If we could just get it in the Olympics, it would be the key, because the corruption of boxing wouldn’t be involved. It would increase the stable and provide the public the opportunity to see that there is so much talent all over the world. If it were an Olympic sport, people would see there is depth of talent.

CAW: One of the things you mentioned to Billie Jean King is that we need just six more countries to get boxing sanctioned by the Olympic Committee. Let’s talk about how we go about that. Where do we find the list of countries that boxing is in and the list of potential countries that we could solicit in some organized fashion to sanction boxing.

KC: I do know that the IOC has a list of 34 countries. They’ve answered me so much as saying that. That is a menial number to me but I guess to them it’s a big deal. The other thing that they’re saying is that we need two world cups. We’re getting one and we will be getting a second. Does that mean we’ll have it in 2004 or do we have to wait until 2008? In my opinion, make it an Olympic sport and those other countries will be forced to change their laws and make boxing legal for women. But if you don’t make it an Olympic sport, nobody’s hand will be forced and women will be suppressed as they always have been.

CAW: I think one of the factors that forces people to sanction it is the demand by the public. We saw this in Mexico recently. Women’s fights were banned until Don King got in there and think it was a matter of a few months ago that Mexico finally opened it’s doors to women’s boxing. But it takes some clout. I think women boxers need to take a look at what we need to do in an organized fashion to get women’s boxing in some of these other countries.

KC: I think what you said initially is the key. Yes, women’s boxers do have a responsibility to fight for their sport but in addition to that, there has to be public outcry. But again, it’s a chicken and egg thing, because in order to get the public outcry, the public has to see it more. It is difficult for women’s boxing right now, I can’t say that it’s not. All you can do is keep fighting. We don’t get the magazine coverage that we should, we don’t get the TV coverage that we should. But what we have to do as boxers is work behind-the-scenes. Get to the press conferences, get to the banquets, get to the fights and stick you nose up the promoters butts until he introduces you in the ring. If you get introduced to 2,000 people in Tennessee, 2,000 people in Georgia, 2,000 in Ohio, 2,000 in West Virginia and 2,000 in New York, you’re up to 10,000 people who didn’t know you yesterday. Continue to train and work hard. And myself, I try to take every fight that comes to me. I’m not suggesting that you sell yourself short, but you have to take any reasonable offer, especially fights that are going to get TV time. You can’t turn them down, I don’t care who their against. So what if you lose. You might look good losing it and then you have promoted the sport. You have to take those TV fights.

CAW: So what’s next for Kathy Collins?

KC: I’m definitely fighting in December. For who exactly is a battle, and where exactly is a battle. I’m going to meet with the promoter this weekend and we’ll see how it goes. I’m going to try to fight in my hometown in January. I really wanted to fight Christy in December on the Trinidad/Vargas card. I would love to get that phone call tomorrow and know that fight is on.

CAW: So, right now, let’s challenge her.

KC: Christy, let’s get it on. You’re going to retire soon anyway. Be the woman that you say you are and pass the torch before you leave. Don’t leave out of here sugar-coated fighting nobodies. Give someone else a shot. Pass it on.