Holly Holm and Mixed Feelings about Women's Pro Boxing

marbless

After confessing my general ignorance about women's pro boxing in another thread recently, mjon3105 kindly referred to a few sites dedicated to the sport. In particular, he mentioned Holly Holm as probably the best female pro boxer in the world at present.

So I checked her out on YouTube. And yes, Holly Holm is a great athlete. She has excellent technique and go-forward aggression. These qualities were displayed to the full in her WIBA Welterweight Championship victory against Duda Yankovich in June 2009.

That fight, however, gives rise to the "mixed feelings" contained in the title of the thread. Yankovich suffered a broken nose early in Round 2 after Holm speared through her defence with a straight left. By the time the contest was stopped two rounds later her face was a shocking mess.

That's the nature of boxing, of course, whether the contestants are male or female. But I found it uncomfortable to see a woman injured so badly (she was out of action for almost 12 months).

Full credit to Holly Holm, who did a professional job. She targeted the injury without mercy and went home early as a result.

But the nature of her win certainly gave me food for thought.

Any other opinions?

strobe

Boxing is a rough sport, people are going to get injured and take advantage of the injuries they inflict on others. If the women stepping into the ring are prepared to dish it out and take it I don't see why you should have any objections. The complaints I hear from people in relation to womens boxing are the exact same ones I hear from people that think boxing of any kind should be banned. At the end of the day no one is being forced to fight, and the reality is that womens boxing is a lot safer than mens because most women, even at the highest level just can't hit hard enough to kill anyone. You can claim all boxing should be banned or you can say it's all ok, but it makes no sense whatsoever to single out womens boxing for having mixed feelings about.

megadodge

You either like boxing or you don't.
The sex of the participants should have nothing to do with it.