Barbara Buttrick
"Battling" Barbara Buttrick (born 1930) was a world champion in women's boxing in the 1940s and 1950s.
Originally from England, Buttrick is considered a pioneer of women's professional boxing.
Pro career
Known as "The Mighty Atom of the Ring", Buttrick, at 4′ 11″, fought from 98 lbs. to being the World’s unbeaten flyweight (112) and bantamweight (118) champion from 1950 to 1960. [1]
Buttrick started her boxing career in 1948, touring Europe with carnivals as a bantamweight in the boxing booth. She went to the United States in the mid-1950s, joined the carnival circuit, but quit because the American carnivals were rougher than the European ones. She then fought professionally in Canada, Chicago, and southern Florida. One of the Canadian matches became the first women's bout to be broadcast on radio.
Buttrick allegedly fought many exhibition bouts against male opposition. [1]
Buttrick reportedly had one career loss, to Joann Hagen, in 31 pro bouts before retiring. After an absence of 15 years, she briefly returned to the ring in 1977.
She retired in 1960 at 30–1–1.
Career After Boxing
In the mid-1990s, she founded and became the president of the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) which is a major sanctioning body of women's boxing.
Buttrick's last known residence was Miami Beach, FL. In 2014, she inaugurated the Women's International Boxing Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after it being proposed during 2013 by her and by Sue Fox.[2]
References
External links
- Professional boxing record for Barbara Buttrick from BoxRec
- Short biography of Barbara Buttrick
- RingTalk feature story