What comes to mind when you think of a sports star? In most cases, the first thought is undoubtedly how attractive that person is. Saying that sports stars have always been sex symbols is by no means too far-fetched. Long before music and movie stars began to attract people's attention and win millions of hearts, sports stars were enjoying the same privileges. In fact, we could go as far as saying that worshiping sports stars goes back as far as the history of sports itself. And we all know that it's more the athletes? performance that makes them so attractive and popular rather than their good looks.
The presence of women in the professional sports scene is fairly recent, at least compared to the history of sports, which, as we all know, dates back to ancient times. But this is no wonder, since women have gained most of the rights they have now only recently. However, women in professional sports have quickly succeeded in becoming respected and idolized. And once again, there is hardly any claim that this popularity of women in professional sports or women in college sports is the direct result of their physical appearance and attractiveness. However, there is something about women in professional sports that makes them very appealing from a sexual point of view.
As has been said before, women's emancipation has allowed them to enter a considerable wide and varied range of fields of activity that were once considered to be exclusively for men and sports are no exception. As a result, the number of women in professional sports has gradually increased and today their performance is just as acclaimed as that of male athletes. Women in professional sports have proven able to attract the same admiration and support as males, with similarly large number of fans watching their performances and encouraging them to win.
There are many sports that were thought to be inaccessible to women, mostly due to women's physical traits, but female athletes have managed to prove otherwise. Not only are women in professional sports just as good as men, but it's safe to say that there are a number of sports in which women's performances are far greater than those of male athletes. Rhythmic gymnastics, for instance, is a clear example of the fact that male athletes are definitely not the only ones who can perform to an exhilarated audience and bring together a large number of supporters. There are many other sports in which women have proven to be just as competent as men. As a result, throughout the last century we have witnessed a growing encouragement for women to participate in college sports. Nowadays, women in college sports are as numerous as men, with a growing interest for sports which were once considered to be designed exclusively for male athletes.
All in all, women may have only recently gained the right to an equal chance in sports, but they quickly proved that women in professional sports are by no means inferior to men in the same sports and that their performances are as worthy of support and admiration as those of male athletes.
Professional boxing is a sport dominated by men, but a few women have earned the right to be in the profession as well. Women boxers have been around since the 1700's but they really haven't gotten the recognition they deserve. The first real identification with female boxing as an actual event took place in 1904 when it became an event in the Olympics. Yet the concept of a female boxing match being aired on television didn't occur until 1954.
From 1975 to 1978 many women applied for a boxing license in various states throughout the United States. By 1977 many states were allowing women to get such licenses and have official professional boxing matches. The length of time for each round was shorter than for men and there were fewer rounds as well. They were limited to no more than four rounds. In 1979 Shirley Tucker and other female boxers contested the ruling and won with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Yet the boxing regulations for women still were unfair when compared to those for men. After years of not making very much headway a female professional boxer decided to get media attention focused on the issue. In 1987 Marian Trimiar went on a hunger strike to advocate for female boxers to get recognized, earn better money for their matches, and have good conditions for training and their matches.
Still, USA Boxing didn't officially recognize female boxers as anything more than a novelty until 1993. This was done as the result of a lawsuit against them where the judge ruled it unconstitutional to prevent women from boxing professionally because of their gender. As a result of the ruling though USA Boxing implements rules and regulations for female amateur boxing.
It wasn't until 1996 that women professional boxing was officially recognized. The landmark event that got women professional boxing in front of the cameras was a Pay per View fight offered by HBO. Christy Martin and Deirdre Gogarty engaged in a wild six round boxing match in March of 1996. The public loved it and the popular magazine Sports Illustrated ran with the concept. In July of 1997 the first Women's National Championship took place.
Women's professional boxing set another first in 1999 when the first event where a man faced a woman in the ring took place. This idea didn't settle well with the USA Boxing regulations or with spectators. While a few male/female matches have taken place over the years it is not a mainstream type of event.
Many of the women in professional boxing today are actually the daughters of former male professional boxers. Laila Ali is the daughter of Muhammad Ali. There was plenty of media coverage when she faced the daughter of her father's stiff rival Joe Frazier. This particular fight drew a Pay per View record of 100,000 sales for the fight.
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