Victorian Era’s Female Boxers: Photos Show Female Prize Fighter In Action

Women’s boxing was started in England in the 1720s. When this sport gained popularity, some bad reputations became fierce and bloody because of the lack of rules governing the sport. Britain’s first body to regulate boxing in Britain in the 1880s refused to acknowledge women fighters. In 1998, eventually, the British Boxing Board issued a license to women. There was no training, rule, and safety equipment, and Women would engage in bloody prize fights and bare-knuckle brawls. These black and white photographs show the early days of female boxing in the Victorian era.

#1 The Carlson sisters, known as the Wrestling Fat Girls, they would put on a boxing match for paying customers, circa 1925.

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#2 Feared woman boxer, Hattie Stewart in 1883. Hattie traveled through the USA fighting both men and women.

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#3 Bessie and Minnie Gordon, known as the Gordon sisters, they would tour theaters in the USA to show off their sparring and punching skills.

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#4 Vicki Baum training at a boxing gym in Berlin, circa 1920.

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#5 Two women box in an undisclosed location.

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#6 Hattie Madders (right), winner of the Most Scary Woman in the UK title in 1883 was the only woman to hold the boxing heavyweight championship of the world title. Nicknamed ‘The Mad Hatter’ she allegedly won the belt in 1883, stopping Scottish pugilist Wee Willy Harris in the first round of their bou

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#7 The Bennett Sisters, who boxed and wrestled for crowds as a Vaudeville Act, taken between 1910 – 1915, USA.

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#8 A young woman in a skirt working out with boxing gloves and a punching bag, circa 1890.

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#9 The Bennett Sisters, who boxed and wrestled for crowds as a Vaudeville Act, taken between 1910 – 1915, USA.

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#10 Sisters Booka and Chris Durack sparring with a speed bag, Australia, 1916.

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#11 Two women box in an undisclosed location in the 1800s.

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#12 Two women square up to one another to illustrate a boxing match, taken in Freshwater, north of Sydney, Australia, 1895.

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#13 The Carlson Sisters, pictured above, were part of a touring side show circus act, where they would put on a performance as ‘fat twins’ and would box for paying customers, circa 1925, USA.

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#14 Despite being an active sport, women had to still wear long Victorian dresses skirts and collared shirts as the sparred in boxing gloves. Women’s boxing is thought to have started in England in the 1720s in the form of prize fighting.

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#15 Sisters Booka and Chris Durack sparring with a speed bag, Australia, 1916.

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#16 A staged scene of two women in full dress and hats raise their fists, watched by two men, taken in Freshwater, north of Sydney, Australia.

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#17 Fraulein Kussin and Mrs. Edwards boxing. The pair had a bout in March 1912, USA.

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#18 Two women train at a boxing school in Berlin, Germany, circa 1909.

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