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History of Women's Amateur Boxing.
Women have been boxing for centuries and records show that female bouts were taking place in London as early as the 1720s. Mostly, however, bouts confined to fairground booths and street entertainment.
At the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, women's boxing was displayed as an event. Although this signalled some acceptance, progress towards accepting women as boxers remained slow and women were not allowed to compete as amateurs until 1988.
This timeline, kindly supplied by Bettan Andersson of AIBA and recently updated, gives a rough outline of the development of female boxing...
1988
The Swedish Federation allow women the right to box, adhering to the same basic rules as men. This same year, the first bout between two women was held in Sweden.
Norway and Finland soon followed suite, with Canada and the USA the next countries to allow female amateur boxers.
1994
AIBA allow women on the program, after a decision is made by congress in November in Beijing. The first Swedish Championship takes place.
1995
Sweden is the first country to set up a national team.
1996
The Amateur Boxing Association of England votes to lift the 116-year ban against women boxing.
Nordic Championships take place (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland)
1997
Sweden v Canada in Gothenburg, 5 May.
Finland held an international workshop for women boxers.
1998
EABA set up a Women's Commission with Gilda Antzel of Greece as the chairwomen.
1999
AIBA set up a Women's Commission, with Sandy Pino of the USA as chairwomen.
The first European Cup takes place in Köping, Sweden. 43 boxers from 12 countries participate.
2000
The second cup was held in Macon, France. 45 boxers from 10 countries participate.
2001
The first European Championships was held in France.
The first World Championships was held in Scranton, USA.
2002
Turkey hosted the second World Championships
2003
Hungary hosted the second European Championships
2004
The third European Championships were held in Riccione, Italy
2005
Norway hosted the European Championships and Russia held the World Championships
2006
Poland hosted the European Championships and India held the World Championships
2007
Denmark hosted the European Championships
2009
At a meeting in Berlin the International Olympic Committee voted in favour of introducing women's boxing to the Olympics, commencing from the 2012 Olympic Games. Women are now able to box in three weight categories; 51kg (flyweight), 60kg (lightweight) and 75kg (middleweight).