(OCT 15)  Stacy Prestage was the first Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF) world champion, but she did not have the belt that she won anymore because it was stolen. It was my mission to give her a WIBF belt. It is not the belt that was taken from her, but it is an authentic WIBF belt. It was the last belt made for Barbara Buttrick before she retired. She co-founded the WIBF with Jimmy Finn in 1993. That was the year that the WIBF sanctioned their first world title fight. Stacy Prestage defeated Deirdre Gogarty by a ten-round decision to win the vacant WIBF lightweight title. Gogarty was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) in 2015. Prestage was chosen for induction in the class of 2024, but the induction ceremony this year is for both the 2023 and 2024 classes. Prestage thinks that a Hall of Fame plaque is the only award she will receive, but there is another award for her and it is in the bag that I am holding as I walk to the podium on the stage. I am in Las Vegas, Nevada at The Orleans Hotel and Casino for the event. I had to travel from Florida.

I was in the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport carrying a WIBF belt in a duffel bag. I approached the security checkpoint. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers were checking bags for any dangerous items. There were several lines of people standing. I chose the one on the far right because the line was shorter. I removed everything out of my pockets and took off my belt and shoes. I put my bags and belongings in a gray plastic container which was then moved on a conveyor belt. No one else was walking behind me, so I was the last person in line. A TSA worker said that no one else can come on the line. The line was going to close temporarily after I was able to pass the checkpoint. I walked in a scanning machine for my body to be scanned. I was instructed to put my arms up for the scan. I walked out and stood near the conveyor belt as I waited to get my bags and belongings.

Another TSA worker sat in a chair and looked at a monitor of my baggage being scanned by the machine. He seemed to closely examine the scan. I could not see what he saw, but I assumed that he was wondering what the mass of metal was in my duffel bag. I was hoping that he would not decide to do a “secondary screening” because I did not want a TSA worker to remove the WIBF belt out of the bag. The plastic container with my bag moved out of the scanner. If the container continued straight on the conveyor belt, then there would be no secondary screening. However, there was another conveyor belt and the plastic container was diverted onto it which was parallel to the other one, but farther away from me. The TSA worker apparently decided that my duffel bag needed to be examined further. Since I was the last person in line, the TSA worker who decided that my bag needed to be opened got up from his chair and walked towards the other TSA worker who unzipped my bag and lifted the WIBF belt.

“It’s a women’s boxing belt,” I said. The TSA worker who chose my bag for secondary screening asked me how I got the belt, so I briefly told him and left out the details. “I was a boxing writer. I know the former owner of the sanctioning body. I am going to give the belt to a former world champion.” The TSA worker then asked me who it is. “You don’t know her,” I said. “Oh, you don’t want to tell me,” the TSA worker said. Well, I didn’t. I had plenty of time to get to the terminal, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk. “Stacy Prestage. She won the title 30 years ago,” I said. “Did she fight Laila Ali?” he asked. “No. Different weight classes, different time period,” I said. Prestage fought from 1990-1998 in the featherweight, super featherweight, and lightweight divisions. Ali fought from 1999-2007 in the super middleweight division. I don’t think he knew much about women’s boxing. I believe that he mentioned Laila Ali not because of her boxing prowess, but because she is Muhammad Ali’s daughter!

The event for the first day started in the afternoon at 1:00 PM. It was an opportunity to meet some of the inductees and see a special awards presentation. I bought a program magazine which had biographies of the Hall of Fame inductees for 2023 and 2024. Two classes were going to be inducted on Saturday. I met Yvonne Trevino who was a former world champion for the WIBF. She had a table with her WIBF belt on it which looked different than the one I was carrying. The older design had a larger woman with angel wings and the metallic globe was not painted in color.

I talked to Laura Ramsey of Lakeland, Florida because I was at one of her fights in 2007. I was writing for the original Boxing Tribune website which no longer exists. This was an event promoted by Don King at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. I was also at the pre-fight press conference. I noticed that Ramsey appeared to be very angry during the entire press conference which lasted a few hours. She didn’t say much, but she had a scowl on her face. I have heard the expression “putting your game face on,” but I thought that would be for the day of the event. Samuel Peter of Nigeria was in the main event against James Toney in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator. Ramsey’s opponent was Ijeoma Egbunine of Nigeria who won the WIBF light heavyweight title in 2006 by defeating Valerie Mahfood by knockout in the second round. Mahfood was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) in 2020. Egbunine has yet to be inducted. Ramsey was inducted in the IWBHF this year in the class of 2023. Ramsey vs. Egbunine was in the super middleweight division.

I told Ramsey that I was at the pre-fight press conference of her fight against Egbunine. After all these years, I finally could find out why Ramsey was angry during the press conference. Ramsey had heard through the grapevine that Don King was planning on signing Peter and Egbunine to a joint deal since both are from Nigeria. Ramsey felt slighted because this was before her fight against Egbunine. It seemed that King was expecting Egbunine to defeat Ramsey. Of course, Ramsey was not happy about this and it gave her extra motivation to win. Her fight was on the undercard, but this could have been the main event on a club show. Both were world-class boxers with good records. Egbunine had only one loss prior to this fight whereas Ramsey had two losses. Ramsey’s nickname is “Lady Ram” and she lived up to her nickname. The fight began with Ramsey charging like a battering ram ready to lock horns. I don’t think Egbunine was expecting that and Ramsey knocked her down with a right hook. Ramsey knocked her down two more times and the fight was stopped by the referee. Ramsey won by TKO in the first round. In her next fight, Ramsey became a world champion by winning the Global Boxing Union (GBU) middleweight title in Kenya. Ramsey had to fight in her opponent’s home country against Conjestina Achieng. Achieng was knocked down in the second, fifth, and sixth rounds. Ramsey won by TKO in the sixth round to win the GBU title.

Photo Credit: Sue TL Fox

Sue Fox who is the founder of the website WBAN (Women Boxing Archive Network) knew that I had brought the WIBF belt and asked to see it. I took it out of the bag. Fox held the belt and then I let Ramsey hold the belt. Ramsey’s protégé Carrise Brown rubbed the belt and maybe that will give her good luck in winning a WIBF belt or another world title in the future. Ramsey is the trainer for Brown who is a super featherweight contender. Ramsey acknowledged that she had to accelerate Brown’s development faster than she normally would because of her age. Brown is currently 37 years old. Her record is 10-6, 6 KOs. Two of her six losses were by TKO, but they were both to world-class opposition. Brown lost by TKO in the second round to super featherweight contender Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil. In Brown’s next fight, she got a world title shot against Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) featherweight champion Rebecca Hawker of Australia. Brown knocked Hawker down in round one, but Hawker knocked Brown down in round two. Hawker won by TKO in the seventh round. After this fight, Brown fought featherweight contender Sarah Liegmann of Germany. Liegmann won by a close unanimous decision in a six-round bout. In Brown’s most recent fight which was in August of this year, Brown defeated lightweight contender Czarina McCoy by split decision in a six-round bout. McCoy had a record of 11-1, 3 KOs prior to the bout. It seems that Brown has been making progress and others have taken notice. The Sugar Show with Natalie Brown on the Talkin’ Fight: Boxing YouTube channel has touted the abilities and potential of Carrise Brown. I believe that Ramsey is going to try to get Brown another world title shot soon such as with the WIBA again or the WIBF.

Photo Credit: Sue TL Fox

Special awards were given on the first day of the Hall of Fame event. Three of them related to longevity for still active boxers Chevelle Hallback, Layla McCarter, and Olivia Gerula who all have been boxing for at least 25 years. A special award was given to Alicia Ashley who also had a long career and achieved a Guinness World Record by regaining the WBC super bantamweight title by defeating Christina McMahon in 2015 at 48 years and 67 days old. Ashley is recognized as the oldest female world boxing champion and she is also recognized as the oldest overall which includes the male world champions. Three pioneers of women’s boxing were honored and awarded WBAN mini belts. Darlene Buckskin, Jamie Johnson, and Pat Pineda received these belts in cases. WBAN belts of the regular size are used for the best possible matchups within a division which is like what Ring Magazine belts have been for men’s boxing. Ring Magazine began giving their belts to female boxers in 2019 when Claressa Shields defeated Christina Hammer for the undisputed world middleweight championship which included the belts of the four major sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF).

A few years before Barbara Buttrick retired, I wanted to help her have a WIBF title fight in the United States instead of Europe where the title fights often were. I was trying to give American female boxers the opportunity to win a WIBF title in the United States because of the biased judging they often encounter when competing in European countries. I offered to purchase the WIBF belt, so Buttrick told the belt manufacturer that I had permission to buy the belt. I found a promoter who was interested in promoting a WIBF title fight, but he wanted a local boxer so the fight would sell more tickets. My role was like a matchmaker. I selected a local boxer from Florida even though she had been inactive for more than one year. Buttrick wanted to see her in training, but we were never able to schedule a time and date to watch her train at a gym. I told Buttrick that I wanted to change the boxer to someone else and she agreed. However, the promoter was no longer interested in promoting the fight since I had selected two boxers who did not live in Florida. They both lived in the United States, but not in Florida. The promoter was not willing to take the financial risk of having no local following to boost ticket sales.

After about six years of having the belt, I began to think about donating the belt to a museum of a boxing Hall of Fame. My thought process was that if the belt was in a museum, thousands of people would be able to see the belt instead of giving the belt to only one person and not a museum that the public could go to. I visited the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame Museum in Fort Myers, Florida. It was in a large room within a boxing gym. I thought about donating the belt there because Buttrick previously lived in Florida. However, the museum did not seem very secure. Some of the belts were not even in plastic or glass displays. I thought about donating the belt to the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF). It began inducting women in 2020 which I thought would never happen. I believe that they only did this because women’s boxing became popular and they could no longer ignore it. Buttrick was one of the first inductees in the Women’s Trailblazer Category. There is also a Women’s Modern Category. I was not sure how secure their museum was. Six championship belts were stolen in 2015. Four of the belts were won by Carmen Basilio and two were won by Tony Zale. The thieves broke into the building through a window when the museum was not open. The glass displays were smashed with an axe. Basilio won world titles in the 1950s. Zale won world titles in the 1940s. These belts must have been valuable due to their age and who the belts were won by.

I considered giving the belt to Sue Fox and her International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF). I knew that she currently does not have a building to display her memorabilia, but I felt that it was the right time considering that it was the 30th anniversary of the WIBF. Since Buttrick enabled me to buy the belt, I wanted to talk to her first before I donated the belt to Fox. I tried to contact Buttrick, but her phone number in Miami Beach did not work. I then emailed Jimmy Finn who co-founded the WIBF with Buttrick. I had his email because Buttrick visited him in Europe during the time that we were trying to get a WIBF title fight in Florida. Finn replied to my email stating that Buttrick was happy that I thought of her before I made the decision to donate the belt. Finn told me that Buttrick no longer lived in Miami Beach and that she moved back to England to live near her daughter. Finn revealed to me that Stacy Prestage’s belt was stolen. My first thought was that it was similar to a queen not having her crown.

Finn and Buttrick preferred that I give the belt to Prestage. However, Finn stated that it was my decision to make since I owned the belt. I talked to Fox on the phone about this. Fox felt that it would be great for me to give the belt to Prestage. I decided that it was the right thing to do. The belt was intended to be used for a title fight and Barbara gave permission to the belt manufacturer to make the belt and let me buy it. I also thought about the fact that the belt was supposed to be for a woman and I am not a woman. Also, I did not win the belt in the ring. I had an opportunity to give the belt to a woman who won the WIBF belt in the ring and who was the first one to do it. There was more historical significance because Prestage received the first WIBF belt made for Buttrick and she will receive the last WIBF belt made for Buttrick.

The second day of the event was the day of the induction ceremony for the classes of 2023 and 2024. I sat on a chair in the hallway and waited until 5:00 PM for the Meet and Greet to start. I knew that people would have to walk past me to go to the event, so I would eventually talk to somebody. Eight-time world champion Layla McCarter walked by and I said hi. McCarter greeted me with her fist. It was a fist bump, so I am okay. More people came and the hallway was crowded. I greeted Melissa McMorrow and shook her hand. There was a table near the ballroom where we got our tickets. I was given an envelope with my name on it. The ticket had the words “Night of the Stars” on it. The title was appropriate because this year was the first time that all the inductees who are or were female boxers of the modern age have been world champions. There were other people inducted who were not boxers such as International Female Boxers Association (IFBA) co-founder Judy Kulis, promoter Lou DiBella (who was not in attendance), founder and chair of WBC Cares Jill Diamond, and Gleason’s Gym President Bruce Silverglade.

The induction ceremony began at 7:00 PM. Master of Ceremonies Jake Gutierrez spoke first. Introductory speeches were also made by IWBHF Director Sue Fox and IWBHF Vice President Wanda Countiss. A short video of Barbara Buttrick and undisputed world featherweight champion Amanda Serrano was shown on a big screen. The video can be seen on WBAN’s YouTube channel WBAN100 as well as other videos shown during the two-day event. The keynote speaker was Christy Martin. The inductees from the class of 2023 were inducted first. Malissa Smith introduced each inductee who received a plaque in recognition of their membership into the IWBHF and for their contributions to women’s boxing. The inductees who were in attendance received their awards. Sue Fox has sent awards by mail to inductees who have not been present for previous induction ceremonies. I have been to the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame (FBHOF) induction ceremony a few times. An inductee to the FBHOF (or a representative if the inductee is deceased) must be present at one of two events to receive the awards (plaque and ring): either attend an induction ceremony (which does not have to be the year of induction) or attend the announcement of a future class of inductees which is done in early January at the boxing gym that has the FBHOF Museum. The FBHOF never mails their awards, so it is very nice of Sue Fox to mail the awards at her own expense to IWBHF inductees who are not present.

Photo Credit:  Robert Vasquez - Melissa McMorrow

One speech that I felt was memorable from the 2023 class of inductees was by Melissa McMorrow. She cried and said that her mom died. It was surprising to me because I have never seen her show that kind of emotion. Her record was 10-7-3, 1 KO. For most of her pro career, she fought top opposition in their home countries. Take away the three draws and her 10-7 record looks like it would be from a professional American football team that barely qualified for the playoffs. Even with the losses on her record that should have been wins, she is rated No. 21 on the all-time pound for pound list for female boxers on the BoxRec website. She is rated high despite her record because of the quality of her opposition. I know that BoxRec has been criticized for not including some fights on boxers’ records that have occurred. This seems to be mainly due to BoxRec not considering certain boxing commissions as legitimate. If a boxer fights and then that fight is not included on his or her record, then it adversely affects the boxer because it appears as if the boxer is inactive. A loss in one year is better than having no fight recorded in one year. BoxRec claims that they only publish fight results from boxing commissions that have been approved. However, BoxRec has published fights that were not sanctioned by a boxing commission and BoxRec even states that the fights were not sanctioned in red capital letters and a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in the middle that looks like a caution sign.

The inductees from the class of 2024 were inducted next. Daniella Smith was introduced first from this class. She is the first female world champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) which is not affiliated with the WIBF. After this inaugural women’s world title fight was sanctioned by the IBF in 2010, all four major sanctioning bodies were involved in women’s boxing. The IWBHF inductees were limited to three minutes for their speeches. When I was at a FBHOF induction ceremony in Florida, former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs talked for 20 minutes during his induction speech. I will reiterate that. He spoke for twenty minutes. Apparently, there is no time limit for speeches at the FBHOF. I am glad that Sue Fox limits the speeches to three minutes. The FBHOF induction ceremony is during the daytime. That is why they can have long speeches. The IWBHF induction ceremony begins in the evening. It was scheduled to end at 9:30 PM, but it would have ended around 10:00 PM if all the inductees were in attendance.

A short video of each inductee was shown on the screen. Malissa Smith would give a brief speech about the inductee and his or her accomplishments. Gleason’s Gym owner Bruce Silverglade was the only male inductee in attendance. Promoter Lou DiBella was not in attendance to receive his Hall of Fame award. Maria Jesus Rosa was inducted posthumously with the class of 2024. Obviously, she could not be in attendance. Her husband spoke about her and there was a camera crew that filmed the event for an upcoming documentary. Rosa won the WIBF junior flyweight title in 2003. Her only loss was to Regina Halmich in Germany by a close split decision in 2005. That was the last fight of Rosa’s career and was for the WIBF flyweight title. Rosa was born in Spain and is remembered as a pioneer of Spanish women’s boxing. Rosa died of cancer at the age of 44.

A video of Stacy Prestage was shown of her in training and highlights of her fights against Deirdre Gogarty of Ireland that appeared to be filmed by someone in the audience and not a television network. Gogarty was inducted in the second class of the IWBHF in 2015. Prestage had a trilogy of three consecutive fights against Gogarty. All the fights were in Kansas City, Missouri in 1993 which is where Prestage was from. The first and second fight resulted in two draws and Prestage won the third fight which was for the inaugural WIBF lightweight title. It was also significant because it was the first time that the WIBF sanctioned a world title fight in women’s boxing. It was the beginning of standards for women’s world title fights that were followed by other sanctioning bodies. It was the beginning of the modern age of women’s boxing. That is why Stacy Prestage is not only the first WIBF world champion, but she is also the first women’s boxing world champion of the modern age.

Prior to Prestage’s first fight against Gogarty, Prestage had a fight against Christy Martin in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1992. Martin was inducted in the first class of the IWBHF in 2014. The Internet was in its infancy in the early 1990s, so I did not know about this fight even though I lived in Florida. I did not even know women’s boxing existed. Martin won this fight by an eight-round unanimous decision. A written account of this fight is in WBAN’s Historical Database. Martin left the ring (probably immediately) after the fight and went to the locker room thinking that she had lost. All the media went to Prestage’s corner because they thought that she would be declared the winner. Martin had to be told to come out of the locker room (and I assume back in the ring) for her to be announced as the winner. Based on this account, I believe that Prestage deserved the victory even though it was officially a loss on her record. Martin was from Orlando, Florida and Daytona Beach is only about an hour drive away. The judges were probably biased.

An event promoted by Don King in 1996 had Martin and Gogarty fight each other on one of the undercard bouts. Even though it was on the undercard and not the main event, it stole the show. Gogarty was knocked down in round two, but she was able to continue. Martin’s nose was broken and bleeding profusely. It was a thrilling fight that captured the attention of the world. The fight was scheduled for six rounds of two minutes each and it went the distance. Martin won by unanimous decision, but more importantly it was women’s boxing that won. Martin became an instant celebrity and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. Prestage never received that kind of publicity. Her fights when she was in her prime are nowhere to be found on the Internet. Those fights probably were never televised. After Prestage’s third fight against Gogarty, Prestage took a hiatus from boxing for more than two years. She returned in 1996 and her last fight was in 1998. She went 3-3 in 6 fights during that time. The first three fights were wins and the last three fights were losses. One of those losses was by knockout in the fourth round against Sumya Anani. Anani was inducted into the IWBHF in its third class in 2016. This fight is on YouTube, but none of Prestage’s fights against Gogarty or Martin are on the Internet either in highlights or their entirety. Prestage must have been one of the best female boxers pound for pound from 1992-1993 which was when she fought Martin and Gogarty.

After the video of Prestage was finished, my name was called to come to the stage. I walk to the podium on the stage, put the bag next to the podium, and begin to read my speech: “Thank you and congratulations to all the inductees. This is the tenth anniversary of the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the WBAN website. It is also the thirtieth anniversary of the Women’s International Boxing Federation, the WIBF, sanctioning world title fights in women’s boxing. This began in 1993 with Stacy Prestage winning the vacant WIBF lightweight title. The WIBF was founded by Barbara Buttrick and Jimmy Finn. The WIBF sanctioned women’s boxing world title fights before any sanctioning body that exists today and the WIBF itself still exists today. The WIBF created rules and regulations for women’s world championships which were emulated by other sanctioning bodies. Barbara Buttrick is now retired and returned to live in England where she was originally from to be close to her daughter, but she lived in Miami Beach for decades. One WIBF belt was made by the belt manufacturer in case there was a title fight that Barbara would supervise before she retired, but this did not happen. Of course, Stacy Prestage received the first WIBF belt when Barbara was WIBF President. Unfortunately, that first WIBF belt was stolen from Stacy. (and so) On behalf of Barbara Buttrick and Jimmy Finn who could not be here tonight, I am giving the last WIBF belt made for Barbara Buttrick when she was WIBF President to Stacy Prestage.”

Photo Credit:  Robert Vasquez - Ron Scarfone presenting
WIBF Belt to Stacy Prestage

I take the belt out of the bag and look to my left. Prestage smiles at me and says thank you. I am thinking that I should say you’re welcome or at least smile, but I am too tired to show any emotion. I just look at her stone-faced. I walk off the stage down the stairs. I stand next to Sue Fox as Prestage talks to the audience. Malissa Smith helps Prestage put the WIBF belt around her waist. It is not the original belt that she won. It did not even look exactly like the original belt because the design was changed some time after, but it did not matter. It is a real WIBF belt and it appears to be in new condition even though I had it for about six years. After Prestage’s speech, Fox tells the audience that I had considered donating the belt to a museum before I decided to give it to Prestage. The audience perhaps are puzzled because I did not reveal in my speech that I had purchased the belt and owned it. It was my idea to have the belt made, but I needed Buttrick’s permission for the belt manufacturer to make the belt and sell it to me.

Photo credit:  Stacy Prestage

I am glad that Prestage has a WIBF belt again and that she is happy to have it. I was careful in my speech to state that it was the last WIBF belt made for Barbara Buttrick. It was not the last WIBF belt made while she was WIBF President because WIBF Vice President Jurgen Lutz was largely running the business in Germany at the time. However, it was the last WIBF belt made with the intention of her being the supervisor of a world title fight one more time before she retired. I want to make that distinction.

I check out of the hotel and as I walk to the front door, I see Laura Ramsey and Carrise Brown. Ramsey thanks me for letting her see and hold the WIBF belt before I gave it to Stacy Prestage. Sue Fox later tells me that Prestage wants to contact me. I was not able to talk to her because I went to my hotel room shortly after the ceremony. If she wants the case for the belt, then I will mail it to her. I noticed that Prestage’s first name Stacy was spelled incorrectly as Stacey on her BoxRec record. I informed BoxRec and it was promptly corrected.