The BBC to broadcast first-ever live professional women’s boxing fight with ‘Women of Steel’

The BBC will be broadcasting their first-ever professional women’s boxing fight next month, when they show ‘Women of Steel’ fight night live on BBC iPlayer.

The four-fight female card takes place on October 7 in Sheffield and is under the banner of Unified Promotions, launched in 2021 by British businesswoman Susannah Schofield, one of the first boxing promoters licensed by the British Board of Control.

Lauren Parker will headline the event as she takes on Mexico’s Esmerelda Sagahon for the vacant IBO Intercontinental title. The card also features 2018 Commonwealth Games 48kg silver medalist Kristina O’Hara McCafferty.

According to The Telegraphthe BBC will screen the Women of Steel event along with three short documentaries as part of the first-ever non-amateur women’s fight to be aired on the channel.

The move comes after the huge success of the English Lionesses who won the European Championships in July, with the final drawing a peak of 17. million spectators.

Boxing Board General Secretary Robert Smith is pleased that boxing is benefiting from the increasing interest in women’s sports.

“The BBC showing boxing is fantastic,” said Smith. “The fact that they show such interest in women’s boxing is to be applauded. We are now very high in the world in quality and that is starting to resonate.

The catalyst was the London Olympics where women’s boxing was included for the first time and it now resonates from the profile with the likes of Katie Taylor, Natasha Jonas, Nicola Adams plus Savannah Marshall and Claressa Shields. Ten years later, we are now reaping the benefits as a sport. More and more women are getting a license and more young girls are being encouraged to take up sports.’

In May, the BBC ended a 17-year hiatus from broadcasting live professional boxing when it showed a Welsh Championship match from Swansea, and if next month’s event is successful, they could watch a range of shows on BBC3 next year. .

United Promotions’ Schofield and its CEO, Richard Poxen, plan to revolutionize women’s boxing and are delighted to hear the news from the BBC’s live coverage.

“We’ve had some incredible athletes from the Olympics and elite amateurs, but then there’s a big gap. We are going to create a gateway for women to thrive in this sport where the focus is on them,” she said.

“We want to bring awareness to women’s boxing, normalize it and change perception. It has been nine months of discussion with the BBC and we are delighted that our boxers are given the platform to showcase their excellence.

“The BBC hasn’t shown boxing in a long time so I’m very humbled and honored to be able to set up a pilot for them and see where it goes. Exciting times are coming. the BBC [showing fights] will help normalize women’s boxing. We want to make sure that women are paid fairly and make sure that, as I said, we provide a place of wellbeing and protection for those sports, so to be able to normalize that on such a platform is exciting.”

The Women of Steel event takes place a week before Sky Sports shows a historic 10-fight all-women’s card from London and Schofield believes there is now tremendous momentum behind the sport.

“With our event breaking new ground and the 10-Women Fighting Map featuring perhaps four of the world’s leading women on that map – Savannah, Claressa, Alycia Baumgardner and Michaela Mayer – we are celebrating a special time. she added.

“There is momentum now and the more apples we can get on this sport, the more perception will shift.”