Have you ever wondered who the best female boxers in history are?
Boxing is most times viewed as an extremely male-dominated sport.
However, women over the decades have shown strength and versatility in the sport.
The first female boxer in history, Elizabeth Wilkinson, set the legacy and platform for other women.
She fought when brutal violence, anger, revenge, and agitation were a constant norm in the sport and interestingly against the male gender.
Fast-forward to today, several female boxers have embraced the sport and immortalized their names with various incredible feats and accomplishments.
In this article, we look at those women we believe are the top-10 greatest female boxers in history.
The listing is based on a thorough insight into their boxing career achievements, records, and influence in the sport.
The Best Female Boxers of All Time
10. Mia St. John
One look at her will give you the wrong perception of St. John.
Her stunning looks might mislead you into thinking she’s just a model.
But beyond the beauty is a serial punch boxer that would send one to the world of stars with a single hit.
The American professional boxer made her professional boxing debut in 1997 against Angelica Villian.
The bout against Angelica Villian earned Mia St. John the nickname “The Knockout” for knocking out Villian 54 seconds into the first round.
The former World Boxing Council (WBC) champion in the super welterweight fought a total of 65 fights and won 49 of them, 19 of them by knockouts.
She is indeed one great boxer the sports would never forget.
9. Natascha Ragosina
Undefeated Russia’s Ragosina is one impressive fighter the boxing world has come to witness.
Out of a total of 22 fights, Ragosina recorded zero losses throughout her career, winning 13 by knockouts.
She is the one fighter to have held the WBA and WBC female super middleweight titles for the most prolonged period.
In December 2009, Ragosina went the distance fighting above her weight class against the then heavyweight world champion, Pamela London, who she was 65 pounds lighter than.
However, she pulled a shocker defeating London by knockout to win the World Boxing Federation (WBF) heavyweight title.
Ragosina won all major female super middleweight titles as well as two heavyweight belts.
Impressive!
8. Giselle Salandy
Salandy was the best light middleweight boxer in history as she never lost or drew a fight in her career.
She made her professional boxing debut at the tender age of 13 and became the youngest boxing titleholder at 14 after defeating Paola Rojas to win the WIBA IBERO Title.
However, a temporary break in her career came as underaged law stopped her from boxing.
When she clocked 17 years and five days, she stepped back into the ring and successfully defended her title.
Salandy went on to set a second record by winning the NABC World Title, becoming the youngest female to win it.
2008 saw her become the first boxer to win eight title belts in a single fight.
The following year she defended all six titles in a fight against Yvonne Reis.
Giselle won multiple awards, including receiving a national award from her country’s Trinidad and Tobago president.
Sadly, Salandy’s glorious career was cut short by the sudden hands of death.
She was involved in an automobile incident in 2009, which claimed her life.
For her achievement in boxing, she was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016.
Her boxing career is a summary of greatness.
Salandy is indeed among the greatest female boxers of all time.
7. Holly Holm
Holm is another famous female boxer with a lot of achievements in the sport.
Her name alone quakes fear in the hearts of opponents.
Holm held the Light Welterweight, Welterweight, as well as Light Middleweight titles in her career and successfully defended the titles in 18 different fights.
She fought a total of 38 fights and won 33, winning 9 by knockouts.
Twice she won Ring Magazines Female Fighter of the Year.
BoxRec ranked her the best female fighter of all time.
6. Christy Martin
Widely known as the “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Martin is credited with being one of the inspiring female figures in boxing who removed the stigma of women engaging in a physical sport like boxing.
In the course of her career, Martin claimed just one title, the WBC super-middleweight title, after two failed attempts.
No female boxer can be said to have so much influence in female boxing than Martin.
In recognition of her incredible work in boxing, Martin became a boxing Hall of Fame inductee in 2016.
5. Ann Wolfe
No female boxer’s punch hurts as much as the great Ann Wolfe.
One of the toughest females the boxing industry has ever seen, Wolfe’s boxing styles led her to claim three world championships, not just in one weight class but also in three different weight classes.
That speaks volumes about her boxing incredibility.
Wolfe, who now works as a trainer, never shies away from the glamour of Fame.
She featured in the 2017 blockbuster, Wonder Woman, playing the role of Artemis, the Amazon woman.
4. Regina Halmich
Halmich is one of the world’s greatest boxers and was instrumental in popularising female boxing as a sport in Europe.
She first stormed the boxing scene in her professional debut in Germany back in 1994 against Klee, which she won.
That was the birth of her glorious boxing career.
In the following years to come, she won the WIBF Light Flyweight, Flyweight and was named Super Flyweight world champion.
She fought a total of 56 professional fights and won 54.
A majority of her victories, she achieved via unanimous decision.
Halmich is one of the world’s most successful female boxers in the sport.
3. Laila Ali
Laila walked in the shoes of her late father and carved a name and legacy of her own while doing so.
She is the eighth child of nine children of the great Muhammad Ali.
She entered into professional boxing in 1999, and her father’s name had given her the right platform to display her worth in the ring.
Hundreds of sports journalists and influential figures were in attendance at her debut fight, which she won.
Ali became IWBF light heavyweight champion and the WBC, WIBA, IWBF, IBA super middleweight champion.
Laila Ali competed from 1999 to 2007, and won all 24 of her professional fights, winning 21 by knockouts.
2. Cecilia Braekhus
Cecilia, the longest-reigning female boxing champion, had once gone into 36 fights, losing none, and winning all.
However, a loss in her 37th fight against Jessica McCaskill of the United States dented her victory note.
Nonetheless, she remains one of the greatest female boxers the world has ever seen.
Braekhus claimed the welterweight title in 2014 and has successfully defended it to date.
She won the WBC, IBF, WBO, and WBA titles, thus becoming the first female boxer to simultaneously win all four titles.
In 2016, she added the IBO title to her portfolio and became the first boxer to claim five world titles simultaneously.
1. Lucia Rijker
Before entering into professional boxing, Rijker had been a reputable kickboxer and was a champion in the sport.
Unsurprisingly, she transferred the same vigor and agility in boxing.
Her punches were menacingly brutal, and her fights aggressive.
Rijker’s fighting style earned her the nickname “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World.”
She won the WIBF world Super Lightweight and WIBO junior welterweight world titles.
Rijker was undefeated throughout her kickboxing and boxing career, a worthy feat that deserves to see her top the list of best female boxers of all time.
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Final Words
Now you know that if men can box, women can too.
As with every greatest of all-time rankings in sports, we know this list is debatable.
However, Lucia Rijker sure deserves a top spot on this ranking of best female boxers of all time.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in our comments section below.