Although women have participated in boxing for almost as long as the sport has existed, female fights have been effectively outlawed for most of boxing's history until recently, with athletic commissioners refusing to sanction or issue licenses to women boxers, and most nations officially banning the sport. Reports of women entering the ring go back to the 18th century.
Katie Taylor is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is the undisputed and lineal world lightweight champion since 2019, and the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight champion since 2023.
Mangte Chungneijang "Mary" Kom is an Indian Olympic boxer, politician, and former Member of Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to have won a medal in each one of the first seven World Championships, and the only boxer to win eight World Championship medals. Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, she was the only Indian female boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she competed in the flyweight (51 kg) category and won a bronze medal. She had also been ranked as the world's No. 1 female light-flyweight by the International Boxing Association (amateur) (AIBA). She became the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian female boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She is also the only boxer to become Asian Amateur Boxing Champion for a record six times. Mary Kom won the 51kg gold in President's Cup in Indonesia.
Nicola Virginia Adams is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion after winning gold at London 2012, and the first double Olympic champion following a second gold medal at Rio 2016, both in the flyweight division. As of 27 May 2016 she was the reigning Olympic, World and European Games champion at flyweight, and won the entire set of amateur championships available to her – Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games' titles, and the World, European and European Union championships.
Claressa Maria Shields is an American professional boxer and professional mixed martial artist. She has held multiple world championships in five weight classes, including the undisputed female light middleweight title since March 2021; the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female light heavyweight title and the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Federation (WBF) female heavyweight titles since July 2024; WBC and IBF female super middleweight titles from 2017 to 2018. Shields currently holds the record for becoming a two and three division world champion in the fewest professional fights. As of October 2022, she is ranked the world's best active female middleweight by BoxRec, as well as the best active female boxer, pound for pound, by ESPN and The Ring.
Marlen Esparza is an American professional boxer who is the former WBC, WBO, WBA and Ring female world flyweight champion. As an amateur, in 2012 she became the first American female boxer to qualify for the Olympics, in the first year that women's boxing was an Olympic event, going on to win a bronze medal in the women's flyweight division at the London Olympics. This made her the first American woman winner of any Olympic boxing medal.
Savannah Rose Marshall is a British professional boxer and professional mixed martial artist. She has held world championships in two weight classes: the undisputed and Ring magazine female super-middleweight title since 2023; and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female middleweight title from 2020 to 2022. As an amateur, she became the first British female world champion after securing gold at the 2012 World Championships.
Adriana Dos Santos Araújo is a Brazilian professional boxer. As an amateur she won a bronze medal in the lightweight division at the 2012 Olympics and qualified for the 2016 Olympics at the same weight.
Mikaela Joslin Mayer is an American professional boxer, who has held WBO welterweight title since September 2024. She is also a former unified female super-featherweight world champion, having held the WBO and the IBF titles simultaneously. She has also held the interim WBC female lightweight world title. As an amateur, she won a bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships and competed for the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics.
Mandy Marie Brigitte Bujold is a Canadian former amateur boxer. She won gold medals in the women's flyweight category at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games and won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and competed at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ariane Fortin is a Canadian southpaw amateur boxer. She is a two-time World Boxing Champion. She also won a silver medal in the middleweight category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.
Lauren Louise Price is a Welsh professional boxer, former amateur boxer and former kickboxer and footballer. She has held the WBA, IBO, and Ring female welterweight World titles since 11 May 2024. She was the first-ever female British professional boxing champion having won the welterweight title on 6 May 2023 and holding it until vacating the belt when she became World champion. While representing Wales in the amateur sport she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, becoming the first Welsh woman to win a Commonwealth Games boxing medal. Four years later she surpassed this achievement by winning gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, followed by a gold at the 2019 World Championships. While representing Great Britain, she won gold medals at the 2019 European Games and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Khadija Mardi, also known as Khadija El Mardi, is a Moroccan boxer. She is the current Heavyweight women's IBA World Boxing Champion.
Li Qian is a Chinese boxer. She won the bronze medal in the women's middleweight class at the 2016 Summer Olympics, a silver medal in the women's middleweight class at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics and the gold medal in the same event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Dariga is a Kazakhstani feminine given name. Notable people with the name include:
Lovlina Borgohain is an Indian boxer. She won a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in the women's welterweight event, becoming only the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics. She won gold medal at 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships and bronze medals at the 2018 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships and the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. Borgohain is the first female athlete and the second boxer from Assam to represent the state in the Olympics. In 2020, she became the sixth person from Assam to receive Arjuna Award.
Franchón Crews-Dezurn is an American professional boxer. She is the current World Boxing Council (WBC) Super middleweight world champion and World Boxing Association (WBA) interim world champion defeating Shadasia Green December 15, 2023. She was the undisputed world champion at super middleweight, losing to Savannah Marshall on 2 July 2023. She held the World Boxing Council (WBC) titles between 2018 and 2023; the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title between 2019 and 2023; and the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) title between 2022 and 2023.
Lin Yu-ting is a Taiwanese amateur boxer. She has won two gold medals at the IBA World Boxing Championships, in addition to two gold medals at the Asian Games and one at the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships. She competed for Taiwan at the 2024 Summer Olympics where she defeated Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the final of the women's 57 kg category (featherweight). Lin is the first Taiwanese boxer to win an Olympic gold medal.
Nadine Apetz is a German amateur boxer. She won bronze medals at the World Championships in 2016 and 2018, and gold at the 2017 EU Championships. In 2021, she became the first German woman to qualify for a boxing event at the Summer Olympic Games.
Esra Yıldız Kahraman is a Turkish amateur boxer who won a bronze medal in the lightweight division at the 2016 European Championships. She was named as a competitor for the Turkey at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
