Following the female Ali is tough, but professional Katie Taylor can be the sport's next pioneer

Taylor could move the sport into new realms, writes Steve Bunce, but she must sort out her form

Katie Taylor lands a left hand on her opponent's face during her quarter-final victory (Getty Images)

The Female Ali is a tough act to follow.

In the Seventies when she was 5’11 and 11st 6lbs there is no doubt that Jackie Tonawanda was the best female fighter in the world.

She sparred with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, beat men in bad exhibition fights and took on and beat the New York State Athletic Commission for the right to fight. She was quite a sight in her full-length robe and had mastered an Ali-like flurry of punches during her exaggerated shadow boxing to impress the crowd.

She was known as The Female Ali and was one of the great pioneers in a sport short on female heroes; twenty years later Christy Martin, the Coalminer’s Daughter, was fighting strippers on Mike Tyson undercards, making hundreds of thousands of dollars and insisting she was not interested in raising the profile of the female side of the ignoble art. “I’m not a feminist, I’m a fighter and I don’t care about women,” said Martin. A few years later her estranged husband shot her and left her for dead. She recovered, moved in with her new wife and has lived happily ever after.

In 1975, during her case against NYSAC, Tonawanda fought a male Kung Fu artist at Madison Square Garden. Tonawanda, like Ali, named the round and in round two poor Larry Rodania was knocked out as she had predicted. There was a suggestion that Larry took a dive, but the referee insisted it was legitimate.

Also fighting in New York at the time was the shaven-skulled Lady Tyger Trimiar, known briefly as Kojak. She spent 15 years fighting, training and trying to raise the sport’s profile. She also took the NYSAC to court and won in the Seventies. Both The Female Ali and Lady Tyger had to compile their records in underground fights; Tonawanda went 36 and zero with 36 knockouts according to folklore. Facts are not as important here, their spirit is what counts.

Katie Taylor was unbeaten until this year (Getty)

Tonawanda’s one definitive opponent was Diane “Dynamite” Clark and in 1979 they fought for the light-heavyweight championship of the world in Louisville, Ali’s hometown. Clark won on points and her life spiralled through the years of crack, menace and prison before she ended up in a homeless shelter in Washington DC. She was walking in some well-trodden tracks, left by some of the world’s best fighters. She often read Tonawanda’s bold claims: “I beat her, so how was she unbeaten?” asked Clark, a pioneer without an address. These women remain anonymous, their contribution eclipsed by the high-profile, high-money mismatches of Martin and Laila Ali.

Right now the female boxing is thriving in various places. In Norway, Germany and Denmark Cecilia Braekhus is doing terrific business and with her improbable six world title belts she remains unbeaten in 29 fights. In Mexico fighters like La Barby Juarez, a ten-year veteran of 56 traceable fights, struts her tiny stuff splendid in pink and glamorous accessories. The Mexican fans love women smashing each other up in title fights and small girls want La Barby pink gloves for presents. In Britain we had Jane Couch, the woman that beat the British Boxing Board of Control, and her mad career. She could fight, make no mistake, but lacked the subtlety of the best boxers.

Taylor has lost three times this year (Getty)

In late November Katie Taylor, the most successful female boxer in history, will have her first professional fight at Wembley. Her departure from the amateur code is a potential game-changer and I expect a lot of her opponents from the last few years to follow in pursuit of the money. Taylor won Olympic gold in 2012, five World amateur titles, the European title six times and was on a run of 62 consecutive wins before losing earlier this year. She is 30, which is young for a female pro, and can be fast-tracked to a title. However, she has lost three times this year, her form at the Olympics was bizarre and she will look bad against bums. Tonawanda and her New York fighting sisters had nothing, Taylor will have everything and I just hope she proves to be the pioneer she is capable of being.