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Women Box: Olympic Boxing is No Longer A Man’s Sport (Live Stream)
February 10, 2012
Photo credit: Sue Jaye Johnson
Men have boxed in the Olympic games since the ancient Greeks adopted the sport more than two thousand years ago. Women, never. That changes this year, when women enter the Olympic boxing ring for the first time.
Claressa Shields is the youngest woman competing for a spot on the team. The 16-year old girl from Flint, Michigan is set on making history in the 2012 Olympics.
Rosie Perez hosts a sold out conversation with Claressa and other female boxers tonight at the Greene Space in New York City as part of the The NEXT New York Conversation Series. We'll bring you the live stream here at 7pm.
Women Box explores why women fight and why we expect them not to. Are high heels and a deadly left hook contradictory? Are muscles masculine? Should women embrace a sport that some view as a wrong-headed male construction, celebrating violence, not strength? Should anyone box? These stories will embody sports-reporting at its best: journalism that challenges us to think about who we are and who we could or should be. Find more stories and photos from WNYC's multimedia series here.
Photo credit: Sue Jaye Johnson
