A ring of their own: all-female boxing card comes to Sooke

With it now being an Olympic sport, Ellen Connor says the “door is wide open for women’s boxing.”

And she plans on barging right through it. The head coach of the Sooke Boxing Club is hosting the first all-female card in Western Canada on Saturday and Sunday.

The West Coast Wonder Women event, in the Sooke Community Hall, is sanctioned by B.C. Boxing and is believed to be only the second all-female boxing card held in Canada.

“Female boxing came into the Olympics in 2012 [at London] and now has been in two Olympics, including 2016 at Rio,” added Connor.

Tokyo 2020 will be the sport’s third Olympic appearance.

“But it’s still hard for females to find a fight,” said Connor.

Connor’s daughter, 13-year-old Jill Doucet, is a rising young boxer gaining attention. Mother and daughter have had to travel long distances to search out fights for her.

“We’ve travelled all over to find fights because we’ve had no choice but to do that,” said Connor.

They were at the closest major all-women’s card, Beautiful Brawlers in San Francisco, when the idea hit Connor: Why not a similar card on the Island?

So the idea for West Coast Wonder Women was born.

“We’re hoping to gain momentum,” said Connor, a corrections officer at William Head, who started Sooke Boxing Club four years ago.

The momentum seems to already be there with 58 female fighters, from all over B.C. and as far afield as Ontario and California, registered to box in 28 bouts on Saturday and 12 to 15 bouts on Sunday.

It isn’t only for elites, such as the prodigy Jill, dreaming of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“There’s a fitness side to female boxing that is growing super popular,” said Connor.

“It helps women feel empowered. There are several women fighting this weekend for whom this is a bucket-list type of occasion — like when you turn 40 and decide to run a marathon.”

The sessions run at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. All-bouts advance tickets are $20 and, at the door, $25.

The ring announcers will be professional Fernando (Crimedog) Lara from the U.S., and local Glen Bedard, who is a decent Michael Buffer-type on the microphone when not vice-principal of Journey Middle School.

The stars of the show, however, will be those exchanging the punches.

“Women have always been there in the ring,” said Connor.

Now they have a league, or at least a card, of their own. And one they can count on being there for years to come.

“It’s going to be an annual event,” said Connor.

IN THE RING: For the first time ever in a major multi-sport Games, there were an equal number of medal events for female boxers as male boxers, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held this month in Gold Coast, Australia.