Rolling With the Punches Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jane Couch

Up until the 1980s, most major organizations and licensing bureaus banned women from boxing. Women, of course, had been boxing since the 18th century - and the first reported American women's fight occurred in New York, 1876 - but it was never sanctioned; and the 1904 Olympic Games bout was merely an entertainment for the predominantly male spectators.

The Swedish Amateur Boxing Association first sanctioned boxing events for women in 1988 - and the USA and some other countries quickly followed; but the British Amateur Boxing Association waited until 1997 to do so.

Jane Couch was at the relatively 'old' age of thirty when she became the first officially licensed British female boxer. Born 14 August 1968, Jane's first fight - and the first British sanctioned boxing match between women - was against Simona Lukic and was held in November 1998 at Streatham, London. Despite her age, Jane won numerous world titles in a professional boxing career spanning fourteen years.

Answer: Lucia Rijker

Born December 6, 1967 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Lucia Rijker's mother is Dutch and her father is from Suriname. She is a practising Buddhist and speaks four languages. At the age of six she began training in judo and later on took up softball, fencing and kickboxing (knocking out Lily Rodriguez, the reigning American kickboxing champion in 1984).

In 1996 Lucia became a professional boxer and in her first fight (March 3 1996, Los Angeles) she knocked out Melinda Robinson in one round. A scheduled Las Vegas fight on July 30 2005 with Christy Martin as her opponent - guaranteeing the winner one million dollars - was cancelled when Lucia ruptured an Achilles tendon during training. Following that disappointment, Lucia announced that she would only return for one more fight, this time with Laila Ali as her opponent.

Answer: Laila Ali

At 178 cm and weighing 166 pounds, Laila Ali was rated at Super middleweight and Light Heavyweight and cut quite a figure in and out of the boxing ring. Laila is, of course, the daughter of retired heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali - actually the eighth of his nine children and his youngest daughter.

Born December 30 1977 at Miami Beach, Florida, Laila's interest in women's boxing was sparked by watching Christy Martin fight. Her first professional fight at Verona, New York, October 8 1999 - knocking out April Fowler in one round - was a media circus thanks to her famous father (who opposed her boxing career). She retired from professional boxing after defeating Gwendolyn O'Neil on a technical knockout at Kempton Park, South Africa on February 2, 2007. It was her 24th fight and her 21st win by knockout.

Answer: Mary Kom

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom was born 1 March 1983 in Kangathei, Manipur, India. Simply known as Mary Kom, her height is 1.58m and she weighs about 51kg - ranking her in the Flyweight category. Mary's first bout was in 2001 at the Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She was placed second, but went on to win many more championships before qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games - at which she defeated Karolina Michalczuk of Poland in the first bout; Maroua Rahali of Tunisia in the second bout (quarter-finals); and, finally, suffered defeat by Nicola Adams of the UK in the semi-finals. Standing third in the competition, Mary did however win an Olympic Bronze medal.

Two years later, on 1 October 2014, Mary defeated Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova in the flyweight division at the Asian Games held at Incheon, South Korea. That win gave India its first ever women's boxing Gold medal.

Answer: Regina Halmich

Regina Halmich was born 22 November 1976 in Karlsruhe, Germany. Like so many other female boxers, she started off with kickboxing and was the German champion kickboxer from 1992 to 1994, becoming the European champion in 1994. Her professional boxing debut was made in her hometown, Karlsruhe, on 4 March 1994, defeating Fienie Klee from the Netherlands.

In her farewell fight, 30 November 2007, Regina defeated Hagar Finer and earned approximately forty percent audience share of the eight million television viewers tuned in to watch. She retired with an incredible record - her only defeat was in 1995 at the Women's International Boxing Federation flyweight title bout.

Answer: Christy Martin

Christy Renea Martin (formerly Christy Salters) was born June 12 1968 in Mullens, West Virginia. After her debut defeat, she gained a rematch with Angela Buchanan a month later, winning with a second round knockout - and the rest is history! Christy's fight with Ireland's Deirdre Gogarty in 1996 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas - a preliminary to the Frank Bruno-Mike Tyson title fight - was aired on television's "Showtime" and shocked viewers because of its brutality.

Christy's last fight was a rematch with Mia St. John and she lost in a 10-round unanimous decision. It was her fifth loss. However, she retired with a spectacular record of 49 wins, including 31 knockouts.

Unfortunately, Christy's personal life was more brutal than her sport. She was stabbed several times by her husband, James V. Martin, and survived being shot by him on November 23 2010.

Answer: Mia St. John

Mia Rosales St. John was born on June 24, 1967. She commenced her career as a Mexican-American professional boxer in 1997, defeating Angelica Villain by a knockout (just 54 seconds into the first round). Mia won championships in both the super welterweight and lightweight divisions.

Not only a successful boxer, Mia was also a taekwondo champion, a fashion model and a businesswoman. Using her fame as a boxer, she amassed millions from television and commercial appearances, a fitness DVD and her own PlayStation game. Mia also appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine in November 1999 (including an 11 page pictorial feature).

Mia retired in 2012, at the age of 45, after capturing the WBC super-welter weight championship from her nemesis, Christy Martin. Her record was 47 wins, including 18 knockouts.

Answer: Nicola Adams

Nicola Adams was born 26 October 1982 in Leeds, West Yorkshire. She fought (and won) her first fight when she was only thirteen, and in 2001 became the first woman boxer to represent England in a match against Ireland. At the European Championships in Denmark, 2007, Nicola won Silver in the bantamweight (54kg) division; in 2008 she won Silver again at the World Championships in Ningbo, China; and at the 2010 World Championships, Bridgetown, Barbados she won another Silver medal!

Nicola's first significant Gold win was in 2011 at the European Union Amateur Boxing Championships. But it was, of course, her defeat of Chinese boxer and world number one, Ren Cancan, in the Flyweight final at the 2012 London Olympics - giving her the first Olympic women's boxing Gold medal in history - that brought her fame.

In 2012 "The Independent", a British newspaper, named Nicola the most influential LGBT person in Britain; the BBC named her Sport's Personality of the Year; and the mailboxes on Cookridge Street in Leeds were painted gold to honour her Gold medal win.

For her services to boxing, Nicola was honoured with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire); and became the first female boxer to receive the Joe Bromley Award from the Boxing Writers' Club of Great Britain. Nicola was also rewarded with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Leeds in 2015.

Answer: Claressa Shields

Claressa Shields was born March 17 1995 in Flint, Michigan. Her interest in boxing was inspired by Laila Ali, but her father (a minor league boxer) did not allow her to start training until she was eleven years old - at which time she began boxing at Berston Field House, Flint, and was trained by Jason Crutchfield.

Claressa qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials, at which she defeated Franchon Crews (the reigning national champion); Andrecia Wasson (the 2010 world champion); and Pittsburgh's Tika Hemingway to win the 165-pound middleweight class.

She was the youngest boxer at the February 2012 U.S. Olympic trials; and, after winning the Olympic Gold medal, she went on to win the 2014 World Championships and the 2015 Pan American games.

Answer: Katie Taylor

Katie Taylor was born 2 July 1986 at Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. She started boxing in 1998, aged 11, several years after her association football debut at the under-9 level. In 2000 she became the first girl to play football in the under-13 Kennedy Cup in Limerick; and then played international football representing Ireland at under-17 and under-19 levels. She also played Gaelic football.

Katie's boxing career started in 2005 at the European Amateur Boxing Championship, but in 2006 she became a member of Ireland's women's senior football team and was continually selected to play for Ireland because of her scoring successes. Days after winning the European Union Amateur Boxing Championships in Ukraine, 2009, Katie was playing football for Ireland against Kazakhstan. After competing in the 2010 FAI Women's Cup final - in which her football team, Peamount United, beat Salthill Devon 4-2 at Tolka Park - she finally decided to give up football in order to concentrate on boxing.

From 2010 to the 2012 Olympics, Katie went on to win many more boxing championships - her third successive World title at the 2010 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, in Barbados; the 2011 EU Women Boxing Championship in Katowice, Poland; and in 2012 her fourth AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Qinhuangdao China.

Katie was the opening ceremony flag bearer for Ireland at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. And, in defeating Sofya Ochigava of Russia, she won the first ever Olympic gold medal in the women's boxing lightweight division for Ireland.