These female boxing champions won’t go down without a fight.
Ebanie Bridges and Amanda Serrano were pulling no punches with their criticisms of USA Boxing allowing for transgender women to compete in the female category.
The organization spelled out the conditions which must be met for transgender boxers in its rulebook and many were not happy.
Bridges, who has been outspoken about the idea of fighting a trans woman, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) with her outrage.
“This is wrong on so many levels,” the former IBF bantamweight champion wrote. “I will never agree to this… it’s bad enough having trans women breaking records in other sports like track and field, swimming and power lifting but it’s a bit different to them breaking our skulls in combat sports where the aim is to HURT YOU not just break a record…however I think it’s wrong in ALL SPORT… I have nothing against trans but can’t be skewing the line in sport…. You don’t see reference or debates for transmen in sport… cos it’s not a threat…
“It ain’t just about the test levels what about their bone density and a heap of other biological factors. Cutting ur bits off and adding boobs won’t take back the masculine maturity your body has gone thru before you decided u are now a woman.”
Banks went even further in a reply to her original post, writing: “I feel sorry for the first woman who gets battered and her face caved in by a trans woman.”
According to the USA Boxing rule book, for a trans woman to compete:
— The boxer identifies as a female and has completed gender reassignment surgery.
— The fighter has undergone quarterly hormone testing and gives the organization documentation of hormone levels for a minimum of four years.
— The fighter’s testosterone levels have been below 5 nanomoles per liter 48 months before their first fight, the fighter’s total testosterone level must remain below 5 nmol/L through their eligibility to compete against females and the conditions will be monitored and tested at the fighter’s expense with a 12-month suspension for failing to meet the standards.
Bridges said the simple solution was to institute a transgender division.
“I don’t care about ‘political correctness’ it’s politically incorrect to have a man fighting a woman.. and idc that’s exactly what it is… this society is too soft.. this is our health and safety. The girls need to stick together or women’s sport in 50 years will be filled with male born champions,” she wrote.
Serrano, who is the unified featherweight champion, also weighed in on social media.
“Make it make sense! Women who were born women can’t compete against women under the same rules as men according to the WBC….BUT men can identify as a woman, transition and then fight us women?” Serrano wrote.
“All I want is equal opportunity for all. Our bodies. Our decision.”
Banks has been one of boxing’s most vocal competitors against transgender athletes.
In an interview with BitcoinCasinos last year, Banks was asked about the prospect of stepping in the ring with an opponent who had transitioned to female.
“No, never,” she said. “I think it’s wrong, especially in boxing.”
“It’s like saying all of a sudden Mike Tyson wants to be a girl now and he goes and fights you – no way! And how do you measure it? ‘They don’t look really masculine so that’s OK,’ No. I even spar with boys or guys smaller than me and they are ‘hell strong.’ So, I think no. Especially in combat sports and general in sports.
“Think about a female wanting to be the best in her sport and then she has to compete against men who’ve transitioned obviously into women and that takes the whole feminine side.”