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Malissa Smith is an author, women’s boxing historian, and public speaker.
Her journey in boxing began in 1997, when she first entered the world-renowned Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, NY. Since then, boxing has become her muse and passion as she chronicles women in the sport. Malissa began writing about the women of the ring by creating her blog Girlboxing in 2010, and having gone back to college, she obtained her master’s in liberal studies with her thesis, Boundaries in Motion: Women’s Boxing.
On the strength of her academic work, she wrote A History of Women’s Boxing, the first comprehensive history of the sport, which Ring Magazine has called “the bible of women’s boxing.”The book traces the sport back to the 1700s, through the 2012 Olympic Games, with inside-the-ring action and extensive profiles of the sport’s pioneers.
Her latest book, The Promise of Women’s Boxing: A Momentous New Era for the Sweet Science, will be published in June 2024. The new work provides a timely exploration of modern women’s boxing, from its first inclusion in the 2012 Olympics to today, featuring such trailblazers as Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, Claressa Shields, and more. The book launch party will be held at Gleason’s Gym on June 15, 2024.
Supporting women in boxing led her to roles with the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame, the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Ring Magazine, and the World Boxing Council (WBC), where she lends her expertise to the women’s ratings committee. Malissa continues to speak and write about the sport, and most recently, she was a featured speaker for the Women In Boxing organization’s International Women’s Day event broadcast from London. She is a frequent guest on a variety of podcasts and radio shows, appearing as an evangelist for sports equity and the place of women in the business of boxing.
Maintaining her own wellness, she still trains at Gleason’s Gym, albeit a little less frequently.
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