Gina Guidi
Boxing

Gina began boxing at the age of 17 at the San Francisco Police Athletic League. She received her passbook from the USA Boxing Federation immediately upon their recognizing women boxers in 1994.

As an amateur, she won the USA Box Offs in California early in 1995 in addition to a Golden Gloves Championship, and held a total amateur record of 12-0 9 KOs. She won the North American Superwelterweight title in September 1995 against Leah Mellinger of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

On February 15, 1997 Gina won the Junior Middleweight title against Dora Webber in a match televised from Biloxi, Mississippi, by ESPN. Currently, Gina trains at the renowned King's Boxing Gym in Oakland, California. 

Extracts from an article by Nancy L. Warren from Curve Magazine:

Fighting Leah Mellinger for the North American Welter Weight Championship boxing title, Gina Guidi unleashed a cavalcade of concussive blows in the seventh round to earn the TKO and the belt that signifies she is the very best. In a sport historically the private domain of men, Guidi carved a niche for herself and earned the respect of the boxing community.

Gina "Boom Boom" Guidi is the antithesis of the Foxy Boxer. She is a driven athlete, working out six days a week. Her twelve and three-fourth-inch biceps are visible proof of long hours spent pounding the heavy bag. In a light workout three days before her title bout Guidi strung together three rounds of shadow boxing, six rounds on the heavy bag, six rounds of speed bag, three rounds jumping rope, one hundred and twenty neck exercises, two rounds of stomach work and finished off with a mere six hundred sit-ups, then apologized for having the session be so short.

As a teenager in the San Francisco Police Athletic League gym, Guidi was one of the few women boxers fighting to be taken seriously every day. Now stepping into King's Gym in Oakland where she trains, there is a mix of men and women. Boxers male and female alike look up to Guidi and admire her intensity. They know who she is and there is no question as to whether she should be taken seriously.

The victories and accolades for Guidi and other boxers like her are few. In a sport that has yet to reach infancy, every bout is a step forward. The Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) was formed three years ago to organize and promote women in boxing. With one thousand professional boxers worldwide, the pool of talent is slowly growing. 

Countries like England, Denmark and France, (where martial arts are prevalent and might provide candidates for boxing's future), retard that growth with outdated laws preventing women from being promoted. The British Boxing Board of Control prohibits its members from promoting women at all. Jimmy Finn, general secretary of the WIBF, said, "Women's martial arts in France and Holland are phenomenal -- there are an amazing number of women doing boxing workouts, but we will have to go to court in Europe for them to be allowed to fight. Even in the United States, the equal right to fight doesn't mean equal opportunity to fight."

In addition to her minority status as a woman, Guidi is also a lesbian. When asked whether she had experienced any discrimination as a lesbian in boxing her frank response was, "I don't have any problem with it. I know that some people outside the ring have a problem with it, but to be perfectly honest with you, I am getting really close to not worrying about it. It's there but it's underlying." Guidi's partner, Diane Butler, is very visible in all aspects of Guidi's career. From assisting with daily workouts to being her corner "man" during bouts, Butler is the epitome of support. "Because we are so comfortable with each other," Guidi said. "And because we are fortunate to live in the Bay Area, it is no big thing. We like to keep everything business-like when it has to do with boxing, because it is business."

"Once people see Gina in the ring they see what an incredible athlete she is. Then they talk to her and they see how well she expresses herself, how devoted she is, how hard she trains and how skillful she is," Butler said. "People accept Gina as a boxer, not as a woman boxer, and our relationship is accepted as well. She tends to break all the stereotypes."

Guidi believes there are fewer gay women boxers than straight. Only twenty five percent of the boxers she has faced have been lesbians. Guidi does not believe women's boxing faces the same type of stigma that women's golf had endured for so many years when Ben Wright declared that the professional golf tour would not be successful because there were too many lesbians playing. "I do not think that is the problem for women in the boxing world," Guidi explained." I think the problem is that there are a lot of people out there who have a problem seeing two women hit each other. With the Foxy Boxing popular in the Seventies and Eighties, we were seeing models beating each other with pillows on the hands and it was a ha-ha kind of sexy thing for guys. This is real boxing now and you're seeing blood, you're seeing women getting knocked down and knocked out."