Women have traditionally been credited only with marginal roles in the sport of boxing, even though they have competed as pugilists since the late 1880s. The author interviewed 12 women professional boxers in the United States in an effort to understand their position as athletes who compete in a sport considered deviant for women. This revealed that women pugilists face discrimination at gyms and in competitions, are aware of numerous stereotypes as a result of their participation in a deviant sport, and use several strategies to manage their identity in an effort to remain marketable in the industry. They are aware of the need for balance of a public identity that appears neither too masculine nor too feminine. This balance is done in an effort to avoid negative sanctions and thus improve chances of becoming a successful professional boxer.

In this study, we examine how sports commentators minimized women’s athletic participation, abilities, and achievements in the 1992 televised “Battle of the Champions” tennis competition between Martina Navratilova and Jimmy Connors. Using content analysis, we found clear differences in naming practices, adjective and adverb use, amount and type of praise and criticism, and character flaws attributed to the players. In the unique case of male versus female athletic competition it also becomes apparent that commentators “gender” the athletic event. Although women have made great strides in sport, their achievements will continue to be meaningless as long as sports broadcasters undermine, trivialize, and minimize women’s performances through biased commentaries.