Cathy Davis

Davis sued the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) in 1977 because she was denied a boxing license because she was a woman, and the case was decided in her favor later that year, with the judge

invalidating New York State rule number 205.15, which stated, “No woman may be licensed as a boxer or second or licensed to compete in any wrestling exhibition with men.”{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ErHAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22justice+helman%22+%22cathy+davis%22&pg=PA169|title=A History of Women's Boxing|pages=168, 169|first=Malissa|last=Smith|date=June 5, 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442229952 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/22/archives/people-in-sports-hills-football-plans-tied-to-hawaii-deal.html|title=People in Sports|newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 22, 1975}} In his opinion the judge cited the precedent set by Garrett v. New York State Athletic Commission (1975), which “found the regulation invalid under the equal protection clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions”. The NYSAC filed an appeal of the ruling, but later dropped it.{{Cite web|url=https://cite.case.law/misc-2d/82/524/ |title=Garrett v. New York State Athletic Commission, 82 Misc. 2d 524 (1975)|website=Harvard Law School|date=July 10, 2022}}

In August 1978 Davis became the first, and, until Ronda Rousey in January 2016, the only woman to be on the cover of The Ring.{{cite news |last=Algieri |first=Sal |title=Cat Davis, Women Boxer, Could be Start of New Breed|work=The Ring |date=August 1978 |pages=6–7 (42) }}{{cite web|author=Written by: L.A. Jennings |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-women-boxers-who-fought-for-their-right-to-be-pro/ |title=The Women Boxers Who Fought for Their Right to Be Pro |website=Fightland.vice.com |access-date=2016-06-14}}

On September 19, 1978, Davis received the NYSAC’s first boxing license given to a female boxer.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ErHAwAAQBAJ&dq=cathy+davis+1978+license&pg=PA169|title=A History of Women's Boxing|pages=169|first=Malissa|last=Smith|date=June 5, 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442229952 |via=Google Books}}

Cat Davis did not only fight in New York. She fought between 1976 and 1981, in various areas of the country, including Nevada, California, and much of the Northwest. She became popular throughout the country by often fighting on television.{{cite news|last=Kates |first=Brian |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/prettier-men-cat-davis-floyd-patterson-chapter-104-article-1.670243 |title=PRETTIER THAN MEN Cat Davis vs. Floyd Patterson Chapter 104 |newspaper=The New York Daily News |date=2003-06-24 |access-date=2016-06-14}}

It was eventually revealed that some of her fights had been fixed.

Officially, her first fight occurred on November 11, 1977, when she knocked out Margie Dunson in the first round, in North Carolina. On June 7, 1978, she and Ernestine Jones fought to a no contest in a bout that was scheduled for four rounds.{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55 |title=Jet - Google ブックス |date=29 June 1978 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |access-date=2016-06-14}} On July 2, 1979, she knocked out Uschi Doering in the Exposition Building, in Portland, Maine, in 6 rounds.{{cite news |title=Cat Davis Stops German for Women's Boxing Title |work=Los Angeles Times |date=3 July 1979 |page=D2 }}{{cite web|last=Tax |first=Jeremiah |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1979/07/23/823823/scorecard |title=Scorecard |website=Si.com |date=1979-07-23 |access-date=2016-06-19}}

{{BoxingRecordSummary

|draws =

|nc= 1

|ko-wins = 13

|ko-losses =

|dec-wins =

|dec-losses =

|dq-wins =

|dq-losses =

}}

{{Reflist}}

• A History of Women's Boxing, Malissa Smith, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014, {{ISBN|9781442229945}}
• THE GREAT WHITE HYPE By Jack Newfield - Published November 1979 Volume. One - Originally printed in the VOICE Vol. XXIII No. 41 "The Weekly Newspaper of New York, October 16, 1978

• {{Boxrec|id=264257}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Cathy}}

Category:1952 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Winnfield, Louisiana

Category:American women boxers

Category:Boxers from Louisiana

Category:Lightweight boxers

Category:Welterweight boxers

Category:American expatriate sportspeople in South Africa

Category:20th-century American sportswomen