Lifestyle - Lifestyle Feature

POSTED: Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008

City boxer wins bout about gender

Federal court gives teen 60 more days to fight amateur bouts

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MAY 8, 1993

BELLINGHAM -- Dallas Malloy, the 16-year-old Bellingham girl whose dream is to box in the Olympics, scored a technical knockout Friday over a formidable opponent — the national association governing amateur boxing.

A federal judge ruled that a U.S. Amateur Boxing Inc. bylaw barring female fighters violates Washington state's anti-discrimination laws.

The ruling allows Malloy to box in amateur competitions until a full hearing is held within 60 days.

"I'm really excited," said the Sehome High School senior. "I wasn't really surprised (about the ruling). I just can't wait to have a bout."

U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein granted the preliminary injunction Friday.

But the 5-foot-5, 132-pound Malloy, whose given name is Jennifer McCleery, won't be fighting in sanctioned events any time soon. The amateur boxing season is almost over and the next one doesn't start until September-October.

Malloy, who plans to compete only against other females, hasn't lined up any opponents.

"I'm not worried about getting an opponent," she said. Malloy said there are opponents in Canada, which does not have a rule barring females from boxing.

She has trained the last nine months at the 12th Street Gym in Fairhaven under manager James Ferguson. She works out four hours a day, four days a week.

"She's look good," said Ferguson on Friday.

Malloy was invited to box in a match on April 17 by promoter Bob Jarvis, who said he could find a female opponent. But to legally compete under Pacific Northwest Amateur Boxing Association rules, Malloy had to be a member of the association's parent, U.S. Amateur Boxing.

U.S. Amateur Boxing refused to send her a membership application because she is female.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on her behalf in March, challenging the males-only rules.

Rothstein said Friday that U.S. Amateur Boxing and its Pacific Northwest chapter are causing Malloy "irreparable harm" by continuing to deny her the right to box.

The judge said she would issue a more detailed written ruling. She said she also would decide later whether her court has jurisdiction over the International Amateur Boxing Association, which was also named in the suit.

ACLU lawyer Suzanne Thomas told Rothstein that Malloy is at an important "developmental stage" in her boxing career.

"What she is being denied is the right to pursue something she has no other way of pursuing – the right to box," Thomas said, later adding: "Nothing more than pursuing the American dream."

Chris Konnor, representing U.S. Amateur Boxing, urged the judge to wait until a full hearing to determine whether an injunction should be granted.

He said the association is already considering creating a female amateur division and should be allowed to work out the logistics without a deadline or court order.

The association had to, for example, find out what type of protective equipment — such as chest protectors — females might need and whether their bouts can be properly insured, Konnor said.

But Rothstein noted that U.S. Amateur Boxing still hasn't changed its gender bylaw even though a judge in Massachusetts ruled several years ago that that the association must allow women to compete in that state.

Paul C. Konnor, father of Chris Konnor and U.S. Amateur Boxing's legal counsel in Milwaukee, Wis., was also at Friday's hearing. He said later his organization "is caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Our international federation says no women. We could lose our identity as a national governing body if we sponsor women and the international body does not allow us to do it," Konnor said. "You simply eliminate boxing from the United States, period."

The International Amateur Boxing Association is to meet in June in Manchester, England. It may take up the issue of female boxers then, the elder Konnor said.

Other nations, including Canada and Sweden, allow amateur female boxing.