Jackie Tonawanda

Jackie Tonawanda (September 4, 1933- June 9, 2009), dubbed "the Female Ali" and born Jean Jamison aka Jackie Garrett in New York on, was a pioneer female heavyweight boxer from the 1970s and 1980s. Tonawanda was a well-known figure in the sport and was featured in many newspaper articles and magazines.

In 1975, Tonawanda sued the New York State Athletic Commission. Tonawanda went to court against then-boxing commissioner Edwin Dooley, who refused to grant her a license because state law had discriminated against women from professional fighting.

The upshot was that the judge scolded the commission for "continuing attitudes espoused a century ago." The judge ruled in favor of Tonawanda saying: "This court will not hold that women should be precluded from a profession exploiting whatever skills they may have in the sport of boxing merely because they are women." It was case closed, so Tonawanda donned her trunks, had her hands taped, put on a pair of gloves and went about her business in the ring, where she had 36 fights and lost only one.

Tonawanda only had one professional female bout against Diane Clark in a six-round fight in 1979. She lost that fight, but still is one of the pioneers that paved the way for female boxers of the present.

On June 8, 1975, Tonawanda made history in the interstylistic All Martial Arts Tournament, part of the Aaron Bank's Oriental World of Self Defense show, held in Madison Square Garden, where she fought kickboxer Larry Rodania, knocking him out early in the 2nd round with a left to the jaw. Although the show was a mix of demonstrations and contests that, to this day are viewed with suspicion as to whether they were predetermined she was the first female to perform a combat sport in Madison Square Garden.

Regardless of her lack of pro fights in the sport she did demonstrated her strength and power in the gym.

She was also the first female boxer to become a member of Ring 8, the Veterans Boxing Association, and inducted into their Hall of Fame, as well as, Madison Square Garden's Hall of Fame.

On June 9, 2009, Tonawanda died of colon cancer at Harlem's Mount Sinai Hospital.