Is European boxing a men’s world?
Gyory’s experience – Zsuzsanna has decided to stand as a candidate for the board of EBU, the European Boxing Union, as the only woman alongside fourteen male candidates for the election for eight positions. The election will take place on June 2 in the Serbian capital Belgrade. She has almost thirty years of experience and twenty years of dedicated work serving Hungarian amateur and professional boxing. These chapters have come to define her professional life and offer strong arguments for her candidacy.
The European Boxing Council – EBU is the European section of perhaps the world’s most prestigious professional boxing organisation, the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing and certifies world champions in 18 different weight classes. Gyory moves around with style and with ease. She has been a well-respected supervisor during the last fifteen years, even if the pathway has been rocky at times.
Zsuzsanna Toth Gyory at a boxing event. She is standing for the EBU board elections.
Rocky pathway – “I remember that it all started out with me travelling with my husband, József Gyory, who was one of the first promoters and professional managers in Hungary, establishing professional boxing in our country,” recalls Gyory. “He told me several times that I either will hate this sport or I will fall in love with it. It was a case of the latter happening to me and after six years of a constant learning process, but still just being his spouse, I was offered the chance to be the secretary general of the Hungarian Professional Boxing Federation. I took this chance but I was not really aware of the difficulties and the challenges coming my way, for example, just in being accepted in this field at all”.
International relations – Her fluent English and Italian knowledge was very helpful in building international relations and it was almost easier to be accepted abroad than in her native country, which means that, professionally, her competence and aptitude seem to be enough on foreign soil. “As opposed to this, it took me a long time to become accepted as a leader in Hungary and to gain acceptance in an association full of male colleague,” says Gyory. “They were polite with me as my husband’s spouse, they looked at me as someone who is interested in boxing, but they certainly didn’t consider me as an expert in this field. The most surprising ‘friendly advice’ that I was ever given was to get divorced in order for me to be taken seriously. That was really weird and helped me to understand that dedicated, precise and hard work could be the only way to gain respect in this environment”.
Women’s boxing at the Olympic Games – Regarding female participation in the boxing world, the IOC’s intention to introduce women’s boxing in the Olympic programme is not a gender issue anymore; it is a matter of sporting excellence. Debuting in London in 2012 with three female weight categories and continuing in Rio in 2016, women’s boxing events were popular enough for the IOC to consider increasing women’s competitions with two more weight categories in Tokyo in 2020. This is, of course, amateur boxing, with fewer rounds, for example, and different rules in certain senses.
“Professional women’s boxing has always had its history, even going back to the 18th century when it was a forbidden activity for women,” explains Gyory. “For me, it really got a hold of me when Regina Halmich ruled in Germany and Europe. Halmich is among the most successful female boxers of all time and helped popularise female boxing in Europe. There is also a new star in women’s professional boxing whom I have only just had the chance to see fighting in England recently. She is Nicola Adams, the first woman to win an Olympic boxing title and 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in the women’s flyweight division”.
Men dominate the EBU board- Even though the fan’s approach has been changed a lot concerning women’s boxing, statistically men still dominate the number of matches fought in the boxing ring. “I think I am very lucky that I have a real supporter now who was strongly encouraging me to declare myself a candidate to the EBU Board,” offers Gyory. “Mr. István ‘KOKO’ Kovács, a former Olympic Champion and multiple professional boxing champion is currently vice president of WBO Europe and it was he who convinced me to participate in the candidacy. I really like working together with him because we feel the same passion for this sport. When working as a supervisor at WBO and WBC events, or even in a local professional tournament, you have to understand that this is a huge responsibility to sometimes make the hardest decisions concerning medical evaluations of the boxers, the efficiency of the technical surroundings or to invite judges to work at the matches as well, just to name a few.”
Election prospects – Gyory, who has also been the president of the Hungarian Boxing Association Professional Section, is optimistic about the EBU Board’s upcoming election. “Boxing involves the assessment of technical, tactical and moral qualities; it takes stamina, dedication and patience to become successful,” concludes Gyory. “These virtues are also very important for me and as a mother of two sons, patience and commitment were always my working tools on a daily basis. I was very keen on to be involved with operational work in my career and I became very experienced in working with ambitious men around me. However, I also learnt not to lose sight of my goals out in a male-dominated profession. Therefore, I believe, with the greatest of respect, that this is not just a man’s world.”
(Zsuzsa Csisztu – AIPSmedia.com)
