Women’s boxing was started in England in the 1720s. When this sport gained popularity, some bad reputations, it became fierce and bloody because of the lack of rules governing the sport. Britain’s first body to regulate boxing in Britain in the 1880s refused to acknowledge women fighters. In 1998, eventually, the British Boxing Board issued a license to women. There was no training, rule, and safety equipment, and Women would engage in bloody prize fights and bare-knuckle brawls.

These black and white photographs show the early days of female boxing in the Victorian era.