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Female boxer bows out after being told 1 hour before bout her opponent was transgender

November 19, 2023 | | Print Article

A female boxer reportedly withdrew from a boxing tournament after she learned at the last minute that she would be fighting a biological male.

According to Reduxx, a feminist magazine, Dr. Katia Bissonnette of Saguenay (a Canadian city) was scheduled to compete at the 2023 Provincial Golden Glove Championship, which took place late last month and was hosted by the Quebec Boxing Federation.

But then roughly one four before her fight, she learned that her opponent — transgender fighter Mya Walmsley — is a dude.

“I came down from my hotel room to head towards the room where all the boxers were warming up. My coach suddenly took me aside and told me he received information by text message, which he had then validated, that my opponent was not a woman by birth. We did not have any other additional information,” she told Reduxx.

What’s known is that Walmsley has never previously fought a woman in Canada, that he’s originally from Australia, and that he moved to Canada two years ago to attend Concordia University.

“[Walmsley] would have boxed as a man in Australia. In Quebec, on his file, it is mentioned that he had 0 fights as a woman,” Bissonnette said.

“Since moving to Canada, Walmsley has been involved in political activism at the university level as a Master’s student and teaching assistant in the philosophy department. Recent interviews with Walmsley show he has an overtly masculine appearance,” Reduxx notes.

He may be seen in the video below:

After Bissonnette withdrew from the fight, Walmsley reportedly issued a public statement accusing her of “outing” him.

“Rather than turning to me, my coach or the Quebec Olympic Boxing Federation for more information, she decided to turn directly to the media to out me,” he said.

“This kind of behavior puts athletes at risk of being excluded or receiving personal attacks based on hearsay … I am afraid that this type of accusation could eventually be used to delegitimize athletes in the women’s category and justify arbitrary and invasive regulations,” he added.

He also issued a separate statement to La Presse, a French-language Canadian news site.

“I felt like a political object, not like a real person who likes to box and was happy to participate in a fight. Obviously, I didn’t transition to become a boxer. I do this for the pleasure of participating in a sport. I like to be fit and healthy. And I’m a little competitive, so I like getting into fights,” he said, according to the Daily Mirror.

“But I transitioned for reasons much more complex than that. No one transitions to compete in sports. It changes your life in such a fundamental way that it’s not a valid reason to do it,” he added.

Speaking with Reduxx, Bissonnette maintained that she did nothing wrong.

“The rule issued from Boxing Canada to the Quebec Boxing Federation was not to reveal that the opponent was transsexual, so that the latter would not be discriminated against. However, after confirmation, this policy only applies when a sex change has taken place before puberty,” she explained.

She also cited evidence to prove why a woman being forced to fight a man is unwise.

“According to a study, a male blow has 163 percent more impact than a woman’s, even adjusted for weight. In the group studied, the weakest man remains physically superior to the strongest woman,” she said.

She reportedly referenced a University of Utah study that was published in 2020.

“Women shouldn’t have to bear the physical and psychological risks brought by a man’s decisions regarding his personal life and identity. There should be two categories: biological male and female,” Bissonnette added.

Regardless, because the competition’s organizers were unable to find another woman to fight against Walmsley, he wound up winning by default.

Responding to Reduxx’s story, X users had nothing but praise for Bissonnette.

Look:

Vivek Saxena
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