By Yoel Carratala: This is a question I continue to ask myself weekend after weekend. You’d think that with women’s boxing pioneers like Christy Martin, Mia St. John, Lucia Rijker and Laila Ali all receiving mainstream attention in the 1990’s; the sport would have achieved more glory than it has in recent years. Their was even a major movie produced, “Million Dollar Baby” which featured Lucia Rijker.

In recent years no marquee women’s bouts have been televised on ESPN, who supported the sport when Laila Ali and Ann Wolfe were on top of the charts. Also, In recent years it seems that all major action has taken place over seas, either in Japan, Germany, Mexico, Norway and Argentina.

Their is actually more competition now than in the early years and all governing bodies are actually recognizing champions in all weight classes. The sport has grown and yet receives little to no television time in the United States. Just this past weekend one of the best female fighters in the world Cecilia Braekhus defended her WBO, WBA, and WBC Welterweight titles against legend Mia St. John in Norway and the fight received little to no attention in the United States. A possible future opponent for Braekhus is American star and Pound for Pound queen Holly Holm. This is a major fight and deserves to be on a major network for the world to see.

In the past few weeks their have been a few notable fights in Argentina and Mexico, which were aired in the U.S. by TYC Sports (Argentine Sports Network carried by some cable providers) and FOX Sports Español. These cards featured some of the top women in the world like Yessica Bopp, Erica Anabella Farias and Irma Garcia; while these aired, many of these fighters go unseen to the American fight fans.

Their are notable champions from the United States like Holly Holm, Layla McCarter, Melissa Hernandez, Ava Knight, and Tori Nelson just to name a few. These women are at the top of their respective weight classes and are considered to be some of the sports best. Another notable fact is that the women’s amateur scene is growing, since it’s inception into the Summer Olympic Games.

Their are plenty of big match-ups on the horizon for women’s boxing. It’s time for the networks to start featuring some of the top stars just like they’re doing in Mexico and Argentina.