Women's boxing takes center stage at Beautiful Brawlers Invitational in Pacifica
Inside the walls of Babyface Boxing Training Center, the first lesson girls learn in the ring is that they are limitless.
The Pacifica-based gym, owned by Boxing Hall of Famer Blanca Gutierrez, is gearing up to host Beautiful Brawlers 12: The Martha Salazar Invitational, a prestigious all‑female amateur boxing event spotlighting rising stars from the U.S. and abroad.
"This weekend, it's an opportunity for the girls that aren't on Team USA to fight an international fight against somebody from England," Gutierrez said. "I've got 12 of those fights, and we're celebrating the junior and youth who I believe are the next generation of boxing champions."
Gutierrez, a former fighter herself, launched the Beautiful Brawlers series in part because of her own struggles finding support in the gym.
"Growing up, nobody wanted to train us," she recalled. "So we'd go from gym to gym, asking, 'Hey, will you train us?' And all we got was no's."
Today, women still make up only about 10% of registered amateur boxers in the U.S., according to USA Boxing, but Gutierrez is working to change that.
One of the standout participants this weekend is Alize Hernandez, currently ranked the No. 1 junior amateur boxer in the nation.
"I want to inspire little girls and show them, just because you're a girl doesn't mean you can't box," Hernandez said. "Boxing is just a sport—it's not a male‑dominated sport, it's just a sport in general."
The event, sanctioned by the WBC and named in honor of heavyweight champion Martha Salazar, promises to feature elite youth and junior female boxers from the Bay Area and beyond.
Gutierrez remains humbled by how far the series has come and energized by what lies ahead.
"It means the world to me, because no one else was doing it," she said. "I started this, and now everybody is throwing female shows. It was a good thing that we started it, or no one else would continue to do it. So that's what I'm looking forward to: to see the show, and to see these girls happy."
Beautiful Brawlers 12: The Martha Salazar Invitational is happening Sunday, August 31, 2025, at Babyface Boxing Training Center, 1021 Terra Nova Blvd, Pacifica. Doors open at 12 p.m., fights start at 1 p.m. For more info, visit beautifulbrawlers.com.