The first magazine article I ever sold was to Ring Magazine. It was about my Uncle Freddie Pope, a bantamweight boxing champ, nicknamed The Phantom Bantam. I had studied all of the boxing combinations and watched countless matches on television. By the time I was a reporter for The Detroit News, I was still fascinated with the sport and figured the judges had the best seats in the house. I applied for my license as a professional boxing judge. In the first interview, the group of cranky old former boxers tried to convince me to be an amateur judge. I told them I didn’t understand the amateur scoring system, I only understood the professional 10/9 system. (Every round someone gets 10 points and someone gets 9, unless there is a knockout. Then at the end of the bout, the scores are added up and one pugilist wins by decision.)

So, for six months, I was on probation as a professional judge. At the end of my probation, those old fighters said that they watched me count only the blows that landed. Whoever had the most at the end of the round won it. These old-timers admitted they often favored the boxer with their style. It was official, I became the first woman professional boxing judge in Michigan.