Pat Emerick Lancaster Landreth – 2019 International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee
Longtime Smith County resident Pat Emerick Lancaster Landreth was recently inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame during a ceremony held in Brisbane, California, on August 30, 2019.
Pat was among twelve inductees of the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame Class of 2019.
Pat was inducted under her fighting name, Pat Emerick, and she was honored as “a pioneer boxer who overcame untold obstacles in order to compete in the ring during the last century.”
Her award puts her in position as the second oldest International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, a mere five months behind the oldest inductee, Barbara Buttrick.
In November 1949, Pat was crowned the 1949 Ladies World Boxing Champion, following a match against reigning champion JoAnn Hagen in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
That year, Pat’s boxing record was 18-1. She lost her very first bout but went on to win 18 consecutive matches before retiring.
According to the Women’s Boxing Historical Database, Pat began her boxing career when she was a 19-year-old ticket seller in South Bend, Indiana. In 1948, she decided to take up boxing, at the suggestion of a promoter.
Pat was joined by many of her children and other family members at the induction ceremony last month.
You can watch highlights from the 2019 International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame ceremony here. Pat is featured at the 5 minute, 40 second mark in the video.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Pat said. “They took a long time coming, but I’m very happy and I’m very humble. They came out with a ‘glass celling’ and I said, ‘We were before that. We had a heavy wooden door,’ and I’m so proud of all the women in the whole United States for the power that they’ve got.”
Pat, now 88 years old, resides in Hartsville, Tennessee. She lived in Smith County from 1959 until 2003.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=E7N45oRL0Ms&app=desktop
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