Source/Wiki: Aileen
LeBell Eaton (February 5, 1909 – November 15, 1987) was a boxing and
professional wrestling promoter who was influential in the United
States' west coast's boxing and wrestling scene for five decades. In
2002, she was the first woman inducted into the International Boxing
Hall of Fame.
Eaton was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She attended Los
Angeles High School.
Her second husband, Cal Eaton, was a boxing promoter in Los Angeles. She
got involved in her husband's business in 1942. During her career as a
promoter, Eaton would get involved with big-name promoters and fighters,
sometimes traveling to other states in search of business. Eaton is the
mother of martial artist and professional wrestler Gene LeBell and
professional wrestling promoter Mike LeBell.
Cal died in 1966. Nicknamed The Redhead, Eaton took over presidency of
her husband's company and went on to stage more than 10,000 boxing bouts
and as many wrestling matches at the L.A. Olympic Auditorium, promoting
such fighters as Floyd Patterson, Danny Lopez, Carlos Palomino, Joe
Frazier and George Foreman before she retired in 1980. When alongside
her husband, she had also helped promote fights of Sugar Ray Robinson
and Carmen Basilio, among others.
In 1994 she was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame.[2] Eaton was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of
Fame in 2002, the first woman in the hall.[citation needed] In 2011,
Eaton, along with her sons Gene and Mike LeBell, was inducted into
National Wrestling Alliance's Hall of Fame.
