Ryan Wissow

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Ryan Wissow was born November 26, 1974 in Chicago, IL. As a young child, he and his family relocated to Fort Lauderdale, FL, where he became interested in a variety of sports, including martial arts and boxing. Wissow had 12 amateur boxing fights with a 10-2 record from 1990 to 1994, in addition to an undetermined number of "smokers bouts", underground fights, and amateur kickboxing fights.

In 1991, Wissow relocated to Daytona Beach, Florida, where he met Christy Martin, then known as Christy Salters, who would later propel women's professional boxing to mainstream popularity, fighting on Mike Tyson undercards and being featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Wissow and Martin became friends, and sparring partners.

Wissow had a brief 5 fight professional boxing career in 1997-1998, with a record of 4-1 with 4 KOs. Domestic issues and conflicts with the Florida State Athletic Commission head Mike Scionti led Wissow to put his own boxing career on what he called a "hiatus". he remained involved in the sport, and even began volunteering his time and skills as a sparring partner for various female boxers around South Florida.

During this time, Wissow and his associate Luis Bello-Diaz founded the WIBA. Officially founded in July 2000, the WIBA quickly rose to prominence, and today is recognised by many within the sport as the best and most respected sanctioning body in women's professional boxing.