Graciela Casillas

American kickboxer

Born

1957, Oxnard

Citizenship

United States

Sport

taekwondo

Discipline

bantamweight

Occupation

boxer, karateka, taekwondo athlete, kickboxer

Graciela Casillas (born 1957) is an American former boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight division. After training in several traditional martial arts, Casillas began competing as a kickboxer in 1976, and in 1979 she became the first fighter to hold world titles in both boxing and kickboxing by taking the World Women's Boxing Association's and the World Kickboxing Association's bantamweight championships. Although Casillas' Boxrec record is 5–0, Black Belt Magazine reported in May 1984 that she had 27 boxing matches, winning 15 by KO up to that point.

Noted for her punching power and also as one of the first American fighters to incorporate low kicks into their arsenal, Casillas retired undefeated in 1986. She is considered a pioneer of women's combat sports. Casillas was inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in 2020.

External links

• Wikipedia
• BoxRec
• IMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q5591552 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.