A really depressing piece in the New York Times on a woman who might have been Maggie Fitzgerald's prototype: Far From Hollywood, a Boxer Whose Dreams Died in the Ring...

For a brief period in the late 90's, the injuries that left Ms. Dallam near death were notorious in the boxing world. Even today, when proponents of the sport talk about its safety, they are quick to say that Ms. Dallam is the only female boxer in America to have suffered anything similar to what happens to Maggie Fitzgerald, the boxer played by Hilary Swank in the film.

Stephanie Dallam, a nurse who has been her sister's prime companion and chief caregiver, said her family believed that F. X. Toole, the author of the short story that was the basis for the movie, must have heard or read about Katie and used her as the seed for his tale. "There are just too many similarities," Stephanie said of the story, published four years after Katie's injuries.

They are quick to add that they are not accusing Mr. Toole, who died in 2002, of stealing anything from Katie, merely suggesting that he used her life as the starting point.