Corporate partner remains defiant despite other sports ditching the sexist portrayal of women
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has been criticised over a corporate partner using ring girls at boxing fundraisers held on behalf of the charity.
Ultra White Collar Boxing, a private company run by Ultra Events, has raised more than £15 million for CRUK while routinely employing ring girls who wear leotards and revealing outfits to hold signs up during charity boxing matches.
According to Third Sector magazine, CRUK supporters have expressed their distaste at the use of ring girls and complaints have been lodged saying the use of ring girls is at odds with the organisation’s ethos.
After Formula One ditched the use of grid girls at Grands Prix, UWCB said on Facebook that it would continue to employ ring girls and boys at all its boxing events.
Teresa Hicks, head of community development at CRUK, told Third Sector: "We’re in discussions with Ultra Events about the roles men and women play as ringside card holders at its boxing events.
"We’re grateful to all the participants who’ve chosen to fundraise for CRUK through Ultra White Collar Boxing events. Since 2013, people taking part in Ultra Events have raised more than £15m for our life-saving research."
Participants who sign up to the boxing match receive eight weeks of training at a local boxing gym with professional boxing coaches and pledge to raise a minimum of £50 for CRUK.
They are then required to sell tickets to the event with all proceeds going to the UWCB which gives a proportion to the charity. Tickets cost anything from £26 to £500 for a full VIP table.
A spokesperson for Ultra Events said: "We estimate that the total audience for our shows has been in excess of a million and we have only ever received one complaint about the women who hold up placards between rounds to indicate which is the next round. We are in discussions with CRUK regarding the situation."
Ultra Events added that it also employed men to hold placards and aimed to raise a total of £20m for CRUK by 2020.
