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Ring card girls are off the bill for the Battle of Bendigo boxing match.
Ring card girls are off the bill for the Battle of Bendigo boxing match. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian
Ring card girls are off the bill for the Battle of Bendigo boxing match. Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Ring card girls to be replaced with 'fight progress managers'

This article is more than 4 years old
  • Protests by Bendigo councillors influenced the change
  • Three women were replaced by men

Promoters of Saturday night’s Battle of Bendigo boxing show featuring Jeff Horn and Michael Zerafa have replaced ring card women with men, after coming under fire from local councillors and women’s advocate groups.

City of Greater Bendigo councillors Yvonne Wrigglesworth and Jennifer Alden were critical of the between-rounds spectacle.

Wrigglesworth said women were being objectified in events like The Battle of Bendigo, while Councillor Alden, a member of the City of Greater Bendigo’s gender equity working group, believes these stereotypes are harmful women.

“Being respectful of women is key to eliminating other forms of violence, especially violence towards women and children,” Cr Alden told the Bendigo Advertiser.

Event co-promoter Dean Lonergan said he was disappointed with the criticism and had replaced the three women with men.

“To further minimise protests the term ‘ring girl’ will not be used,” he said. “These roles will now be known as ‘fight progress managers’.”

He said the three women would still be paid and their replacements had been found by his co-promoter, Bendigo resident and Australian 1996 Olympic boxing representative Lynden Hosking.

“I am disappointed, but I am also responsive. I will replace the three women who were employed to signal the start of each round with men,” Lonergan said.

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