If you’ve ever been to a boxing match, you undoubtedly relish the exciting atmosphere— a feeling the ring girls’ presence can only enhance; these ring girls are the epitome of performers, after all.
It may surprise you that some disregard them, but they are as crucial to the show as any other official, entertaining throughout the intermission and after each fight.
Ring girls enjoy substantial pay for their essential appearances and gain media exposure and fame that may lead to future financial prospects through endorsements, — ring beauties like Samantha Kumiko and Dessie Mitcheson pocket large amounts for high-profile fights.
To understand how much a boxing ring lady earns, we will look at the highest-paid ring girls and their wage expectations in this article.
How Much Do UFC Ring Girls Make Per Fight?
While boxing ring girls salaries are dependent on their profile, popularity, and experience, they have a similar base wage, receiving about $200 per match and $8,000 for PPV events, where they can garner $3,000 in bonuses.
However, the hottest ring girls with impressive profiles earn about $1,500 in regular bouts and $10,000 for high-profile events. The notorious Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight in 2015 saw the ring girls go home with $10,000 each.
Boxing Ring Girls Salaries
10. Jessica Harbour
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$150,000
A native of San Diego, California, this blonde beauty is more than just a ring girl as she is a bachelor’s degree holder in Psychology.
Jess Harbour was present at the 2017 Mayweather vs. McGregor fight, where she earned an estimated $5,000. Other significant bouts she worked on include Abner Mares vs. Jesus Cuellar and Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward 1.
Harbour has also extended her tentacles to modelling, her first coming for the Supercross competition at Qualcomm Stadium.
However, she has been featured in commercials and television ads for Zing Vodka, Rockstar Energy Drink, FIAT, UFC Gym, and Viejas Casino, among others.
She has also appeared in several catalogues, including Oh Yes Fashion and Nikibiki.
9. Kiara Gomez
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$150,000
Kiara Gomez started her modelling career at sixteen years old for SayWhat brand. However, she is popular among boxing fans as a ring girl during fights presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
One popular fight she starred in was the middleweight world title defence between Demetrius Andrade and Maciej Sulecki, where Andrade successfully defended his title.
Gomez earns about $1,500 in normal per-match fees but could pocket up to $5,000 in high-profile fights to earn an estimated $150,000 annually, deserving of a beautiful American model of Colombian descent.
Gomez has enjoyed appearances on TV shows like “White Collar” on USA Network and “Person of Interest” on CBS as part of her professional endeavors.
She also starred as the lead heroine in the short film “Enigma” and a nationwide commercial for Shimmer Body Art. Kiara has also appeared in Body Magazine and modeled for the esteemed print publication Women’s Health.
8. Janira Kremets
Nationality: Mexican
Annual Earnings:$150,000
2015 saw the rise in popularity of Janira Kremets as a Mexican Tecate Ace’s ring girl, as she served as the ring girl for Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s battle.
She also featured in the fight between Floyd Mayweather, Connor McGregor, and many others; all these boosted her Career. Kremets is the first ring girl from Mexico to gain international recognition in boxing history.
Her annual earnings as a ring girl are $150,000, with about $1,500 in normal per-match fees and $5,000 in high-profile fights.
Kremets appeared in Sports Illustrated and Maxim publications; she was also on the cover of an issue of Las Vegas Magazine.
Janira worked as a model for publications including Sports Illustrated, Maxim, and others. While working with that modeling agency, she promoted swimsuits and other goods for the company, Model Management.
The effect of this is that she now has a hefty paycheck.
7. Gloria Friedley
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$150,000
Gloria is a San Diego native and a well-known figure who, outside of her ring girl duties, uses social media, particularly Instagram, to showcase swimwear and other apparel by uploading images on her account.
In 2017, Friedley acted as a Host for the 10th annual Babes in Toy Land Charity Drive at the Avalon in Hollywood.
This stunning model worked as a ring girl for Thompson Boxing Promotions, Fight Club OC, and Elite Boxing Fitness Center.
Her annual earnings are $150,000. For normal match fees, she goes home with $1,500, while high profile matches bring her up to $5,000.
6. Tawny Jordan
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$200,000
Tawny Jordan began her modeling career in college; she has been featured in numerous publications and websites, including Sports Illustrated, FHM, and MAXIM.
The model won one of the world’s most prestigious bikini modeling contests in 2017 and has appeared in many commercials for prestigious hotels, fashion labels, and social networking businesses Fashion Nova & Yandy.
She has appeared on major networks like ESPN, Showtime, and Fox Sports as a Corona Boxing official ring girl. Tawny has featured in major fights in history, some of which are Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs.Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather vs. McGregor.
She makes up to $5,000 for high-profile fights, $1,500 for normal per-match fees, and annual earnings of $200,000.
5. Kyra Keli
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$200,000
Kyra Keli has performed on American television programs Wild ‘N Out, Red Elixir Presents CeeLo Green Live and appeared in the movie Kinky.
This beauty has secured commercial work as a model for brands including Dior, AT&T, and Acura. She has also modeled for companies including Maserati, Corona, and Toyo Tires.
For boxing contests, Keli has made an appearance as a ring girl, most notably for Floyd Mayweather and Connor McGregor in August 2017.
She earns an Annual salary of $200,000 and takes home about $5,000 for high-profile matches such as Mayweather and McGregor’s, while $1,500 is enough to keep her for regular bouts.
4. Rachel McDonough
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$200,000
While some ring girls grow nervous while on stage in front of many, this experience is not peculiar to Rachel McDonough, who grew up dancing on stage her entire life; she is a professional dancer, a model, and an international ring girl.
A ring card girl for HBO, Rachel announced the rounds for the Pacquiao vs. Marquez 4 bout; she was a ring girl for the Pacquiao vs. Bradley fight and the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto bout. She has an annual earning of $200,000, pocketing $5,000 for high-profile matches.
3. Stephanie Ann Cook
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$200,000
Stephanie is a stunning blonde from Las Vegas, Nevada, with the power to illuminate a whole arena just by standing before the crowd and smiling mesmerizingly.
She came into the limelight in 2007, working on many combat sports events. Around 2009, she started working as a ring girl for MMA events and later promoted Bob Arum’s Top Rank boxing events.
She was one of the ring girls in the trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. Her cumulative annual earnings from boxing are $200,000.
2. Samantha Kumiko
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$250,000
Kumiko’s Twitter bio says, “There is only one me, and I am the best at that.” Yes, Samantha is truly the best at what she does.
While she is a registered nurse with a degree from DeSales University, in 2013 we saw Samantha handle the Paulie Malignaggi vs. Adrien Broner fight.
In 2014, she participated in the Tropic Beauty swimsuit competition. She is known for advertising Corona beer during boxing fights. Samantha worked as a model for Toyo Tires.
She also featured as a ring lady for the famous Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor bout in 2017. Some of the matches she also featured were Daniel Jacobs vs. Peter Quillin, Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout, and Carl Frampton vs. Leo Santa Cruz 2.
She is high on the list of earners, and unlike her counterparts, she earns $250,000 annually and, for the high-profile event, can make $10,000.
1. Dessie Mitcheson
Nationality: American
Annual Earnings:$250,000
Dessie Mitcheson was born in Pennsylvania; her mother, a cosmetologist, was the one who first exposed her to the world of beauty.
She participated in the Miss Pennsylvania USA competition at age 18, placing in the top 10. We also won various titles, including Face of the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Miss Pennsylvania Intercontinental, and Hometown Hottie for Maxim Magazine.
Dessie served as one of the ring girls for the “Fight of the Century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in 2015. She earns $250,000 annually as a ring girl, making $10,000 for high-profile events. 1
Boxing Ring Girls Controversies
Chris Eubank Jr’s father ousting two ring girls
Eubank ignited a controversy with a video he uploaded to Twitter showing his father sounding marching orders to ring girls away from a camera shot. The British boxer waited for the post-match interview after defeating Avni Yildirim in 2017.
Two ring girls quickly appeared behind the victor, a common practice to get a sponsor’s advertisement on the screen before Eubank’s father ushered them away.
However, it was Eubank’s cheeky caption, “To all ring girls. Do not photobomb me as my dad has a very particular set of skills. He will look for you, he will find you & he will get pie u.” that stirred controversy, most notably from English singer Lily Allen. 2
The singer expressed her objections to the post calling Eubank’s dad a “photobomber” while citing the boxer’s background and passing her message with the hashtag #respectwomen.
The controversy will continue with Eubank slamming Allen by citing her addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Ring girls were replaced in Horn Fight Night.
In 2019, Fox Sports reported that Battle of Bendigo’s (Jeff Horn vs. Michael Zerafa) promoters replaced ring girls with men after criticism from local councilors and women’s advocate groups. 3
One of the councilors, Yvonne Wrigglesworth, believes that society objectifies women in boxing events and that such stereotypes are not respectful of women.
However, the event’s co-promoter Dean Lonergan expressed his disappointment with the criticism and replaced the ring girls with men, despite the ring girls receiving their payments. Lonergan tags the comments from the local councilors as an attack on the ring girls, stating, “They have denied three women the opportunity to do the job they applied for.”
Kalista Thomas, one of the ring girls, also felt upset about the criticism, believing the comments undermine her work as a ring girl, and calling it sexualized was “absolutely discriminatory,” as she has never felt that way.
Wrap Up
While ring girls’ importance is often swept under the carpet by critics, the boxing customs and the normalcy its fans are used to ensure ring girls’ presence is a sight that fans will continue to illuminate arenas for the foreseeable future.
Therefore, they deserve every penny they receive and might earn more as the combat sports sphere continues to appreciate their relevance, just like their counterparts in the UFC.
If you enjoyed this list of the top 10 boxing girls salaries, you’d surely enjoy the list of the top 10 highest paid women in the WNBA.
