I’m a ring girl by night but have a very different day job – it can be challenging but it gives me a change
ALISSA KING-UNDERWOOD may stun in the ring but she also makes dreams come true with her second job.
The popular ring girl, 24, is a regular on the boxing and touring car circuits but also owns a fantastical business.
Alissa runs her own business called Enchanted Princess Appearances which provides a fairytale princess to children’s parties.
Although the company does cater to a wider audience as it has some corporate clients.
The events give Alissa a contrasting style to when she is in the boxing arena, which she enjoys.
So after bossing the ring at the O2 for Anthony Joshua’s fight against Jermaine Franklin she will be donning a princess gown.
She told SunSport: “I have my own business as well which I have been running for three and a half years which is very contrasting because it is a children’s entertainment business as we provide princess look-a-likes for children’s parties and events, as well as some corporate clients.
“So on weekends, it can be challenging as that is when those events are and it is a case of when the boxing is on it can be a case of how much work can I fit into the weekend.
“So this weekend I will be at the AJ fight and then on Sunday I will be back into princess outfits doing children’s parties.”
Alissa is proud of her accomplishments in the boxing world since becoming a ring girl for Matchroom.
Having been performing “all her life” in ballet, tap dance, modern dance, acting and musical theatre, Alissa is happy having “stamped her mark” on boxing.
She added: “I really am super proud and unapologetic of the fact I am a ring girl.
“It is something I have dreamed about, I worked in this industry doing all kinds of shows for five years and I really dreamed about working for Matchroom and that is now a reality.
“I am a feminist and I know some people have views on the job that I do but I am so proud to stamp my mark in a male-dominated sport and industry and I am happy with where I have made it to.”
Although the current Miss Universe Great Britain finalist has also she rejected concerns over ring girls and their safety at fights.
She said: “The main thing I like to say (to critics) is at these boxing shows I am the safest I will probably ever be in my life.
“I’m backstage and there are so many security guards there, when we are working we have two of them sat with us. It is the safest we will ever be.
“People get so hung up on that with ring girls sitting there looking beautiful, I am not naive I am there and I try to embrace my feminine side and feel beautiful and that gets attention, just like models in magazines get attention.
“But I think the main thing is that I could go to the shops on my own and get a derogatory comment from anyone man or woman.
“But when I am at the boxing I am in my element, and I think that is the key thing I wish people would understand more.”
The ring girl has plenty of fans with over 12,000 followers on Instagram.
Alissa is currently engaged to former Peterborough footballer Bobby Copping, 21, after he made a romantic proposal with loads of candles and flowers.
Copping was forced to retire aged just 19 after a head injury but now works at the club as the general manager of the women’s team.
He also has the Bobby Copping Foundation, a charity that has been set up to help youngsters with mental health.
Alessia will be watching AJ take to the ring against Franklin and is expecting him to come out on top.
She said: “I really just hope and believe that Anthony Joshua secures the win. I think he deserves it.
“The thing with boxing is that it is such a cruel world, if you lose a fight nobody wants to know who you are, everyone thinks that you have lost all your credibility.
“I have so much respect for boxers because if you watch a football game and the team loses, you can just forget about the footballer, maybe you might have some fans say some harsh comments, but they move on and next week they are winning.
“But I think with boxers there is so much pressure and I think AJ has so much to more to give and I think everyone has judged him a bit too harshly after a few losses, but I think this is the time he will make his comeback.”
AJ will be fighting at the heaviest weight of his career after he weighed in at 18st 3lbs.