Mary Spencer, the reigning Canadian women’s boxing champion, does it all – jabs, upper cuts, left hooks, and even throws knockout punches. In the last year, she has also become a Cover Girl.
Boxing is a sport that is usually associated with speed, skill, accuracy and occasionally bloodshed, and not with mascara or lipstick. However, Cover Girl’s official sponsorship that was announced last week hopes to celebrate the power and strength in women’s boxing, and associate it with female beauty.
The Windsor native has already filmed one TV commercial for the cosmetics company, and more media events are planned. A full-scale marketing campaign that likely includes poster printing, brochure printers, in-store promotions, and social media will be executed, leading up to the London Summer Olympics at the end of July.
Canadian Mary Spencer is a gold-medal favorite in female boxing, which will be included in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2012. She is currently ranked No 1 in the world and has won three Women’s World Championships and five gold medals at the Pan-American Games. Women’s boxing has fought a hard battle to be recognized as a legitimate sport, equal to men’s boxing.
Spencer says that she doesn’t wear makeup in the ring, but has used it occasionally to cover up bruises. Corporate sponsorship of Canadian amateur athletes is an important funding source for those training full-time for major events like the Olympics since funding for amateur athletes in Canada is limited. Athletes must follow strict rules to ensure that corporate sponsorship does not harm their “amateur” status.
