Ring girl Sydney Thomas has opened up about her newfound fame after going viral at the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight last weekend.
Some boxing fans declared Thomas ‘the real winner’ after a disappointing bout between Paul and Tyson, which led boos and allegations it was fixed.
Thomas, 20, was one of five ring girls working at the event in Texas along with Virginia Sanhouse, Lexi Williams, Delia Sylvain and Raphaela Milagres.
The model and social media star, who is also a student at the University of Alabama, caught attention for her looks and admits that ‘big names and brands’ have reached out to her.
‘My DMs are just insanely flooded right now,’ Thomas told US Weekly. ‘There’s definitely been some pretty big names and brands that have reached out.’
‘I woke up and saw how my followers had gone up, and then saw all the news articles that had been written about me.
‘I refreshed my feed and it was just pictures of me and memes and everything. I think that was the moment for me where I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, like I really am going viral’.’
Thomas wants to continue with her education while also remaining in her role as a ring girl with Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.
‘It is very overwhelming,’ she added. ‘But at the same time, I’m also very blessed and very grateful. You know, what a problem to have.
‘I knew the exposure was going to be awesome, just the fact that it was being streamed on Netflix and it was such an iconic fight.
‘But I had no idea that all the focus was going to shift from the results to the ring girl being the main star of the event. That was not even a thought in my head going into it.
‘I think what’s next for me is to continue building up my social media and continue working with [Paul’s] Most Valuable Promotions and being a ring girl. I think dialing into the ring girl and modeling aspect of my life and sharing that with my audience that I’ve now built up.
‘And then obviously continuing with school, graduating, getting my degree and then seeing where things take me from there.’