The Coachella Valley is no stranger to having a variety of events each year, but the first Knockout Queen boxing event is one that’ll get people talking — or ducking for cover.
The Knockout Queen brings together female online content creators, OnlyFans models and a few professional boxers to square off in sanctioned boxing matches regulated by the California State Athletic Commission. The invite-only spectacle is being held at a private residence in Indio, so the only way most will be able to see the action is through a livestream on TikTok Live and Kick.
A lot of eyes will be on the event — a Sports Illustrated article noted that the more than 150 content creators and 20 fighters that will attend have a combined social media following of 120 million people.
What OnlyFans creators are competing in Knockout Queen?
American The Real Britt Fit (aka Brittney Lefevre) and Australian Rebecca McLeod will face off against each other in the main event on Wednesday, June 24, with other matches between Abby Montes and Vana Medrano, as well as Danelle Fishback and Silvia Figueroa. The OnlyFans exhibition fighters are doing the event for exposure, while the pro fighters are receiving a small purse, according to media representative Gary Trock.
Who organized Knockout Queen?
All of it is presented by The Circle, which is coined as the “world’s first ultra-exclusive private membership club” for creators.
Most importantly — what’s the point of Knockout Queen?
Is this a publicity stunt? Are these models really going to be fighting? Is this worth watching? I had a lot of questions too, but then I got to attend the Tuesday, June 23 media day, which included weigh-ins and press conferences. Emotions were high ahead of the June 24 fight, and while we don’t know who will win each match, there’s no doubt it’ll be entertaining to watch.
Here were our biggest takeaways from Knockout Queen media day.
Knockout Queen seems pretty legit
Based on what we could see, Knockout Queen is poising itself as a pretty legit event.
Because it’s a state-sanctioned boxing event, that means it’s an officially approved and regulated match supervised by the California State Athletic Commission. This ensures the health and safety of participants and a fair match.
During the media day, each participant stepped on a scale to weigh themselves, showed off their muscles for the cameras and participated in a press conference to discuss their training regimes and what skills they’ll bring to the ring.
Having no experience with boxing events outside of the films “Rocky” and “Raging Bull,” it all appeared to be well-organized from my perspective. The fighters were amped up, and even though many of them share the same weight as me, I wouldn’t want to make any of them mad.
Theses OnlyFans creators are taking training seriously
Exhibition fighter Alex Kay (aka Alexandra Svensson) reassured people that the participants have been training for the event “like our lives depend on it.”
“When I first said yes to this, I was thinking it’s going to be so much fun. I showed up at my first day of training and my coach was like, ‘It’s kill or be killed,'” Kay said.
Now, that doesn’t mean everyone involved is an experienced fighter, or that the fights will be impressive.
For many of the fighters in the exhibition matches, it’s their first time participating in a boxing event, so it’s really a free-for-all when it comes to what people can expect in the ring.
Kay, who will be facing off against Maddy Belle, is a fitness and digital creator who is fairly new to the world of boxing. She said she played rugby for seven years growing up, but left the sport due to fears of injury.
When the opportunity came to do Knockout Queen, her initial response was “no” because it could compromise her face and body, with which she earns her income through modeling.
“As I thought about it more, my inner child was like, ‘We can’t say no to this, absolutely not, I’ve been waiting for something like this my whole life,'” Kay said.
Training has been tough, but also enjoyable, she said, especially seeing all the ways she’s testing her body’s strength and limits. Kay said her biggest advantage going into the fight is her athletic background, while her taller stature poses pros and cons against her shorter opponent.
While she admitted she’s nervous — she has stage fright and she’s worried about getting knocked out — this is also a chance to face her fears and find her passion for a new sport.
“As soon as this is over I’m going to keep training because it’s taken a lot … but now I’m obsessed with the sport,” she said. “I have a whole new respect for it.”
Media representative Mike Walters has been observing a few of the training sessions in recent days and said he’s been “very impressed” by their regimens. Many have famous trainers on their teams who have worked with some of the most well-known boxers in the world, he added.
“It’s going to be a good show, and I think that everyone’s going to be very surprised by the talent,” Walters said.
There’s bad blood between The Real Britt Fit and Rebecca McLeod
Many fighters played up their “beef” with their opponents for the camera, but then laughed about it later. But with Fit and McLeod, that’s one tense relationship you don’t want to get in between.
The American and Australian have been trading jabs at each other on social media, but Tuesday was their first time facing off. After their weigh-in, the two women started shoving each other, ready to start their match a whole day early.
Later during the press conference, they kept digging into each other’s training routine and skills, with Fit calling McLeod “trash” and “slow.” In response, McLeod said she would knock out Fit during round 2, and they agreed on a $100K bet.
McLeod, who found her love of combat sports through kick boxing as a teen, said it’s the nature of the sport to ramp up rivalries between players, but the beef between her and Fit is warranted.
“She’s been talking a lot of s— online, so you know what, I’m just going to have to shut her up,” McLeod said.
Aside from the bad blood, McLeod said Knockout Queen is giving female creators a platform outside of their usual audience.
“I really, really like the idea of it to show there’s a lot more to us. It’s not just OnlyFans girls. I’m not just a pretty girl that walks in front of a camera, I love sports and I want to show my personality,” McLeod said.
Content creators are buzzing despite the desert heat
One step inside the “compound,” the private residence where everyone gathers, opens up a whole wide world of content creation.
People were spotted doing interviews with fighters, showing off the residence (which has a beach lagoon in the backyard and a bunch of bouncy castles) and taking photos with each other. There’s no such thing as being camera shy here, and they always somehow manage to look good even in candid shots.
Walters said people were invited to be an event content creator or fighter based on the number of followers they have, with many having at least half a million. Video game streamers, OnlyFans models, sports enthusiasts and more all get to mingled, create videos and have fun in the desert leading up to the big fight.
Many may have not-so-kind thoughts about content creators and influencers, but to see them all buzzing around and pumping out ample videos is pretty darn impressive.
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com, on X @ema_sasic or on Instagram @emasasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Is this OnlyFans boxing event legit? Inside Indio’s Knockout Queen
Reporting by Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
