Boxer likes tag: ‘Pretty in pink’

Associated Press

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

Call him pretty in pink and Lenroy “Cam” Thompson will just smile.

Heckle him for wearing pink trunks, pink headgear and a pink T-shirt in the boxing ring and he’ll laugh.

The 21-year-old super-heavyweight from Lenexa, Kan., is seeking his second title at the USA boxing national championships tonight and has found a unique way to promote both himself and the fight against breast cancer.

He fights his opponents decked out in light pink trunks adorned with the cause’s signature pink ribbon, pink headgear and a pink T-shirt that reads “Fighting is a lot easier when your opponent isn’t cancer.”

He sells shirts outside the ring to raise funds and he also goes to mixed martial arts fights and sets up shop hawking T-shirts that have all the fighting disciplines from jujitsu to kick boxing listed on one side with a giant pink X over them and the M.M.A. initials standing for Much More Awareness written on the other side. Beneath, is his motto: “Team CAM: Get a mam, ma’am.”

He’s adding black tank tops with pink writing to his clothing line for guys who don’t dare don the pink.

Thompson doesn’t have any relatives who have had breast cancer. He said he was inspired to go pink after fighting at a breast cancer awareness tournament in Tampa, Fla., a few years ago.

His awareness campaign has drawn both dollars and dispute. He was admonished at the national championships to cover up another of his sayings, this one stitched into his shorts that reads “I [heart] boobs.”

The officials allowed Thompson to put white athletic tape over the last word during his semifinal win over O’Jayland Brown on Thursday night, and he’ll do the same when he fights Danny Kelly of Washington D.C., in the finals.

“Every woman knows what the breast cancer symbol is,” Thompson said. “Now, the guys, I put something on my shorts to draw more attention. I’ve never had a problem with it before. I figure guys will find that funny and women will know what I’m doing, so I’ve got everything covered.”

Except for the children.

Angel Villarreal, national chief of officials for USA Boxing, said minors in the stands might not understand the nuance of Thompson’s message and mistake it as misogynistic.

“Everybody in the sport knows he’s bringing great awareness to the breast cancer cause and we support him, but the kids in the audience might not get it, and their parents might find it offensive,” Villarreal said.

Ultimately, Thompson said he didn’t mind the flap.