Everlast: advert-body-1

Boxing brand Everlast has revealed the next wave of industry trailblazers to be celebrated in 'Be First', a global campaign challenging consumers to carve their own path to success. In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, ‘First Is Strong’ spotlights the powerful and inspiring stories of boxing promoter Kathy Duva, Everlast athlete and boxing world champion Heather Hardy, and journalist Kris Herndon as the linchpin of this iconic campaign.

As the centerpiece of the campaign, Duva, Hardy, and Herndon share their stories of how they leaned on the power of boxing to overcome the systemic hurdles that many women encounter throughout their lives, both professionally and personally.

Kathy Duva is a boxing promoter at the top of a male-dominated industry with the success of her company, Main Events.

Former World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion and Everlast athlete, Heather Hardy has staked her claim in the industry with many “firsts” including being the first woman to fight at Barclays Center and the first woman to fight on a national television broadcast.

Kris Herndon is a journalist and boxing enthusiast who was sexually assaulted while going for a run in her local neighborhood. She tried various methods of therapy before finding that boxing was the therapy she needed to retake control of her mind and body.

To further propel the mission of this campaign, Everlast has launched a petition for the removal of the word “female” on the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) championship belts. This petition urges these sanctioning bodies of boxing to see all competitors as equal, without the need to qualify one’s gender when naming them a champion. Join Everlast in supporting the ‘First is Strong’ fight by signing the petition here and sharing on social with #changethebelts.