Female ring card holders were replaced with men at the Jeff Horn v Michael Zerafa fight night before a late backflip by the promoter, who had initially bowed to complaints from councillors and women's advocates.

Key points: Bendigo councillors said "ring girls" were outdated and mysogynistic

Bendigo councillors said "ring girls" were outdated and mysogynistic The crowd booed the male "fight progress managers", and the women came back out

The crowd booed the male "fight progress managers", and the women came back out The brother of one female card holder said it was an "honest living" that helped pay her uni fees

The three "ring girls", Tammy Bills, Demey Maconachie and Kalista Thomas, were replaced by male card carriers, dubbed "fight progress managers", on Saturday night, prompting sustained booing from the Bendigo crowd whenever the men entered the ring.

The organisers were responding to two Bendigo councillors who had called the practice outdated and said women were being used as trophies.

But bout promoter Dean Lonergan railed against the "age of outrage" and for being publicly accused of objectifying woman.

"Who are they to judge what employment these women have? Do they know what they do with their lives day-to-day? All these women actually do a lot for women's empowerment," Lonergan said.

"I am disappointed, but I am also responsive. I will replace the three women who were employed to signal the start of each round with men.

"Ironically, four women will be fighting tonight and wearing less clothing than those women I have now had to replace with men in response to these protests.

"They have denied three women the opportunity to do the job they applied for. They are intelligent women. Their freedom to work in an environment that they choose and enjoy doing has been completely undermined. These protests are an attack on them."

For much of the night, men — including the brother of one of the women, Tim Bills — held up the round numbers. Grandstand commentator Corbin Middlemas was also drafted in.

Grandstand caller Corbin Middlemas was one of the men drafted in to be a "fight progress manager" in Bendigo. ( Twitter: @ben_damon )

But after about two hours, the women were brought back in, prompting sustained cheering.

"Round card girls have been a fixture at boxing for decades, and to condemn them not only was doing three girls out of a job but it was really annoying the crowd who treated the girls with the utmost respect," Lonergan said.

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Ring card holder Ms Thomas said being blocked from doing her job made her feel discriminated against, undermined and sexualised.

"Never in my time in the ring or at the fights have I been made to feel I am less worthy for being there," she said.

Mr Bills, 24, standing in as one of the fight progress managers and the brother of card holder Tammy Bills, said he was disgusted by the way things unfolded.

"I think it's pretty rough. This helps pay for their university studies and it's an honest living," he said.

What did councillors and advocates say?

Speaking to the Bendigo Advertiser, City of Greater Bendigo councillor Yvonne Wriggesworth said female ring card carriers parading in front of a Bendigo banner were a "wrong look", and that it was an "outdated and misogynistic concept".

Tammy Bills and her two other colleagues were reinstated as card carriers later in the night. ( AAP: Michael Dodge )

"Tourism can wait. The future of women and girls cannot," she said.

"I'd love to raise in my colleagues about how this is an OK thing … it's not OK that we have young females portrayed in this way.

"If the sport has merit on its own it can stand without these token trophy women and these accessories that are somehow being translated as part of the glamour.

"If this is about true athleticism and skill, they don't need people standing behind them in black cocktail dresses."

The Loddon Campaspe Centre Against Sexual Assault's Kate Wright said she was shocked boxing promoters were still using women when there had been a move away from objectifying women in other sports.

"Having women as accessories … reinforces that diminishing of women in our community," she told the Bendigo Advertiser.