Sydney Thomas, the ring girl who went viral during the Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight, paid tribute to her late mother on Thanksgiving.
Sydney, 21, shared an old photo of herself standing next to her mom and dad via her Instagram Story on Thursday, November 28, captioned: “Extra thankful for my beautiful guardian angel 🪽Missing you this thanksgiving mom 🫶🏽.”
Cheri Thomas, Sydney’s mother, passed away in August 2023 due to breast cancer. She was 54 years old. Cheri and her husband, Todd, also shared sons Tyler, 22, and Austin, 19.
Throughout her mother’s illness, Sydney routinely posted supportive messages on social media.
“Keep fighting mom, strongest woman I know,” Sydney captioned a TikTok video posted on August 28, just three days before she died.
Sydney spoke at her mother’s memorial service, which she also posted on TikTok.
“I don’t think I could ever fully put into words the impact you’ve had on who I am today,” Sydney said during her speech. “You’ve always been my real-life superwoman. You had the answer to every question and the solution to every problem.”
She added, “Growing up, and still to this day, my favorite thing was when I would meet someone who knew you and they would say, ‘Wow, you look just like your Mama.’ Even though I would just laugh it off and not really say much in response, that was always one of the biggest compliments.”
An emotional Sydney ended her eulogy by saying, “I love you, Mom. The mark you left on this world is immeasurable and will live on forever.”
Sydney became an overnight sensation after appearing as a ring girl for the Paul-Tyson fight, which streamed live November 15 on Netflix In the time since, Sydney has seen her social media following explode, with her TikTok followers now numbering more than 1 million.
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly after the fight, Sydney admitted all of the attention and fanfare had been “overwhelming.”
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Currently a junior studying management and entrepreneurship at the University of Alabama, Sydney plans on graduating early this spring before putting that degree to the test.
“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,” she expressed. “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.”
