A WOMAN was knocked out and had her jaw broken while ringside at a charity boxing match, police said today.

The woman asked a man who stood in front of her while enjoying the ringside view to move out the way at the bout in Rivermead Leisure Centre, Richfield Avenue, on Friday night.

However, the man, who was carrying a man bag, turned around and hurled a barrage of racist and homophobic insults before launching himself at the woman who was there with her family.

The woman, aged in her 20s, was knocked out in the attack and the emergency serives were called. She was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital for treatment and has since been released to recover at home. 

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said the attack happened on Friday night at the Ultra White Collar boxing event at around 10.40pm and appealed for anyone with any information or know the attacker to contact them.

The spokesman said: "On Friday at around 10.40pm, a woman in her early twenties was watching a charity boxing match with her family.

"She was sat at a ringside table, when a man stepped in front of her obscuring the view. When the woman asked the man to move, he verbally assaulted her using homophobic and racist language.

"He then punched the woman in the face, causing her to lose consciousness."

Police constable Adrian Counsell said: “This is a particularly nasty assault in which a young woman has been enjoying an evening with her family at a charity boxing event, and has then been attacked leaving her with a broken jaw."

The attacker is desribed as of mixed race, in his late twenties, about 5ft 8ins tall and of slim to muscular build with short dark hair.

He was wearing a white collared shirt, dark trousers, and was carrying a man bag.