One of the women who was throwing Will Smith around in his nightmare was Fredia "The Cheetah" Gibbs, who in real life was a three-time World Kickboxing Champion.
Will wants to get Nicky involved in boxing and starts talking like an announcer (particularly Howard Cosell) to Nicky as if Nicky is Muhammad Ali. Will Smith would later star as the boxer in Ali (2001). Also, later on in the episode, Will learns that a girl, Helena, is Nicky's boxing instructor. He laughs and mentions how there are Muhammad Alis and Mike Tysons but no female boxers. Muhammad Ali's daughter, Laila Ali, became one of the first professional female boxers in 1999.
Ashley's new employer, 'Dippity Do Dog', is inspired by shopping mall food court eatery Hot Dog On A Stick. The uniforms, the hats, the corn dog dipping, and even the lemonade churning are all staples of each franchise.
The title of the episode, "Boxing Helena", is a take-off on the 1993 horror film of the same name.