Local boxer training hard in Florida
Buddy McGirt’s boxing gym – McGirt Boxing – has turned the small
town of Vero Beach, Fla., into somewhat of a hotbed for boxing
talent.
Tony Thompson, who will fight world heavyweight champion
Wladimir Klitschko in July, is currently there. The up-and-coming
Peterson brothers – Anthony and Lamont – who are a combined 50-0,
are present as well.
Local boxer training hard in Florida
Buddy McGirt’s boxing gym – McGirt Boxing – has turned the small town of Vero Beach, Fla., into somewhat of a hotbed for boxing talent.
Tony Thompson, who will fight world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in July, is currently there. The up-and-coming Peterson brothers – Anthony and Lamont – who are a combined 50-0, are present as well.
Kelsey “The Road Warrior” Jeffries (40-9-1), who’s been at McGirt Boxing the last two weeks in preparation of her Thursday bout with Jessica “Goodnite” Mohs (7-17-2), is also present training with the famed two-time world champion McGirt.
But with temperatures creeping into the high 80s and the humidity nearing 90 percent this past week, Vero Beach is more than just a hotbed of fighters.
“It’s hot and the gym is just mobbed with people,” said Bruce Anderson, Jeffries’ manager.
“Oh my goodness,” Jeffries said. “Last week, it wasn’t so bad. I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got it made.’ But there’s really nothing like the heat. It sucks you dry, but you’ve got to find the strength somewhere. When you’re body breaks down, you’ve got to keep going.”
Although Jeffries’ IFBA Featherweight championship belt will not be on the line next Thursday against Mohs, the Hollister fighter is seeking to be in top physical condition in order to offset the likely weight differential with her opponent.
In an odd give-and-take relationship with the excessive heat, Jeffries is trying to train hard for her upcoming fight, but is also looking to gain weight at the same time.
The high temperatures are just making everything a little more chaotic.
“I’m so under(weight),” Jeffries said. “I’m eating the food, but I can feel the food going away as I eat it.”
The contract weight for the fight is listed at 125 pounds. With an added one-pound leeway, Anderson expects Mohs to weigh in at 125 pounds, at least, if not 126.
Jeffries, who ideally is 122 pounds, was at 122 1/2 on Monday, and 123 on Tuesday. But Anderson isn’t expecting that half-pound to stay.
“As soon as she hits the gym, she’ll probably lose it again,” he said. “In this heat, it’s brutal.”
Seeking to weigh-in at 123 1/2 pounds, Anderson plans on replenishing his prize fighter when they return to California this weekend.
“Hopefully, I’ll put on a pound or two,” Jeffries said.
Although Jeffries trains harder when she’s not preparing for a fight – making her training with McGirt all the more easier – she admits the heat is adding a level of difficulty.
Jeffries awakes every morning at 7 to begin her calisthenics, and then heads to the gym at 10 a.m. for her workout with McGirt.
After approximately 90 minutes of training, Jeffries eats, rests, and then goes on a one hour run at 3 p.m.
She finishes her day with dinner and a walk, and then repeats everything the following day.
“She looks really good,” Anderson said. “She looks better than she thinks she does. She looked pretty sharp on the big bag …”
Mohs, 36, recently lost to Noriko Kariya (9-2-1) by unanimous decision on April 30, and hasn’t won a fight since defeating Melinda Woody (1-4-0) by knockout on May 11 of 2007 – four fights ago for the Oklahoma boxer.
Jeffries hasn’t fought since Dec. 23 when she defeated Yun-Jung Jun by unanimous decision in South Korea. Her June 12 bout against Mohs will be the 51st fight of her career, and will take place at the Seven Feathers Casino and Hotel Resort in Canyonville, Ore., where she is 7-0-1.
Despite the hindrances of a six-month layoff and the high heat and humidity, Vero Beach has been swarming with press this past week as well, as Anderson noted a British press contingent was in town to follow Tony Thompson’s preparation for Klitschko.
But the media sideshow has not distracted Anderson’s fighter, and although the heat is certainly an annoyance, it remains to be just that.
“I’m so focused on what I’ve got to do,” Jeffries said. “I don’t care. I’m more focused on what I’ve got to do, what Kelsey has got to do.”
