First, hurricanes pushed back Kelsey Jeffries’ WBC Women’s Super
Bantamweight title bout with Jackie Nava in Cancun from Dec. 3 to
Jan. 28.
Hollister – First, hurricanes pushed back Kelsey Jeffries’ WBC Women’s Super Bantamweight title bout with Jackie Nava in Cancun from Dec. 3 to Jan. 28.
Now, it doesn’t look like the Ali’i Warrior of the South Bay will get the Dec. 8 warm-up fight scheduled in place of the postponed title fight. Jeffries’ manager Bruce Anderson said he can’t find an opponent for his fighter because it’s not a title bout.
The Dec. 8 fight was scheduled to the Highland-based San Manuel Casino’s first show.
“We wanted to be on that and worked hard to get there,” Anderson said.
Jeffries last fought in July’s Fight Night at the Tank at HP Pavilion against Leona Brown, whom she defeated in a six-round unanimous decision. After five months out of the ring, the 30-year-old fighter is itching to get back in once before the title fight. The long, intense training schedule is beginning to wear on Jeffries.
“I’m really concerned about her mental and emotional state and how long she’s going to maintain for two more months of training,” Anderson said “So I’ll be looking and looking (for a fight) and spending days on the phone.”
Ironically, Jeffries’ title opponent Nava, a Tijuana native, earned her WBC Women’s Super Bantamweight belt from Brown in May. Anderson’s biggest concern about the fight is having it on Nava’s home turf.
“(Nava’s) got a fair record,” Anderson said. “She won the title last summer and I think she’s defended it against really nothing . . . So I’m not concerned about the fight as much as getting out of there with a decision.”
The title bout postponement and uncertainty about the Dec. 8 have been fitting developments during a year that has presented a lot of scheduling difficulties for Jeffries. But Anderson is more optimistic about 2006, which may include a televised fight in April.
“Next year looks a bit more promising,” the manager said. “(Kelsey’s) durable. I’m sure she’ll get past this.”
