YACAMA, Wash.
–– If you talk the talk, then you better walk the walk,
especially when local world champion Kelsey Jeffries is in the
opposing corner.
Seattle fighter Carla Wilcox ran her mouth leading up to
Friday’s six-round, 124-pound bout at Legends Casino in Yacama,
Washington. But she could not back up her words, as Jeffries
stopped her 1:49 into the opening round.
YACAMA, Wash. –– If you talk the talk, then you better walk the walk, especially when local world champion Kelsey Jeffries is in the opposing corner.
Seattle fighter Carla Wilcox ran her mouth leading up to Friday’s six-round, 124-pound bout at Legends Casino in Yacama, Washington. But she could not back up her words, as Jeffries stopped her 1:49 into the opening round.
“She was local so I said, ‘I’m not going to let it go to the judges. I’m not going to lose this,'” said Jeffries, following her second career first-round knockout. “She was talking smack. She said she was going to jump on me in the first round and try to take me out.”
Jeffries kept quiet beforehand, but jumped all over Wilcox from the opening bell until the referee stopped the fight.
“I really tried to take my time, too. I nailed her with a couple of jabs that I thought hurt her,” said Jeffries, who then sent Wilcox to the canvas with a powerful left hook. “I nailed her with a body shot and saw her hand go down and just nailed her. … I could feel it all the way down my arm. It felt like I hit a wall. It was just a solid shot.”
Wilcox (4-4, 2 KO) went down and barely got to her feet by the 10-count. The garlic slinger welcomed Wilcox with a flurry of power shots to the body and head before the referee got between them, ending the fight.
“I was actually surprised she got back up because it was such a hard shot. She went down so fast and so hard, I thought she’d be out. But she was tough. She got up so I just jumped on her,” Jeffries said. “I was nailing her with some really hard shots. She wasn’t even keeping her hands up. She was leaning on the ropes. She was out on her feet.”
Jeffries, tagged “The Road Warrior” for a reason, made short work of Wilcox for her first knockout since her professional debut when she floored Sandra Mapone in 61 seconds in Tuscon, Arizona in July 1999. Mapone suffered a broken nose.
“I give all the respect to my opponents. I think it was very disrespectful for someone to be the way she was acting and I don’t like that,” said Jeffries of Wilcox’s pre-fight comments. “I don’t care if you are 10-0 or 0-0, I give all fighters respect.”
Jeffries, a world champion who holds four championship belts, upped her professional record to 24-8 with two knockouts as well as her 2003 record to 8-1.
“When we went to the middle of the ring, I starred her down and she didn’t even look me in the eye. I knew she was scared,” Jeffries said. “She didn’t come at me (right away), but after nailed I her with the first punch, she started coming at me. … I hit her with a right hook to body. She dropped her right hand, so I came back upstairs and hit her with the left hook.”
After winning by TKO, Jeffries, who is undefeated in three fights in Yacama, received a big ovation from the 3,000 fans in attendance.
“People were going nuts,” said Jeffries, who had to return home for her Fire Academy final exams at Gavilan College.
As soon as her match ended, Jeffries cooled down with a shower before making a four-hour drive in the snow to the airport in Portland. After three hours in the airport, Jeffries hopped on the 6:40 a.m. plane that landed in San Jose at 8:15 a.m.
Up next, Jeffries will decide whether to take a January bout in Nigeria or a February fight in Japan.
