For local boxer Kelsey Jeffries, claiming the IBA featherweight
title meant facing the toughest fighter of her career.
For local boxer Kelsey Jeffries, claiming the IBA featherweight title meant facing the toughest fighter of her career.
Come Saturday night, defending that belt only means more of the same.
“Now I’ve got another one that’s just as tough,” said Jeffries, ranked No. 1 in the world in her division. “I guess the tough ones are the only ones who want to fight me.”
Back in September, she outlasted former kickboxing world champ Jeri Sitzes at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The fight was close, hard-fought and decided by the judges.
Expect more of the same at the Seven Feathers Resort in Canyonville, Ore., where Jeffries (29-8, 2 KOs) will square off against Trisha “TNT” Hill for the 126-pound world title.
The 29-year-old Georgia native was 16-1 as a kickboxer, 32-4 as an amateur boxer and is now 6-4-1 (2 KOs) as a professional boxer.
“She’s been in a tough of fights,” Jeffries said. “She’s tough as hell.”
Hill is traveling to the Pacific Northwest with a good deal of baggage, though.
In February, she won the WIBF featherweight title by beating Silke Weickenmeir on her home turf in Stuttgart, Germany. However, she was stripped of the title a few months later after her test results came back showing traces of Norandrosterone, a form of anabolic steroids banned by the World Anti-Doping Association.
“I believe it,” Jeffries said. “She’s very masculine … very deep voice.
“That’s OK, though. I’m not afraid, because taking steroids doesn’t mean you’re good. It just means you’re a little crazy.”
While working with world-class trainer Buddy McGirt for two weeks down in Florida, Jeffries came up with a few keys to a victory.
Most importantly, she wants to connect on several body shots. While kickboxers tend to be in excellent shape, Jeffries said they also tend to fight “a little more straight up” and don’t respond well to hits below the shoulders.
“We’ve definitely been working on my power,” she said of her recent training. “I want to get more paralyzing body shots. That’s definitely what will do it for me.”
While watching film, Jeffries also noticed a few mistakes from her bout with Sitzes. Too often she would stand right in front of her opponent and too often she would keep her head still after landing a punch.
“In this fight,” she said, “I have to step around or go side-to-side and I’ve got to make a habit of moving my head.”
The two boxers do have one common opponent: Kelli Cofer. While Hill fought her to a draw, Jeffries won a unanimous decision over Cofer a year ago tomorrow.
As Jeffries is quick to acknowledge, though, the latter fight took place close to home at the Shark Tank.
Saturday’s fight will be waged on neutral territory.
“I’m not at home and there’s new judges,” Jeffries said. “Plus there’s a little more pressure because I’m defending my title.
“But she’s definitely going to have to take it from me, though.”
