For at least one night, 30 came before 29 for local boxer Kelsey
Jeffries.
For at least one night, 30 came before 29 for local boxer Kelsey Jeffries.
On the eve of her 29th birthday, Jeffries fought her way to an early present Saturday at the Seven Feathers Resort in Canyonville, Ore. It came in the form of career victory No. 30 – a hard-fought, 10-round decision over Trisha Hill.
With the win, Jeffries retained the IBA featherweight title and maintained her No. 1 world ranking in the 126-pound division. She also avoided putting a downer on the post-bout birthday dinner set up by manager Bruce Anderson and attended by several friends and family members.
“That would’ve (stunk),” Jeffries said. “I was not going to lose, because there was no way in hell I wanted to go celebrate after a loss. That would’ve been terrible.”
Thanks to a bevy of body shots, she didn’t have to.
For two weeks, Jeffries worked out in Florida with trainer Buddy McGirt, who emphasized the importance of landing plenty of punches below the shoulders.
Jeffries (30-8, 2 K0s) did just that against Hill, a former kickboxing champ who tends to fight straight up.
“I just kept giving her right and left hooks to the kidney,” Jeffries said. “She had her hands so high and I’d just nail her with a hook. She literally spun around one time.
“I just kept digging and digging, and she went farther back into the ropes. I thought the ref was going to call it at one point. You could tell I was hurting her.”
Anderson said his boxer was the aggressor from the start.
“Kelsey looked very good … very aggressive from the first bell,” he said. “She just never let up – kept the pressure on her the whole fight.”
Like she expected, Jeffries said Hill was “big and tough” – claiming the Georgia native probably fought at close to 140 pounds.
“I was just so much faster, though,” Jeffries said. “She probably thought I was a little girl, but I wanted to let her know I ain’t a little girl.”
The three judges took notice, basically giving Jeffries every round but one. One judge scored the fight, 100-90, and the other two gave it to Jeffries, 99-91.
“Everything I went to Florida to learn, I did in this fight,” Jeffries said. “The right hand, the body shots … it was a really good fight for me. I was sharp. I hardly got hit.”
It was that kind of night for the birthday girl.
“Everything just came together perfectly,” Jeffries said. “I was accurate, felt good … I just saw things. It was like everything was in slow motion.
“Fights like that, they’re kind of addicting – definitely make you want to fight again. It was an incredible war with this girl. Fortunately, I got the better end of it.”
