Local women’s champion loses decision in non-title bout at San
Jose Civic Auditorium
SAN JOSE – Kelsey ‘The Road Warrior’ Jeffries did not want another “war” when she squared off against southpaw Jo Jo Wyman for the fourth time in their professional careers Friday night at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.
Wyman just wanted a win after losing the first three encounters by decision to Jeffries – who strayed from her warrior instincts and instead tried to work her jab and outbox her opponent.
That decision hurt.
While Wyman pushed the action and consistently connected with her left cross – ultimately impressing the judges and winning a majority decision – Jeffries side-stepped around the ring and never really got busy with her hands throughout the eight-round, non-title bout.
“Why does it have to be a war? It was a war when I beat her the first three times. I thought I didn’t need to war this time,” said Jeffries, as she finished signing autographs for some of her young fans in attendance. “I thought I won the fight. She hardly landed with anything.”
Two of the three ring-side judges saw otherwise, as Wyman won on two cards by wide 79-73 and 79-74 margins to notch her first victory over Jeffries. The third judge called it a 76-76 draw.
“I thought the fight was much closer than what the judges said. Kelsey was catching her with good jabs and right hands,” Jeffries’ trainer Rick Mello said. “This is the first time in four fights that she beat Kelsey… I thought Kelsey should have won the fight.”
It was only one month ago that Jeffries won a decision over Wyman in fight number three. But Wyman scored a first-round knockdown in that fight and also gave Jeffries 12 stitches before ‘The Road Warrior’ battled back to take the decision.
“I felt it was a bad decision,” said Jeffries, whose nine-bout winning streak came to an end before a sparse crowd at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.
Jeffries was originally scheduled to fight opponent Liz Drew in a 10-round title bout for one of her championship belts – but Drew could not pass a state-mandated examination and was forced to withdraw. Wyman then agreed to fill in for another eight-round rematch – but the commission would not sanction it as a title fight, according to Mello.
“I would fought the same way (if it was for my title),” Jeffries said. “Why does it have to be a war every time? I was moving and sticking.”
With Gilroy Unified Schools holding graduations on Friday, the turn-out was far less than expected. It was the first time Jeffries – who has been the semi-main event on several successful cards – was featured as the main event on a card.
“It was really difficult to get this fight off,” said Mello, who promoted the seven-bout, pro-am card along with a partner under Upfront & Undisputed Sports Entertainment. “We went up against graduation and graduation beat us.”
Up next, Jeffries is scheduled to fight again July 6 on the Oscar De La Hoya-promoted ‘Fight Night At The Tank’ series.
After three amateur bouts and then three professional bouts – including an all-out brawl between Oakland’s James ‘Dark Angel’ Buggs and San Jose’s Jesse ‘Shotgun’ Martinez – Jeffries and Wyman entered the ring for the main event. But from the get-go, Jeffries was not her usual aggressive self – sticking and moving rather than squaring up with an incoming Wyman.
“She was lethargic,” said Mello of Jeffries. “She still fought a good fight. This just wasn’t her fight. You have to take the bad with the good. I thought she did well. She fought like what we planned to do. I thought she won the fight.”
With Wyman gobbling up the early rounds by simply throwing more punches and pushing the action, Jeffries finally let loose in the fourth round – connecting with a solid right hand and then a combination. Wyman, however, responded in the fourth with left hooks flush to Jeffries’ face.
Following a quiet fifth round, Wyman started to land her left hand even more. At the end of the round, Wyman caught Jeffries twice in the face with solid lefts. Jeffries smiled as she was not hurt by the blows – but the points were still rolling in for Wyman.
Jeffries landed her best punch in the seventh round when she connected with a solid right. But Wyman finished things off with several lefts to the nose.
In the eighth and final round, the fighters opened with a good exchange and then Jeffries began to work her jab with efficiency. Jeffries got the better of Wyman in the last two minutes, but she was behind in the scorecards and needed a knockout that never came.
“It was a good fight, a good learning experience for her,” Mello said. “Both girls were winners.”
In earlier pro action, Buggs won a bloodied decision over Martinez; Ismael Sandoval won a unanimous decision over Danny Laborin in the battle of winless fighters; and San Jose’s Cecil McKenzie knocked out San Diego’s Shawn Townsend with a right hook in the second round.
