Kelsey Jeffries wins on Saturday in San Jose, fights tonight in
Oregon
CANYONVILLE, Oregon – Boxers usually have months, sometimes even a year, to plan and prepare for their next big fight.
Not Kelsey Jeffries.
‘The Road Warrior’ earned a unanimous six-round decision over Fresno’s Lisa Lewis Saturday at the San Jose State University Events Center and she will step back into the ring tonight at the Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Oregon to take on New York’s Leona Brown.
“It took a lot of mental preparation for me,” Jeffries said. “Usually, you have some time off, but I had to immediately start to think about preparing for another fight.”
Her first fight in San Jose was originally scheduled for May 15, was then moved back to May 22, and eventually pushed even further back to June 12. Well, Jeffries manager, Bruce Anderson, had already scheduled another six-round bout for his fighter June 18 in Oregon.
Jeffries, who likes to keep busy and usually takes a fight a month, could have pulled out of either bout, so there wasn’t such a crunch. But like the true champion she is, the Gilroy-based pugilist who resides in Hollister decided to do both regardless of the mere six-day separation.
“I feel good,” said Jeffries from her hotel room in Oregon last night. “I’m ready to go.”
Although there are some valid excuses, Jeffries would and will not use any despite fighting six rounds on Saturday, flying into Portland on Tuesday night and then driving three hours to the casino in Canyonville with her second fight on Thursday.
That’s just not in her nature.
Over the weekend, Jeffries squared off with Lewis, who weighed in at 134 pounds for the fight. Jeffries, who has gotten as low as 122 pounds, was weighed in at 130 pounds, but she was fully clothed wearing a heavy jacket when she stepped on the scale.
“She’s a big, strong girl,” said Jeffries of Lewis, who took the fight on short notice. “We were hoping get one easy fight (but) it was tough fight. I just boxed her. Just to please the crowd, I played with her a little on the inside.”
But Jeffries knew she was fighting again in a few days and did not want to risk suffering any cuts or injuries against Lewis. So, like her trainer James ‘Buddy’ McGirt has been teaching her to do in Florida, Jeffries simply outboxed her bigger opponent.
“I took a few chances that I probably shouldn’t have,” she said. “But I had to go by my name and play the warrior thing.”
Jeffries’ performance was enough to earn her 26th professional win and also leave her in good condition for the upcoming fight.
“It was a good tune-up to this,” Anderson said. “The girl couldn’t hit Kelsey with a broom.”
Once the fight was over, Jeffries did not celebrate for long. She started thinking about her upcoming fight against Brown.
“Next day I had to run. I didn’t take any days off. It was run the next day, run the next day and get on the plane,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries is also familiar with Brown’s style. She has not fought her before, but was lined up to a couple of times before things fell through.
“I’ve somewhat followed her for a while knowing we would hook up,” Jeffries said. “She’s a tough little girl. She’s a little shorter than me. Physically, she seems a little bigger. She’s just very tough. She’s in your face and has the attitude to back it up.”
But this time the tale of the tape is as even as it gets for Jeffries, who has grown accustom to fighting heavier opponents. They will both be fighting at 123 pounds and, unlike previous fights, Jeffries does not expect Brown to balloon up after the weigh-in.
“She’s my size and I’m really looking forward to fighting her,” Jeffries said. “I was hitting this last girl so hard it was bruising my hand. She just shook her head and kept coming. When I hit girls my size (like Brown is), they are going to go flying through the ring. If not, I’ll get their respect and they’ll start running.”
