Post by Dee Williams on Mar 21, 2006 18:04:18 GMT -5
Jeffries' Tank Fight Cancelled
www.gilroydispatch.com/sports/contentview.asp?c=181733
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
By Ana Patejdl
Her face might be on the promotional posters, but Kelsey "Ali'i Warrior of the South Bay" Jeffries won't be fighting in this week's Fight Night at the Tank at HP Pavilion as previously scheduled.
When told Monday morning who promoter Goossen Tutor had set up as an opponent, Jeffries' manager Bruce Anderson pulled his fighter from Thursday's card, which is being headlined by Hector Camacho Jr.
Anderson said the proposed opponent, 5-foot-6 Super Featherweight Valanna McGee, was two weight classes heavier than Jeffries, and not one of the 12 fighters (who ranged from 122 to 126 pounds) that Anderson recommended to Goossen Tutor matchmaker Tom Brown as possible opponents.
"I said no. She's not the kind of fighter I would consider," Anderson said. "I'm not going to put in Kelsey with someone that big."
Brown said he had trouble finding an opponent to get in the ring with the 33-9 Jeffries for the money Goossen Tutor was offering for the fight.
"We had a somewhat limited budget and the person I got (Anderson and Jeffries) felt there was a little bit of a weight difference," Brown said. "It's not my job to twist their arm and make them take the fight. They weren't happy. I'd looked high and low and been all over place… and when I finally found someone, they didn't want to fight."
Anderson was also disappointed that it took Goossen Tutor so long to find an opponent. Jeffries had been committed to the fight for six weeks.
This isn't the first time Jeffries has been set up with McGee. The Ali'i Warrior beat McGee in a fight in Bakersfield back in 2003. The two were set to meet again at a Fight Night event early last year. Jeffries showed up to fight, but McGee didn't, claiming she never received a contract.
The Hollister-based fighter didn't want the same thing to happen this time around.
"It's frustrating for me," Jeffries said. "I want to get 40 wins this year and I hate putting (all my fights) together. I would like to spread them out."
She added, "I'd fight (McGee). I'd fight her at my small weight. But that's why I have Bruce. It's smart (what he did). Why should I get in with a girl at least 10 pounds heavier if they don't pay me?"
Jeffries, who lost for the first time since June 2003 in January to Jackie Nava in a World Boxing Council (WBC) Female Super Bantamweight title fight, needs seven wins to earn 40 wins for her career. But as the 30-year-old Jeffries has become more successful, fewer opponents have wanted to face her. Last year, the Jeffries camp was able to schedule just three fights, as opposed to eight the year before.
Another problem, Anderson said, is that female fighters are not getting the same respect or pay as male fighters. The smaller talent pool in women's boxing doesn't help either.
"The problem is Kelsey is a main-event fighter. If she was a man, she would be in the top three for fights, as popular as she is," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, they still look at women as novelties and Kelsey is not a novelty. She's a hell of a fighter, male or female, and I have to fight that mentality all the time."
Jeffries expressed disappointment in not being able to fight at the Tank, a venue where she usually draws a large fan base.
"That's my town and I would do whatever I had to do to fight there," she said. "But this is pretty low."
Jeffries has a fight set for June at Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort in Oregon, but she hopes to get in the ring before that time for at least one fight.
www.gilroydispatch.com/sports/contentview.asp?c=181733
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
By Ana Patejdl
Her face might be on the promotional posters, but Kelsey "Ali'i Warrior of the South Bay" Jeffries won't be fighting in this week's Fight Night at the Tank at HP Pavilion as previously scheduled.
When told Monday morning who promoter Goossen Tutor had set up as an opponent, Jeffries' manager Bruce Anderson pulled his fighter from Thursday's card, which is being headlined by Hector Camacho Jr.
Anderson said the proposed opponent, 5-foot-6 Super Featherweight Valanna McGee, was two weight classes heavier than Jeffries, and not one of the 12 fighters (who ranged from 122 to 126 pounds) that Anderson recommended to Goossen Tutor matchmaker Tom Brown as possible opponents.
"I said no. She's not the kind of fighter I would consider," Anderson said. "I'm not going to put in Kelsey with someone that big."
Brown said he had trouble finding an opponent to get in the ring with the 33-9 Jeffries for the money Goossen Tutor was offering for the fight.
"We had a somewhat limited budget and the person I got (Anderson and Jeffries) felt there was a little bit of a weight difference," Brown said. "It's not my job to twist their arm and make them take the fight. They weren't happy. I'd looked high and low and been all over place… and when I finally found someone, they didn't want to fight."
Anderson was also disappointed that it took Goossen Tutor so long to find an opponent. Jeffries had been committed to the fight for six weeks.
This isn't the first time Jeffries has been set up with McGee. The Ali'i Warrior beat McGee in a fight in Bakersfield back in 2003. The two were set to meet again at a Fight Night event early last year. Jeffries showed up to fight, but McGee didn't, claiming she never received a contract.
The Hollister-based fighter didn't want the same thing to happen this time around.
"It's frustrating for me," Jeffries said. "I want to get 40 wins this year and I hate putting (all my fights) together. I would like to spread them out."
She added, "I'd fight (McGee). I'd fight her at my small weight. But that's why I have Bruce. It's smart (what he did). Why should I get in with a girl at least 10 pounds heavier if they don't pay me?"
Jeffries, who lost for the first time since June 2003 in January to Jackie Nava in a World Boxing Council (WBC) Female Super Bantamweight title fight, needs seven wins to earn 40 wins for her career. But as the 30-year-old Jeffries has become more successful, fewer opponents have wanted to face her. Last year, the Jeffries camp was able to schedule just three fights, as opposed to eight the year before.
Another problem, Anderson said, is that female fighters are not getting the same respect or pay as male fighters. The smaller talent pool in women's boxing doesn't help either.
"The problem is Kelsey is a main-event fighter. If she was a man, she would be in the top three for fights, as popular as she is," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, they still look at women as novelties and Kelsey is not a novelty. She's a hell of a fighter, male or female, and I have to fight that mentality all the time."
Jeffries expressed disappointment in not being able to fight at the Tank, a venue where she usually draws a large fan base.
"That's my town and I would do whatever I had to do to fight there," she said. "But this is pretty low."
Jeffries has a fight set for June at Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort in Oregon, but she hopes to get in the ring before that time for at least one fight.
