It’s a big night for women’s boxing on Thursday, March
22 at the Isleta Casino Resort in Albuquerque, NM, when Kelsey “Road Warrior” Jeffries defends her IFBA featherweight title against Rhonda “The Natural” Luna.
Their fight is one of three women’s title bouts on the card, all scheduled to be broadcast by the Best Damn Sports Show on FOX. The matches are all interesting and contentious, like the Jeffries-Luna encounter.

At 31, the 5’5” champion Kelsey Jeffries of Gilroy, CA, has fought all over the United States, in Europe and in Mexico. She’s racked up a record of 36-9-1, 3 KO’s. A fast and classy boxer, Jeffries has been trained by the famed Buddy McGirt for the last four years. Though Jeffries walks around at 120 pounds and prefers to fight at bantam or super bantam, she stays busy fighting heavier opponents. She holds the 126-pound title for several sanctioning bodies and has owned the IFBA belt for more than four years. Jeffries is a fire
fighter for the Hollister, CA fire department.
 

Rhonda Luna, of Irvine, CA is 28 and 5’2,” and has fought her entire career as a strong, smart featherweight. Undefeated with 12-0-1, 1 KO, Luna has been trained by Victor Valenzuela since her amateur days. She took time off after her March 31, 2006 six round decision over Lina Ramirez, but came back with a majority decision over Sosadea Razo in February.

©Photo: J.P. Yim

Luna, a high school guidance counselor currently working on her master’s degree, says she’s ready for this title shot. “ Training for the fight in February was perfect. The whole plan was to have one fight and then look for something really big and this fell right into my lap so it couldn’t come at a more perfect time.”

“I knew pretty much from day one, since I started boxing and decided that I was going to be fighting in this weight class that all roads led to Kelsey Jeffries. My main goal in this sport is to be the best and to be the best you’ve got to beat the best. I have a lot of respect for Kelsey and I know that she’s been in this sport for a long time so I knew at one point
in time if I kept rising in the ranks that we’d meet.

Jeffries knows Luna is gunning for her. “I know she’s gonna be a big girl. I know she’s undefeated and very tough. So I prepare for her like I do the rest. I expect her to be everything I can imagine that would be something I wouldn’t want to be in the ring with. The worst possible--she’s a good boxer, a good puncher. She’s everything I don’t want to see. So I’ll
prepare for the best.”

Both Jeffries and Luna have fought on televised cards before, but usually as swing bouts. They agree that March 22 is significant for women in the sport.

“I’m honored to be a part of it,” says Kelsey Jeffries. “I really want to help women. I don’t know if I’m going to be there long enough to make the money or to get the props that the guys get. I don’t know if that’s going to happen for me. But I at least want to make it easier for the ladies coming up behind me. I want to make it so people will respect women’s boxing,
so they’ll respect our skill and our style and how we fight. I want to make a new chapter in women’s boxing in fights like this. I’m fighting a big, very tough, undefeated, hungry fighter. I’m not fighting somebody that’s gonna sit down. I’m fighting a girl who wants to steal my belt. And that’s the kind of fights that need to be shown on TV.“

“It’s a very big deal,” says Rhonda Luna. “Especially because the women just don’t get as much exposure as we would like. So when we’re given an opportunity like this it’s a great thing. It really gives us an opportunity to show the public in general that we can fight. It should be a great night of boxing.”