The North American Boxing Federation
recently changed
some of its rules pertaining to women boxers. Those
rule changes and other policies prompted NABF 122
champion, Kelsey “Road Warrior” Jeffries, to ditch her
NABF title.
Jeffries won both her bouts broadcast this year on the
FXS network Best Damn Sports Show events. The 31
year-old blonde is a fire fighter outside the ring,
and her 38-9-1 record has her walking around with 5
titles in three weight divisions. But up until July
25, she was carrying six. That was the day Jeffries
resigned from her NABF 122 lb championship. The
decision was based on the recent change in the NABF
rules, which now require a champion to defend the
title within six months rather than the usual year.
The CBZ asked Jeffries’ manager, Bruce Anderson for
permission to publish the explanatory resignation
letter he sent to Rex Walker, the President of the
NABF.
Date: July 25, 2007
Dear Mr. Walker,
The purpose of this letter is to advise you that your
amendments to the NABF Championship rules as recently
announced, are alarming and also to convey to you our
position regarding this matter. It is our opinion that
it is not the fighters’ job to solicit Promoters to
conduct NABF Title defenses. For a sanctioning
organization to place the onus on the Champion to
perform the duties of a Broker and/or a Matchmaker
places undeserved pressure on the Boxer. By adding an
unrealistic time frame, you are compounding that
pressure. It is the fighters’ responsibility to
prepare herself to fight. She must do this without the
fear of being stripped of her hard-earned title due to
the lack of a promoter willing to pay for a sanctioned
fight.
In the case of a fighter like Kelsey Jeffries, who
holds multiple Championships, to accept this added
responsibility would be difficult and burdensome. For
Kelsey, as well as many other fighters, it is not easy
to obtain ANY fight, much less a title match. The
purse for a female fighter is generally much less than
for a comparable male fight, and even less in a title
fight due to the promoters’ sanctioning expense. As
one can see, the fighter pays a substantial price
directly and indirectly to hold the belt.
Consequently after careful consideration and
deliberation, Kelsey has decided to surrender her NABF
Super bantamweight Title effective upon receipt of
this letter by your office.
Respectfully,
Bruce Anderson,
Manager of Kelsey Jeffries
Kelsey Jeffries currently holds the following titles:
--WIBA Intercontinental, 130 lbs
--California State 126 lbs
--WIBF Americas, 126 lbs
--IFBA 126 lb World Championship
--IBA 122 lb World Championship
---Katherine Dunn
*Cyberboxingzone.com
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