Success finds Cofer in classroom, boxing ring

Kelli Cofer is ranked as the eighth best female featherweight boxer in the world, but her 10-2-3 record is only a small part of her success in and out of the ring.

In addition to being a successful professional athlete, Cofer, 26, also succeeds in her academic challenges as well as in business. She is enrolled in classes at the Mansfield campus of Ohio State University.

"I think that I've been able to juggle being a successful boxer (while) keeping my grades up," Cofer said. "I run my own company, and I manage a karate school. I've got a lot of things going, and I've been able to be successful in all of them."

Cofer originally started out her career as a kickboxer but soon found out that being a superstar in an uninspired sport was harder than she thought.

"The best you do, the harder it is to get fights; nobody will fight you," she said. "Kickboxing dried up real fast because I had almost all knockouts as an amateur."

Cofer hasn't only found success at every level of physical competition, but has also found the time to run a successful landscaping business as well as maintain her grade point average -which is close to a 4.0 - in engineering.

"I'm going back to school right now at the Mansfield branch, and I'm trying to get involved again academically," Cofer said. "I haven't taken classes in a few years because I've really been concentrating on boxing."

Rodger Smith, assistant director of the Mansfield campus, said it is commitment that separates Cofer from other competitors and students.

"I would think that (her success) starts with her commitment to what she's involved in," Smith said. "Commitment is what she's about, relative to having good grades and being a great boxer."

That concentration and commitment has been paying off. Richard Clement-Bey, the co-founder of the Alamar Movement and promoter of Cofer's next fight, said he sees tons of promise from the 5-foot-9-inch Cofer.

"I'd describe her style as aggressive - very aggressive. I think she's headed toward a world championship," Clement-Bey said.

Some may ask why Cofer would continue with all of her other endeavors, including school and business, if her boxing career was going so well. One of those reasons is her father, Jim Cofer, who also happens to be her trainer.

"He's my dad, and he's very adamant about keeping my grades up," Cofer said. "Because, after boxing it's going to be schooling that carries you, and he's always pushed that as much as boxing."

Cofer said she enjoys having her father as her trainer because she is able to trust the decisions he makes for her, both professionally and personally.

"His main concern is always going to be me, as an athlete and as a person," she said.

Cofer said she has to multi-task daily, having to keep her grades high as well as keep her body in top shape for competition.

"There's no slacking off," she said. "We have to be ready for the same deal as the men. It takes a lot of time and a mental burden you can't imagine."

Despite her success in the ring and in the classroom, Cofer said she is skeptical about the boxing future she has in front of her. Beside the fact that female professional fighters make only a fraction of the money that male prize fighters do, she said how difficult it has been to find women to fight her, and wants to keep her options open for the future.

"Right now, because of the way things are going, I'd like to keep my feet wet, stay involved in the sport," Cofer said. "Keep my training up, do it enough where in a certain amount of time I could be ready for a fight."