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.
Spring Break
