Elena Reid and Melinda Cooper: Two chicks who plan to rule the roost

By Clinton Mollett

26.04 - The two most hottest prospects in woman's boxing today are the talented 21 year old Elena Reid and 18 year old Melinda Cooper. The two girls have shown remarkable progress in their boxing ability recently and eventually they plan to dominate at 115 lb and 118 lb. If all goes to plan they could become the future superstars of woman's boxing following in the footsteps of the most recognized female boxers out there, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker. Both Reid and Cooper are on track to fulfilling this dream and making it a reality.

The two girls have many things in common with each other, among them being they are the youngest professional female boxers in the world, they are both tipped to be future world champions and the pair are also cousins. Melinda Cooper who represents one half of this family boxing duo is a girl with a deep amateur background which is rare among woman boxers who enter the pro ranks often doing so with no amateur experience whatsoever. But not Melinda however, she has won six US National Woman's Championships and numerous other tournaments on her way to clocking up an impressive 37-2 amateur record. Melinda is currently 8-0 (5KO's) as a professional, a record she started putting together as a 17 year old when she made history by becoming the only professional female boxer, and the only one of three, male or female, to be approved in the state of Nevada to box professionally before ! the age of 18.

Her cousin Elena Reid sports a pretty impressive record of her own with 13-1-2 (4KO's) losing only once to a more experienced fighter at the start of her professional career, she does not have a amateur background but rather she has had to learn on the job which would be a hard task for even the most talented fighter but one she has taken on quite well, she is already the No.1 contender in her weight division and plans to have a belt around her waist before the year is out.

You wouldn't pick it but when these feminine looking girls start swinging their fists around they can do quite a lot of damage. Both possess genuine punching power and this was evident when one male sparring partner was left battered and bloodied after a sparring session with Reid, despite his size advantage. Elena spars with both male and female partners. "Sparring with girls is good because I fight girls, "she says, "but I enjoy sparring with guys more. When I spar with guys they are heavier than me, it helps build my confidence. One of her sparring partners says, "I don't think of Elena as a girl, rather a machine, so I don't mind hitting her. Besides she can take it and hits as hard as I do.

Elena has excellent work ethics at an age when most girls are hanging out at the mall with their friends and worrying about what type of shoes they're going to wear. But not Elena. She trains in the gym six days a week for three to three and a half hours a day, runs five days a week for about an hour, lifts weights five days a week for about an hour and does various cardio and abs workouts at home, and in between classes at UNLV were she is studying towards a degree in Sports Medicine. She also holds two part-time jobs and incredibly on top of all this she also volunteers for the Country College Care Home in her spare time.

Melinda also has good work ethics although her schedule may not be as busy as Elena's she has been made aware of what it takes to make it in the school of hard knocks by her trainer Roger Mayweather who is a former world champion himself. Roger also currently trains his own nephew Floyd Mayweather Jr. which means Melinda is obviously in good hands. Roger's assessment of Melinda is that with her talent and dedication to training combined with her maturity outside the ring, Melinda has the mark of a world champion.

A while back Elena went to visit her cousin Melinda and help her with her sparring at the Absoloot gym where another boxing talent (Laila Ali) is on the rise. Both Elena and Melinda were impressed with each others progress. Melinda remains undefeated after stopping her last opponent in one round and Elena is to fight for a world title this coming June. Lets hope these girls are the chosen ones to get woman's boxing on the map.

Questions/Comments - fightgame1@hotmail.com