Ask world champion Bernard Hopkins what the value in an undefeated record is and he’ll tell you that he’s only experienced that for a very brief moment in his career – the moment just before his professional debut fight began. Just take a look at International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Henry Armstrong who not only lost his professional debut fight but began his career with a 1-3 record – only to go on to achieve multiple world championships and thus gained status as being a part of a prestigious Hall of Fame roster. Only in the ironic circumstances of the sport of boxing is an undefeated record even remotely obtainable – that is, if your promoter has a plan to carve that path out for you.
Since 1920, only one team in the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins, has ever gone undefeated and that statistic was only measured with the games of one season. Take any professional sport and every one and every team has incurred a loss at one time or another. So when it comes to boxing, perhaps being undefeated only garners inflated accolades while the bottom line may suggest that the level of opposition hasn’t quite been the elite of challengers.
So when boxing’s former world champion Melinda Cooper stepped foot into the ring in her hometown of Las Vegas to once again challenge for a second world title, she faced many emotions. One, she was attempting to beat Ada Velez, the only woman to have a win over Melinda in her professional career. Two, she was attempting to challenge for the 122-pound world title for a second time. Eight months earlier, Melinda and Ada battled it out in Costa Rica when Ada narrowly won the title by a split decision. This time, Ada traveled from her residence in Florida to Melinda’s hometown to defend that very same title. A tall measure, some would say, yet history repeated itself in a different setting, Ada, once again gained a win over Melinda, this time by majority decision and retained the championship. But what does this all mean in the end?
Let’s not forget everything Melinda has accomplished. She was an amateur national champion many times over – so much in fact that no one wanted to enter her weight division at times as to avoid boxing her. She was the youngest woman to ever turn professional in boxing in the state of Nevada. She is also a former world champion in the 111-pound weight division.
At the age of 26, Melinda’s back to back loss to the same individual is by no means anything unseen in boxing. Ask Shane Mosley about the late Vernon Forrest and if Forrest were still with us today, ask him about Ricardo Mayorga. Mosley, Forrest and Mayorga are all world champions, yet Forrest defeated Mosley two out of two fights, Mayorga defeated Forrest two out of two fights and Mosley knocked out Mayorga in their one fight. However, these losses never diminished the legacy nor the occasions in which these three champions rose to elite world champion status.
For Melinda, the win loss record doesn’t define the champion or the character. While people will always try to come up with statistics to describe and to categorize an individual, it’s not how society collectively celebrates achievements. We think of an individual through their entire journey, the rise, the fall and ultimately, the pinnacle of the rise once again. If asked to describe Melinda, she is a young woman whose kind soul and achievements lay the groundwork for inspiration. As one of the few champion athletes who was born and raised in Las Vegas, Melinda has set a precedent for not only her hometown residents but as one of the pioneers of women’s boxing that who started at the junior amateur level. At the age of 11, Melinda first put on a pair of gloves and stood her ground against the boys. She was a gender minority in the gym yet she always persevered to learn, to become more polished, and to ultimately become a champion. Win. Lose. Who cares? If you want to write about the numbers, then also indelibly ink this next to Melinda Cooper’s name: World Champion.