Dr. Stefi Cohen stopped Haydee Zapa in the third round of their bout at Hotel Catalonia Malecon Center in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic last Friday. Cohen has her doctorate in physical therapy.
Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Cohen moved to Miami, Florida in the United States at the age of 17. In Venezuela, she was a successful soccer player. Once in the U.S. she found a new passion. She became a record-breaking world champion weightlifter.
At 28 years old, Cohen is taking on a new challenge. She told her Instagram followers, "I am genuinely just excited to be participating in a new sport."
Cohen came into her debut weighing 123.6 pounds while Zapa, a 25 year old Colombian, weighed in at 127. Stefi showed some nerves in the opening round, which was an extra thirty seconds long and featured a wardrobe malfunction on Zapa's part.
The second round was much better for Cohen though she had also won the first. She was at her best feinting, jabbing, and picking Zapa apart from the outside. When the two boxers entered into fire-fights, all technique went out the window.
Cohen landed some hard rights from the outside in the third. To her credit Zapa, who showed more heart than skill, was willing to trade shots. Cohen landed a couple hard rights as the two fighters swung away and the Colombian went down. Her coach rushed into the ring and, although she got up in time, her coach asked the referee to stop the fight.
Zapa (now 3-5, 2 KOs) was a good opponent for Cohen's debut. She had experience, toughness, and was willing to throw punches back, but she didn't have the proper technique or skill to cause Cohen much trouble.
After the fight, Cohen, who is now 1-0 with one KO, wrote on Instagram, "Excited the first one is out of the way and excited to keep building my record as a boxer." Her next fight is scheduled for September 18.
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