By Michele Emrick
Jeff Mayweather has become one of the most well known trainers in combat sports today. While you may be aware of his work with such high profile fighters as Celestino Caballero, Sultan Ibragimov, Roy Nelson, King Mo and others, it is his work with young up and coming fighters where you can often see his best work. Zach Cooper is one such example.
Saturday night in Tacoma, Washington, Cooper made his debut in about as impressive of a manner as possible. With the signature Jeff Mayweather overhand right, he planted Rafael Umarov on the canvas, scoring a knockout just thirty seconds into the very first round. Mayweather couldn’t have been more pleased with his young fighter.
When asked what he thought of Cooper’s performance in his debut, Mayweather said, “He did exactly as I asked of him and landed a perfect overhand right which I told him has to become his signature punch. I give him an A+ because he did exactly as I asked of him. It just happened faster than I anticipated. The strategy was to start at the body then go over the top. That’s exactly what he did.”
If this performance was any indication of the power he possesses in that right hand, that is sound advice indeed. For his part, Cooper believes that Mayweather has the ability to guide him along the path to success and is willing to follow his lead.
“Jeff is a genius and he told me I had to work on that shot, so we worked on it. I knew what to look for and all it was is how am I gonna time it. So I knew it was gonna happen, I just thought it would be 2nd round,” Cooper said when discussing the plan going into the fight.
It’s pretty clear from this performance that Zach Cooper has a ton of potential. Added to that, he has one of the best trainers in the world to guide him, and he trains with some of the best fighters in the world at the Mayweather Boxing Club. With all these factors benefiting him, it will be interesting to see how far he can go. Perhaps one day his name will be right up there with some of the other greats Mayweather has worked with.
“My 1st win as a pro is a relief. Great feeling, great blessing. Now that it’s over, I’m ready for my next bout and ready to make my name in the game,” he said.
While it’s too early to determine how good Zach Cooper will ultimately be, based on this performance, it’s clear he is off to a fantastic start. With continued hard work as well as guidance from Jeff Mayweather, he should be a middleweight to watch for in the very near future.
