Jerome "Kid" Coffee (born March 16, 1958) is an American former

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

in the bantamweight division.

Amateur career

Coffee had an outstanding amateur career and won several national championships, Amateur record 205 fights 193 wins (or 185–8 by the May 5, 1980 estimate) including: *1977 National AAU Flyweight champion, decisioning Ronnie Clifford of Hickory Hills, Illinois, in the final. *1978 National PAL Flyweight champion *1979 National PAL Flyweight champion *1979 Pan American Games bronze medalist :*Defeated Gilberto Román (Mexico) points :*Defeated Jorge Hernández (Cuba) points :*Lost to

Pedro Nolasco Pedro Nolasco (February 2, 1962 – September 15, 1995) was a Dominican boxer, who won the bronze medal in the men's bantamweight category at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. This was the first Olympic medal of the Domi ...

(Dominican Republic) points *1979 National Golden Gloves Flyweight champion He was ranked #3 Flyweight amateur boxer in the world by the

AIBA The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is an independent sport organization that sanctions amateur (Olympic-style) boxing matches and awards world and subordinate cha ...

.Top-ranked amateur boxers to square off Friday
''The Jackson Sun'', February 3, 1980, p. 29.

Professional career

Coffee turned professional in 1980 and had great success. He won his first 26 bouts, leading up to a clash with

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

Jeff Fenech Jeff Fenech (born 28 May 1964) is an Australian former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2008. He won world titles in three weight divisions, having held the IBF bantamweight title from 1985 to 1987, the WBC super-bantamweight ...

for the IBF bantamweight title in 1985 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Fenech retained his title over Coffee via unanimous decision after the bout went the full 15 rounds. Coffee retired in 1994.

References

1958 births Living people Boxers from Tennessee Sportspeople from Nashville, Tennessee National Golden Gloves champions Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers American male boxers Boxers at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in boxing Bantamweight boxers {{US-boxing-bio-stub