Melinda Cooper

Who is Melinda Cooper?

Melinda "La Maravilla" Cooper, born in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 6, 1985, was the WIBA and IBA Flyweight Champion of the world, and is recognized as one of the elite female professional boxers on the planet.

Cooper started boxing in 1996, after meeting trainer James Pena at the Nevada Partners gym in Las Vegas. Pena recalls that at first he did not realize that Cooper was a girl, because she was with three boys and the hood of her coat was over her head. "There were a group of kids there, and I asked them all if they wanted to box, but no one really wanted to. Then I asked Melinda, 'How about you?' and she said she'd try it. It wasn't until the next day I realized she was a girl." "I told her, `Oh, sweetheart, I can't let you box. You're a girl. I can't let you box with the boys.' But she said she wanted to try and box them." She lasted four rounds that first day, and made an impression on Pena, who had never trained a female before. "I told her, `If you want to box, show up at 3:30 and don't be late. Every day since, she's showed up at 3:30." Pena later became Cooper's legal guardian.