By Gail Janotta
Staff Writer

Photo caption - Geboria Mayfield warns opponents not to look past her because of her size. (Photo credit: Calm Before the Storm Promotion)

Standing just over 5-foot-5 and weighing in at 125 pounds, 24-year-old Columbus, MS super bantamweight Geboria Mayfield doesn't cast a menacing shadow. However, Mayfield says not to let her size fool you.

"I always tell folks you can't judge a book by its cover. I may be small, but I can hit 10 times faster than I look like I could," Mayfield said.

Her trainer, Oliver Miller, from Miller's Boxing Gym in Columbus, agrees.

"Geboria only weighs 125 pounds. She is always in the gym working hard. She's easy to work with and has been in this sport for a long time," Miller said.

Mayfield's boxing career started at a very young age.

"I started Karate at the age of four. Then when I got to a certain age, I started kick-boxing. But because I could only get six fights I decided to see what I could do in boxing," Mayfield said.

"Geboria started working with me at age four in Karate. She has done this all her life. Right now her only problem is her knee," Miller said. "She injured it in a previous boxing match. Just trying to keep her healthy right now is the thing."

Mayfield (2-4, 1 KO) was most recently in action on July 11. She suffered a TKO loss in the third round against Houston's Johanna Mendez (6-0, 2 KOs) at the San Miguel Arena in Houston. 

In April, Mayfield couldn't overcome a knee injury and lost by TKO in the second round to Texan Jennifer Scott in Houston.

"I wished I had worn my knee brace in that fight. I had hurt it in a previous fight," Mayfield said. "I hurt the same knee in the fight. It started bothering me again."

In January, Mayfield won a 4-round unanimous decision over Fort Worth's Lisa Lamb (5-4, 2 KOs) at the Coca-Cola Center, in Oklahoma City, OK. Two judges saw Mayfield winning the bout 40-36, while the third saw it 39-37.

Mayfield said her basic combos and right hand are her strengths. She said her one weakness is conditioning. She said she has to continually run to remain in shape. She chuckled as she made no bones about it that she doesn't like running very much.

Winning a title for her fans in Mississippi is what Mayfield hopes to accomplish before ending her boxing career.

"I want to be the best here in Mississippi I can be and hopefully win a title," said Mayfield.

Mayfield's favorite pro boxer is former welterweight and middleweight world champion Sugar Ray Leonard. It's a simple choice.

"I like Sugar Ray because he was a great fighter. And the fact that he was a small fighter as myself," Mayfield said. 

Mayfield has no future fights scheduled. She said finding fights in Mississippi is rather difficult, so all of her fights were out of state. She has fought twice in Texas and once each in Louisiana, Illinois, Oklahoma and New York,