NORMAN, Okla. — Jesse Comer, a 2005 Humboldt High School graduate, hopes to add a title belt to his fledgling boxing resume on Friday. BUT INSTEAD of giving up on his athletic dream, Comer simply readjusted his sights. COMER IS THE son of Al and Sylvia Comer and the brother of Iola’s Damaris Kunkler. He now lives and trains in Norman.
Comer, 27, will vie for the vacant Oklahoma Welterweight Championship when he spars against Martin Morales Jr. at Oklahoma City’s Chevy Bricktown Event Center.
The doors open at 7 p.m. The fights start at 8.
“I don’t know a whole lot about (Morales),” Comer said Wednesday in a telephone interview.
What he does know is Morales brings substantially more experience to Friday’s bout. In just his second professional fight, Morales boxed more than 80 times as an amateur.
For Comer, this will be his sixth professional bout.
With a 3-2 record, Comer’s road to the boxing ring came about through happenstance.
Comer originally began mixed martial arts in college after being introduced to the sport at Oklahoma City’s Conan Academy.
Comer found himself training among fighters who had been exposed to MMA training for years.
But what he lacked in experience, Comer made up for with a deep love of mixed martial arts, his own athletic ability and quick learning.
Comer began training in earnest after college, winning his first two professional matches.
Disaster struck in 2009, as Comer was training for his third.
“I blew out my knee,” he recalled. “I tore my ACL, MCL, everything.”
The injury sidelined Comer for more than two years after it became evident the rigors of MMA were too risky for his reconstructed knee.
The toughest part of the injury was it occurred shortly before Comer was invited to participate in Bellator MMA, one of the premier mixed martial arts events in the country.
“I had to tell them no,” he said.
To boxing.
Much like his MMA career, he goes in against fighters with vast more experience. Comer has compiled a 3-2 professional record as he learns the nuances of the sport.
“Oklahoma has a lot of good up-and-coming fighters,” he said.
Training for the welterweight title meant slimming down to 148 pounds by fight night.
“It can be a lot of work to get down to that weight,” said Comer, who usually weighs around 160 pounds.
His training was delayed slightly after his last fight Dec. 28 because of illness, but slimming down to the proper weight went smoothly through proper diet and rigorous training the last two weeks.
‘Mexicutioner’ vies for welterweight title
