“Even though I was staying pretty busy working with fights Doc, I just wanted my chance.” Terri
went to a couple State Amateur fights but could never get a match due to her size (103lbs) and
age. (now36) Eventually Doc called her to offer her a professional fight at a heavier weight with
newly crowned WIBA Intercontinental Champion Wendy Sprowl. Terri remembers how it went,
“Yeah, I was told she wasn’t very good and that I might have a chance to win. (Laughing) She
almost knocked me out with the first jab. I was told to “exaggerate” my experience to the
commission just to get the fight sanctioned. It’s funny how quickly I forgot how things worked
out there, even though I had seen it so many times with other guys I knew. Then again, you
know something’s amiss when your trainer doesn’t come to your pro debut. I realized at that
point that if I was going to box, I was going to have to do things the hard way just like all the
other guys at my gym with loosing records.” Terri managed to make it through the fight
standing, and went on to fight two other top-ten rated flyweights starting her career off at 0-3.
There had to be a better way.
During this time, Terri met Atlanta’s Xavier Biggs at an amateur fight through her friend John
Trigg. Xavier and John had known each other for years, and Xavier offered to help John in his
training. “I just slid in behind John hoping Biggs would train me too. He never ran me off so I
kept coming.” She drove 120 miles a day to train at Biggs’ Boxing Forum near Buckhead, Ga. It
was at this time that Terri got the offer to fight Atlanta’s #1 world ranked Nina Ahlin. “This was
sticky. Biggs started Nina off and trained her most of her career. I wasn’t sure how he would
react to the fight. She was training with someone else now, but I was new. The night before the
weigh-in he sat me down and explained why it wouldn’t be right for him to work the corner. I
understood, but he went on to say that he believed something special was going to happen that
night. That was all the encouragement I needed. My new trainer believed in me and wanted me
to win. I was filled with excitement. Nothing could stop me from walking away with that win.”
Terri pulled off the upset that night and never looked back.
Not long after that, Xavier Biggs began working with local promoter Steve Collins who used Terri
on his cards, bringing her record up to 3-3. Even in the excitement of Terri’s career finally
moving, Terri began to experience another side of boxing; Pressure. “When no one expected me
to win I guess it was only for me, but when there were people putting hard work and money into
my career, I started letting pressures get to me. I almost felt guilty about it. The pressures
weren’t concerning ‘who’ I fought, rather, ‘how’ I fought. They were pressures to ‘perform’ and
they backfired completely. Almost every time I stepped it up I would let the pressures get to me
and I would fail to perform. Fortunately for me, Xavier Biggs is a master teacher. He taught me
that you will gravitate to what ever your mind focuses on the most. You focus on pressure and
you will succumb to it. While most fighters are taught this early in their career, in most cases I
had to learn “after the fact.” It took me some time to understand the power of the mind and
how to use it to my advantage. The knowledge of these things is what will finish taking me to
where I’ve always intended to go, which is to the center of the ring with that World Champion
belt around my waist.”
On May 10, 2007, Terri finally met her goals when she defeated Stephanie Dobbs in Tulsa,
Oklahoma for the WIBF Strawweight World Title and the WIBA Mini Flyweight Intercontinental
Title. She retired one year later on May 9, 2008 without having fought beyond that fight. During
her career Terri fought for five different World Titles. Even in her retirement she still has no
doubt of her abilities and what she will do. “I retired as Champion, and now that I've retired I’ll
help other women become World Champions. The way I see it, each loss in my career was
nothing more than an attempt that has shown me the way “not” to do it. So I didn’t go back
there, and I tried another way. I’ve learned not to promote my own title fight, not to go into
third-world countries and subject myself to “highway robbery”, to stay in the general area of my
own weight class, and most of all to believe in myself and never, never quit. These experiences
have made me a great trainer and a real, true, Champion. As Xavier Biggs puts it, a “Champion
of Life.” It is philosophy I take into the gym every day and share with other women. Boxing can
be cruel and demeaning as a sport, but it can also be extremely positive and fulfilling for women
that want something special or different on a competetive or a fitness level. While I will never
encourage women to compete, I will say just as I did the first day, “Nothing compares to this.”
For those who compete I will share all of my experience, for those who do not, I will show them a
work-out that is totally supreme to anything they can do physically. The challenge is interesting
and fun and can take your physical fitness to unimaginable levels with any real consistency. After
retirement my next goal is to have the first boxing gym in the region that serves an all-female
client base.
went to a couple State Amateur fights but could never get a match due to her size (103lbs) and
age. (now36) Eventually Doc called her to offer her a professional fight at a heavier weight with
newly crowned WIBA Intercontinental Champion Wendy Sprowl. Terri remembers how it went,
“Yeah, I was told she wasn’t very good and that I might have a chance to win. (Laughing) She
almost knocked me out with the first jab. I was told to “exaggerate” my experience to the
commission just to get the fight sanctioned. It’s funny how quickly I forgot how things worked
out there, even though I had seen it so many times with other guys I knew. Then again, you
know something’s amiss when your trainer doesn’t come to your pro debut. I realized at that
point that if I was going to box, I was going to have to do things the hard way just like all the
other guys at my gym with loosing records.” Terri managed to make it through the fight
standing, and went on to fight two other top-ten rated flyweights starting her career off at 0-3.
There had to be a better way.
During this time, Terri met Atlanta’s Xavier Biggs at an amateur fight through her friend John
Trigg. Xavier and John had known each other for years, and Xavier offered to help John in his
training. “I just slid in behind John hoping Biggs would train me too. He never ran me off so I
kept coming.” She drove 120 miles a day to train at Biggs’ Boxing Forum near Buckhead, Ga. It
was at this time that Terri got the offer to fight Atlanta’s #1 world ranked Nina Ahlin. “This was
sticky. Biggs started Nina off and trained her most of her career. I wasn’t sure how he would
react to the fight. She was training with someone else now, but I was new. The night before the
weigh-in he sat me down and explained why it wouldn’t be right for him to work the corner. I
understood, but he went on to say that he believed something special was going to happen that
night. That was all the encouragement I needed. My new trainer believed in me and wanted me
to win. I was filled with excitement. Nothing could stop me from walking away with that win.”
Terri pulled off the upset that night and never looked back.
Not long after that, Xavier Biggs began working with local promoter Steve Collins who used Terri
on his cards, bringing her record up to 3-3. Even in the excitement of Terri’s career finally
moving, Terri began to experience another side of boxing; Pressure. “When no one expected me
to win I guess it was only for me, but when there were people putting hard work and money into
my career, I started letting pressures get to me. I almost felt guilty about it. The pressures
weren’t concerning ‘who’ I fought, rather, ‘how’ I fought. They were pressures to ‘perform’ and
they backfired completely. Almost every time I stepped it up I would let the pressures get to me
and I would fail to perform. Fortunately for me, Xavier Biggs is a master teacher. He taught me
that you will gravitate to what ever your mind focuses on the most. You focus on pressure and
you will succumb to it. While most fighters are taught this early in their career, in most cases I
had to learn “after the fact.” It took me some time to understand the power of the mind and
how to use it to my advantage. The knowledge of these things is what will finish taking me to
where I’ve always intended to go, which is to the center of the ring with that World Champion
belt around my waist.”
On May 10, 2007, Terri finally met her goals when she defeated Stephanie Dobbs in Tulsa,
Oklahoma for the WIBF Strawweight World Title and the WIBA Mini Flyweight Intercontinental
Title. She retired one year later on May 9, 2008 without having fought beyond that fight. During
her career Terri fought for five different World Titles. Even in her retirement she still has no
doubt of her abilities and what she will do. “I retired as Champion, and now that I've retired I’ll
help other women become World Champions. The way I see it, each loss in my career was
nothing more than an attempt that has shown me the way “not” to do it. So I didn’t go back
there, and I tried another way. I’ve learned not to promote my own title fight, not to go into
third-world countries and subject myself to “highway robbery”, to stay in the general area of my
own weight class, and most of all to believe in myself and never, never quit. These experiences
have made me a great trainer and a real, true, Champion. As Xavier Biggs puts it, a “Champion
of Life.” It is philosophy I take into the gym every day and share with other women. Boxing can
be cruel and demeaning as a sport, but it can also be extremely positive and fulfilling for women
that want something special or different on a competetive or a fitness level. While I will never
encourage women to compete, I will say just as I did the first day, “Nothing compares to this.”
For those who compete I will share all of my experience, for those who do not, I will show them a
work-out that is totally supreme to anything they can do physically. The challenge is interesting
and fun and can take your physical fitness to unimaginable levels with any real consistency. After
retirement my next goal is to have the first boxing gym in the region that serves an all-female
client base.
 |  |  |  |  |
| Catch Terri and Xavier "Bad Pads" Biggs in training on YouTube. Check it Out Now > |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Official Site for Terri Moss terrimoss.com |
TERRI MOSS, born in Denver, Colorado, moved to Athens, Georgia in
1975 where she grew up and resided until 2003 when she moved to
Atlanta to work with her trainer, Xavier Biggs. Prior to boxing, Terri
pursued a career in Law Enforcement working at several different levels
in that field. Her experiences there took her from uniformed patrol and
bicycle patrol to undercover narcotics investigations, school resource
officer, and then on to teaching at state Police Academies in narcotics,
surveillance, organized crime, and many other topics. It wasn't until at
the age of 34 she stumbled into a boxing gym at the urging of a friend
who had decided to take up the sport. "I'm going to learn how to box
so I can beat up my ex-husband", the friend had said. Terri agreed to
try it "just once" so her friend wouldn't have to go alone. As soon as
she got into the gym, the boxing workout impressed Terri like nothing
she had ever seen. "I have always stayed in decent shape, running,
lifting weights, cycling, but I couldn't hit those pads for a minute
without wanting to throw up!" When introduced to boxing, Terri had
been training for her first triathlon, but gave it up instantly. "Nothing
compares to this."
1975 where she grew up and resided until 2003 when she moved to
Atlanta to work with her trainer, Xavier Biggs. Prior to boxing, Terri
pursued a career in Law Enforcement working at several different levels
in that field. Her experiences there took her from uniformed patrol and
bicycle patrol to undercover narcotics investigations, school resource
officer, and then on to teaching at state Police Academies in narcotics,
surveillance, organized crime, and many other topics. It wasn't until at
the age of 34 she stumbled into a boxing gym at the urging of a friend
who had decided to take up the sport. "I'm going to learn how to box
so I can beat up my ex-husband", the friend had said. Terri agreed to
try it "just once" so her friend wouldn't have to go alone. As soon as
she got into the gym, the boxing workout impressed Terri like nothing
she had ever seen. "I have always stayed in decent shape, running,
lifting weights, cycling, but I couldn't hit those pads for a minute
without wanting to throw up!" When introduced to boxing, Terri had
been training for her first triathlon, but gave it up instantly. "Nothing
compares to this."
BOXING BIOGRAPHY
Long after her friend lost interest in boxing, Terri continued to
train in Athens, Georgia, under Chicago native "Doc" Keppner
for the next two years. Doc was reluctant to train Terri due to
her age (34 at that time) and the fact that she had Hepatitis
C. He told her she couldn't box but should learn how to work
corners, do some fitness training, and other boxing practices
if she wanted to be involved in the sport. Disheartened but
not at all ready to give up, Terri continued going to the gym,
working fights with Doc, and training with the aid of one of
Doc's fighters, John Trigg.
All the while, she had her own dreams and goals - to be a
professional fighter and become a World Champion – and she
worked toward that goal in spite of the obstacles. She learned
how to work corners and the intricate work of the cutman,
along with seeing much of the underhanded behind the scenes
works in boxing. She and stable mate John Trigg became a
working team, and on several occasions she stepped in as
chief second and cutman for him, while he trained her. At
home Terri sought medical advice on how to become cured
from Hepatitis C.
train in Athens, Georgia, under Chicago native "Doc" Keppner
for the next two years. Doc was reluctant to train Terri due to
her age (34 at that time) and the fact that she had Hepatitis
C. He told her she couldn't box but should learn how to work
corners, do some fitness training, and other boxing practices
if she wanted to be involved in the sport. Disheartened but
not at all ready to give up, Terri continued going to the gym,
working fights with Doc, and training with the aid of one of
Doc's fighters, John Trigg.
All the while, she had her own dreams and goals - to be a
professional fighter and become a World Champion – and she
worked toward that goal in spite of the obstacles. She learned
how to work corners and the intricate work of the cutman,
along with seeing much of the underhanded behind the scenes
works in boxing. She and stable mate John Trigg became a
working team, and on several occasions she stepped in as
chief second and cutman for him, while he trained her. At
home Terri sought medical advice on how to become cured
from Hepatitis C.
She found that treatments were available, and in rare cases, people were cured. She wasted no
time in getting the treatment, but not without suffering great loss. "It was pretty bad. I think the
worst part was the depression caused by the combination of drugs, and the hair loss and breakage
was no party. There were sores that wouldn't heal and fatigue." Terri found it difficult to work
because of short-term memory loss caused by the medication. "Work as an investigator became
impossible. I couldn't think without broken thought patterns and I couldn't remember important
details." Eventually she was suspended and forced to undergo psychological evaluation. She lost
her badge, weapon and credentials, and now had an unforgivable blemish on a hard-earned status
as their top-producing agent. "I don't get it, they knew about the treatment. I guess I shouldn't
have tried to continue working during that time. No matter what excuse they had, I was infuriated
at their lack of support in such a difficult time." Fortunately, the psychologist knew about the side
effects of the medication and cleared Terri concluding that she needed only to rest. She was given
back all she had lost at her job, but decided she didn't want it back and would never again allow her
circumstances to be controlled by someone other than herself. "I'm going to be cured, I'm going to
pursue my boxing career, and I'm going to make a new way for myself. It will be my way, one that
is only decided at my own hands.” With the pressures of high-stress investigations out of the way
and continuing through her treatment, halfway through Terri went back to the gym. Having only
the energy to train for about two rounds, she spent her six minutes wisely, went home, and slept
for hours to recover. She continued this way until she had finished her medication, slowly building
herself up for her new start. One month after completing the treatment she read the first results of
her dedication to the medication. "Zero virus. Even my doctor was surprised." Thanking God for
the miracle, her next thought was that she wanted to get serious about training, and she wanted to
fight.
time in getting the treatment, but not without suffering great loss. "It was pretty bad. I think the
worst part was the depression caused by the combination of drugs, and the hair loss and breakage
was no party. There were sores that wouldn't heal and fatigue." Terri found it difficult to work
because of short-term memory loss caused by the medication. "Work as an investigator became
impossible. I couldn't think without broken thought patterns and I couldn't remember important
details." Eventually she was suspended and forced to undergo psychological evaluation. She lost
her badge, weapon and credentials, and now had an unforgivable blemish on a hard-earned status
as their top-producing agent. "I don't get it, they knew about the treatment. I guess I shouldn't
have tried to continue working during that time. No matter what excuse they had, I was infuriated
at their lack of support in such a difficult time." Fortunately, the psychologist knew about the side
effects of the medication and cleared Terri concluding that she needed only to rest. She was given
back all she had lost at her job, but decided she didn't want it back and would never again allow her
circumstances to be controlled by someone other than herself. "I'm going to be cured, I'm going to
pursue my boxing career, and I'm going to make a new way for myself. It will be my way, one that
is only decided at my own hands.” With the pressures of high-stress investigations out of the way
and continuing through her treatment, halfway through Terri went back to the gym. Having only
the energy to train for about two rounds, she spent her six minutes wisely, went home, and slept
for hours to recover. She continued this way until she had finished her medication, slowly building
herself up for her new start. One month after completing the treatment she read the first results of
her dedication to the medication. "Zero virus. Even my doctor was surprised." Thanking God for
the miracle, her next thought was that she wanted to get serious about training, and she wanted to
fight.
