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5'5" southpaw Alicia
Ashley was born in Jamaica on 23 August 1967. She lives in
Westbury, Long Island, NY and trains at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn. She
began kickboxing in April 1995, and compiled a 10-0-1 amateur record as
a kickboxer. Her amateur boxing resume was also impressive ... she was
the New York City Golden Gloves Champion in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and
the USA Boxing National Amateur 125-lb gold medalist in 1997 and 1998.
At the first USA Boxing
Women's National Amateur Championships held in Augusta, Georgia on July
16-19, 1997, Alicia won the 125-lb title with a 4-1 decision over
Deidre Fabian of Wilmington, North Carolina.
At
the 1998 Women's National and Senior Junior Olympic Championships on
May 26-31 in Anaheim, California, Alicia again won the 125-lb division
by defeating Dierdre Fabian, this time by a 15-9 margin.
On July 10, 1998 at the
Lackawanna County Stadium, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Alicia defeated
Danielle Bouchard of Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada in an international meet
between the USA and Canadian women's amateur boxing teams. Her final
record as an amateur boxer was 16-2.
She made her pro boxing debut
on January 29, 1999 in Atlantic City with a six-round split decision
over highly-favored English world champion kickboxer Lisa Howarth. The
skills honed by Ashley as an amateur won out over the British star's
ring experience and power.
On
May 20, 1999 Alicia dropped a hard-fought majority (57-57, 58-56,
58-56) decision to 1999/1998 Canadian national amateur 60/57 kg
champion Doris Hackl on
Hackl's home turf in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was a razor-close
battle that had the Halifax fans on their feet! Hackl, a 5'8" business
executive from Pugwash, Nova Scotia, had been undefeated in 17 amateur
bouts including international competitions, and went on to win the IFBA
Junior Lightweight world title in April 2000.
On May 27, 1999 in Tunica,
Mississippi, Alicia quickly staked her claim to a place near the top of
the featherweight rankings with an eight-round unanimous decision over
veteran IFBA world champion Bonnie
Canino.
On February 11, 2000 she
returned to Tunica to take on WIBF Junior Lightweight champion Laura Serrano of Mexico City
and dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to the Mexican star, who
advanced her record to 9-0-1.
On May 13, 2000 at Conseco
Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Australian kickboxing champion Songul Oruc
who now fights out of Las Vegas, moved her pro record to 3-1 with a
controversial four-round split decision over Alicia. Oruc was "a bloody
mess" according to our source while Ashley was unmarked, and the crowd
booed the decision.
On June 29, 2000 at Viking
Hall in Philadelphia, Alicia won an eight-round split decision over Leona Brown, who fell to 8-4.
Judges Manny Altman and Ron Greenley scored it 77-75 and 78-74 for
Ashley; Rose Vargas scored it 78-76 for Brown.
On September 3, 2000 in
Yerington, Nevada, Alicia weighed in at 126 lbs and won a six-round
unanimous (58-56,58-56,58-56) decision over WIBF Americas Featherweight
champion Kelsey Jeffries
(124½ lbs) of Gilroy, California, who fell to 8-2. “I went out there to
outbox her. I know people want to see brawls,” said Ashley. “My
straight left gave her trouble. With her technique, straight on, I knew
it would.” 800 fans saw the card in an outdoor stadium in a downtown
Yerington parking lot; it was also carried by Univision. Ashley had
defeated Jeffries once before, as an amateur in the 125-lb
quarterfinals of the 1997 USA Boxing National Championships, where
Alicia won by a 4-1 score.
On February 14, 2001 at St.
Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Alicia weighed in at 122 lbs and won a
four-round unanimous (40-36, 40-36, 39-37) decision over Claudette
Alexander (118 lbs). Alexander fell to 4-1, while Ashley improved to
6-3.
On January 13, 2002 at the
Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, IFBA Featherweight champion Layla McCarter and Alicia
fought to a six-round majority draw ((59-55 Ashley,57-57,57-57). There
were no knockdowns in a fight in which Ashley was busier than McCarter
but neither landed a lot that was solid. Both seemed happy to tie each
other up in the later rounds. McCarter landed well to Ashley's body
near the end of the third and Ashley tagged McCarter with two good
shots to the jaw in the final stanza. McCarter moved her record to
9-5-3 (2 KO) with this result.
On February 23, 2002 at
Bally's Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Alicia (125 lbs) was the
busier fighter as she won a ten-round split (96-94,96-93,93-97)
decision over Kelsey Jeffries
(125 lbs) from Gilroy, California. A standing-room-only crowd at saw
Ashley gain the vacant IWBF Featherweight title using good ring
movement and her jab to keep Jeffries at a distance. Neither fighter
was in serious difficulty during the fight, although Ashley was knocked
down briefly in the second round when Jeffries caught her with a
straight left as she was coming in. Judges Emil Comforti and Melvina
Lathan gave the bout to Ashley, while Henry Grant saw it for Jeffries.
Jeffries was a late substitute for Layla McCarter on this card, as
McCarter withdrew after losing to Jessica Rakoczy in Las Vegas the
previous weekend. Jeffries slipped to 11-7-0 (1 KO) with the loss.
On August 27, 2002 at Civic
Center in Savannah, Georgia, a crowd estimated at 1200 saw #6 ranked
junior lightweight Chevelle
Hallback (127 lbs) of Tampa, Florida win a ten-round
unanimous (98-92,99-92,99-91) decision over Alicia (127 lbs) to claim
the IBA women's Junior Lightweight title. Hallback dominated the last
eight rounds of bout after both landed well in the early going.
Hallback improved to 10-3-1 (5 KO) while Ashley slipped to 7-4-1 (0
KO).
On November 15, 2002 at Super
Domo Orfeo in Cordoba, Argentina, Alicia (120¾ lbs) won a controversial
ten- round split (96-94,96-94,95-97) decision over Marcela Acuña (120½ lbs) of
Formosa, Argentina to win the vacant IWBF Super Bantamweight (Junior
Featherweight) title in the first women's world title
fight to be staged in Argentina. Ashley advanced to 8-4-1 (0 KO) while
Acuña's record dropped to 9-3-0 (4 KO) as she absorbed her first pro
boxing loss in her own country. My correspondent tells me
that few heavy punches landed but, until the last two
rounds when she began to fade, the Argentinean had the initiative
with Ashley in trouble several times from her digging right
hands. Ashley moved around the ring well but Acuña quickly adjusted to
the problems of fighting a southpaw, whose left hooks in the first two
rounds presaged a danger that never materialized. Ashley´s attempts to
use her superior reach to keep Acuña off faltered in the fifth round
and later. The Argentinian press had Ashley winning only the last two
rounds and some described the decision as a ´scandal´, ´a robbery of
historic proportions´ and even ´criminal´. However, Horacio Pagani, in
Clarin, took a different view, saying that Ashley demonstrated her
``technical superiority".
On June 14, 2003 at Complejo
Republica Venezuela in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alicia (119¼ lbs)
successfully defended her IWBF Junior Featherweight title with a
convincing
ten-round unanimous (98-92,97-92,97-94) decision over Marcela Acuña (120 lbs) of
Argentina in a rematch that was mandated by the IWBF after
reviewing tape of their November 2002 bout.
In this rematch, instead
of relying on counter-punching as she had done in their first
fight, Ashley consistently beat Acuña to the punch, while each time the
Argentinean tried to respond with a salvo of her own, Ashley would be
elsewhere. This time, Ashley handed Acuña a drubbing that brought
praise from the Argentinean press ... “Superlative!
Magisterial!. A gazelle, whose movements at times become a symphony of
coordination and harmony,” raved DyN. “Muhammad Ali
in a skirt,” shouted someone from the back of the crowd during the
fight. “A ballerina,” said another. For Claudio Coronel of Boxeo-Boxing,
Ashley was a mixture of Houdini and D’Artagnan. “Her long arms extend
swiftly like goads, that sting, and retract”. With a blinding pepper
spray of blows from all angles penetrating her guard, Marcela, it
seems, could do nothing. “Ashley was a hieroglyphic she had no idea how
to decipher,” wrote DyN, whereas Ashley seemed to
have prior knowledge of every move Acuña made. Ashley even outhustled
Acuña in the clinches, to the dismay and even despair of Acuña's fans.
Acuña fell to 11-4-0 (6 KO) with the loss.
On November 15, 2003 at Trend
Eventhotel Pyramid in Vösendorf, Vienna, Austria, Vienna-based Esther Schouten of Hoorn,
Holland won a ten-round split decision over Alicia for the WIBF world
Junior Featherweight title. Schouten improved to 14-2-0 (5 KO).
On March 27, 2004 at Cliff
Anderson Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana, Alicia (121 lbs) won an
eight-round unanimous decision over Shondell
Alfred (5'4", 111 lbs) of Georgetown. Alfred was rocked by a
left cross midway through the third round and her gloves touched the
canvas for an official knockdown. Alfred fell to 7-4 (2 KO).
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Owen/WBAN's Exclusive photographer
On March 26, 2005 at Harrah’s
Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, USA, Alicia (116 lbs)
TKO'd Elena Reid (5'3",
116¾ lbs) [photo by Mary Ann Owen] of Phoenix, Arizona at 1:04 in the seventh round of a
scheduled eight-rounder. Referee Jay Nady stopped the fight because of
a cut over Reid's right eye. Ashley had outboxed Reid before the
stoppage in this match between two southpaws, using her longer reach,
hand speed and ring movement to control the action. Ashley continually
popped Reid with jabs and straight lefts, one of which opened the cut
over Reid's eye in the sixth. "I hurt her in the
third round," said Ashley. "After that, she didn't
want to come in any more. I wanted to show people I could box, but
after I hurt her I didn't have to move. I don't think because we're
both left-handed that it caused a problem, it's just like two orthodox
fighters fighting each other." Ashley improved to 11-5-1 (1
KO) while Reid fell to 16-2-5 (5 KO's). "I'm a little disappointed," said Reid,
adding "I have to go back to the gym and improve."
On May 28, 2005 at the
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alicia (115¾ lbs)
won a ten round split (96-94,96-95,94-96) decision over Alesia-Tamara Graf
(115¾ lbs) of Stuttgart for the GBU Bantamweight
title.
In recognition
of Alicia's boxing skills and of her willingness to take difficult
fights in top opponents' home towns, WBAN awarded Alicia its Fighter of
the Month award for June 2005, the first time it has ever been given to
a boxer twice in one year. Alicia wrote to WBAN
after receiving the accolade: "I would like to thank WBAN for
choosing me for a second time this year as 'Fighter of the Month'. This
is an honor that I do not take lightly. Considering that my entire
professional boxing career have been a continuous road trip, I am proud
of the accomplishments I have made. It is my and my team's belief that
the fights that we accept will always reflect the work, dedication and
respect that we have for the sport of boxing. And I am happy that
others appreciate the effort that we put into it. Again, I am truly
grateful for this honor and will continue to try to uphold a standard
of boxing and attitude befitting this position. Thank you.
Alicia".
On October 21, 2005 in
Pyongyang, North Korea, Myung Ok Ryu of North Korea defended her WBC
Junior Bantamweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over
Alicia.
On April 15, 2006
in
Chengdu, China, Zhang XiYan (118 lbs) of China (aka Cheng Qin) won a
10-round unanimous (96-94,97-93,100-91) decision over Alicia to win the
vacant WIBA Bantamweight world title. Zhang was the 2002 and 2004 AIBA
world 54-kg amateur gold medalist and was voted "best boxer" at the
2004 world championships in Norway. She improved her pro record to 2-0
with this win.
On April 11, 2007 at the
Paradise Theater in The Bronx, New York City, Alicia (122¼ lbs)
won a six-round unanimous (60-53, 60-54, 60-54) decision over
Delia Hoppe (123½ lbs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This was
the first time in her long career that Ashley had fought in her home
town in front of family and friends. Hoppe fell to 4-5-1 (1 KO) with
the loss.
On January 31, 2008 at the
Utopia Paradise Theater in the Bronx, New York, Alicia (121
lbs) lived up to her "Slick" nickname with a smooth eight round
decision over a game Brooke
Dierdorff (120 lbs) of Elgin, Illinois employing early round,
ring-wide, movement and late round, pinpoint punching, The win gave
Ashley the NABF super bantamweight crown, a title that had been vacant.
With the win, the veteran Ashley improved her record to 14-7-1, while
Dierdorff drops to 4-2-1. The scorecards read, 79-73, 78-74, 80-72.
Photo Credit: Alicia Ashley (2015 at the International Women's
Boxing Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) Posing with Laila Aliwho was being inducted this year)
On June
12, 2008 at the
Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut. and televised live on
Fox Sports Net, in the main event Lisa
Brown (121¾) of
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, retained her IFBA World Junior
Featherweight title with a controversial ten-round split (97-93,97-93,94-96)
decision over Alicia Ashley (121¾
lbs). Ashley chose to fight from the outside for the most
part and used her speed and quickness to counter and frustrate Brown,
who kept moving forward but was unable to connect solidly very
often. As Brown took a couple of tumbles to the canvas late
in the fight, the scoring was surprising, rewarding Brown's
conventional
(but only occasionally
effective) aggression over Ashley's movement and
quickness. Brown
improved to 15-3-3 (4 KOs).
On August 20, 2009 at
Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Marcela Acuña (120½ lbs) of Argentina won a ten-round
Majority (96-94,96-95,95-95)
Decision over Alicia Ashley (120¾ lbs) for the WBC Junior Featherweight
title. Acuña had problems with
Ashley's reach advantage later in the fight but Ashley lacked the
punching power to make the most of her opportunities.
Acuña improved her
record to 33-5-0 (16 KOs) with the win.
On April 2, 2010 at the Masonic
Temple in Brooklyn, New York, Alicia Ashley won a six-round unanimous
(60-54 x 3) decision over Jackie Trivilino of Plattsburgh, New York. Trivilino
fell to 3-2-1 (1 KOs).
On
January 19, 2011 at the Masonic Temple in Brooklyn, New York
Alicia (121 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous
(80-71,79-72,79-72) decision over Crystal Hoy (121 lbs) from Las Vegas,
Nevada.
On July 23,
2011 at the Hunt's Point Produce Market in the South Bronx, New York,
Alicia (120½ lbs) won a ten-round unanimous ( 99-91,98-91,100-90) decision
over Christina Ruiz (121¼ lbs) of San Antonio, Texas for the WBC Junior
Featherweight title. Christina
Ruiz fell to 6-4-1 (4 KO's).
On March 17, 2012 at Deportivo
del Sindicato del Metro in Mexico City, Mexico,
Alicia Ashley
(121 lbs) won a clear ten-round unanimous (99-91,99-92,98-92) decision
over Maria Elena Villalobos (120 lbs) of Mexico City defending the WBC
Junior Featherweight title. Correspondent Raquel Ruiz told
WBAN: "Ashley used her height and reach
advantage, keeping the distance and connecting left uppercuts to the
unprotected face of Villalobos while she was trying to deliver the
magic punch that could give her the knockout." Villalobos
fell to 12-6-1 (5 KO's) with the loss while Ashley improved
to 18-9-1 (1
KO).
Photo Credit: Alicia Ashley (2015 at the International Women's
Boxing Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) Posing with Melissa McMorrow and
others at the Event)
In the final pro bout for Ashley, on March 10, 2018, at the
Struer Arena, in Struer, Denmark, Dina Thorslund, 121¾, won a ten-round
unanimous decision over Ashley, 120, now 24-12-1 (4KO). The two were fighting
for the interim WBC Super Bantamweight World title. Final judges scores were
96-94, 96-94, and 97-93. Thorslund remains undefeated with 11-0-0 (6KO).
Alicia Ashley Inducted into the
International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame, on August 14, 2021, at the
Orleans Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 2021, Alicia Ashley was inducted into the International
Women's Boxing Hall of Fame. We would also like to note that Ashley was
put into the Guinness Book of World Records being the oldest boxer to become a
world champion.
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