World champion Ashley arrives …
“I’m always ready to fight”
By Isaiah Chappelle
Guyana Chronicle
March 26, 2004
WOMAN World boxing champion Alicia Ashley of the USA arrived yesterday for her non-title ring date with Guyanese Shondell Alfred in the main bout of the Carryl/Stephens Pro-Am card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, tomorrow night.
In an impromptu meeting with the media at Waterchris, Waterloo Street, just after she arrived in the city, Ashley declared: “I’m always ready to fight. I’m always training because I get calls two to three weeks before fights.”
Ashley brings with her the International Women Boxing Federation (IWBF) super bantamweight belt, she won from Marcell Acuna of Argentina in November 2002. She successfully defended it on June 14, 2003, when Acuna tried to wrest it back from her.
The American first won the vacant IWBF featherweight title, coming up against Kelsey Jeffries on February 23, 2002. She gave up that title for the super bantamweight belt.
Ashley then challenged Esther Schouten for her Women International Boxing Federation super bantamweight title, but she lost the November 15, 2002 encounter -- her one loss in 15 professional appearances with a 9-5-1 record.
But the shapely 122-lb boxing beauty was a dancer before entering competitive boxing, but she was injured and turned to karate, following in her brother’s footsteps to the dojo.
“I was always competitive, so I entered the ring as a kick-boxer,” Ashley said.
Her first fight was against a boxer and she could not use her fist, so she decided to learn the sport.
In the amateur ring, she won the Golden Gloves featherweight title from 1996, the very year she started boxing, to 1999 and she held the New York title two years in succession. She ended that stage of her career with a 16-2 record.
Ashley is at present 122 lb but she works around 124-125 lb when she enters the ring.
“I’ve fought featherweight most of my life, then I realised I could go down to super bantamweight. I am now aiming for bantamweight, going down another two lb,” Ashley said.
The champion fights out of the world-famous Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York, but she fought most of her fights outside of the USA.
Ashley is here with trainer Hector Roca, the Panamanian who took Arturo Gatti to world championship status and James ‘Buddy’ McGarth, among others.
The under card will pit Leon Gilkes against ‘Deadly’ Denny Dalton over ten rounds, Dillon Carew against ‘Classy’ Cassius Mathews over eight, and Lesma ‘The Rock’ Da Silva and Sharon ‘Stone’ Ward will make their debut over four.
Also, the promoters are planning another first time in Guyana, when Alicia’s brother and manager, Devon ‘The Energizer’ Cormack, participate in a kick-boxing contest against a local martial artist from the Black Hawks organisation.
Cormack holds three world titles, and two USA championships in the featherweight division. He has made a commitment to his former trainer, Michael Carryl, and will participate once a fighter with compatible weight accepts the challenge.
There will also be four amateur boxing matches on the card featuring boxers from the recently opened Carryl’s Gym and the Dartmouth Boxing Club.
Young fighters from these two gyms will square off against boxers from the Forgotten Youth Foundation and Harpy Eagle gyms.
Many of the boxers will meet the media, today, at Waterchris from 10:30 hrs. The weigh-in is also fixed for 19:00 hrs at the same venue.