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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 (aka Junior Featherweight?) title in what was 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 this was a fight in which few
heavy punches landed but, until the last two rounds when she began to fade, the Argentinean had the initiative throughout
having Ashley in trouble several times with 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 Super Bantamweight title by a convincing ten-round unanimous (98-92,97-92,97-94) decision over Marcela Acuña (120 lbs) of
Argentina in a rematch that had been mandated by the IWBF after reviewing tape of their November 2002 bout.
In this
rematch, instead of running and 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).
Alicia outboxed Elena Reid in March 2005
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen 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) 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."
WBAN awarded Alicia its Fighter of the Month award for April 2005.
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.
According to WBAN correspondent Torben Lodberg, "Ashley
kept picking points with her very fast hands, and her upper body movements
made it very difficult for Alesia Graf to find her target. Graf felt the
punching power of Ashley in the second round, when she was sent to the
canvas. However, she did not look particulary shaken and merely hit the
canvas before she was back up again. It did look as if it was also a
question of being off balance at the time she was hit. Graf had obvious
problems dealing with Ashley's southpaw stance in the early rounds, but she
did get more into the fight as it progressed. Fighting from the middle of
the ring, and chasing Ashley she did manage to deliver some telling punches,
but was often caught by Ashley's counter punching. During most of the fight,
Ashley kept hear guard fairly low, relying on her speed and footwork, but
her brother, who worked her corner, told her to get her guard up as Graf was
starting to get her punches through in the later rounds. Evidence of this
was seen at the final bell, when Ashley was bleeding out of the right ear.
Graf not only has a big fighters heart, but also good skills, and might well
have been able to come out of the fight as the winner if she had been able
to find the right range. Both boxers were very well conditioned, and
although the bout was fought at high pace throughout, it was obvious that
they had done their homework in the gym."
Graf, who is from Belarus, is regarded as one of the best
prospects for eventually replacing Regina Halmich as the icon of women's
boxing in Germany, so this was a major win for Ashley. The German judge had
Graf as the winner.
Graf suffered her first pro loss and fell to 10-1-0 (4
KOs) ... see also the
fight photos.
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 while Alicia fell to 12-7-1 (1 KOs).
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 while Alicia improved
to 13-7-1 (1 KO).
Alicia has her own web site to
showcase her many talents!
Other Alicia Ashley links
Interview with Alicia
by Michael-Ann Rowe, femmefan.com
May 2007
Page last updated:
Friday, 11 April 2008 |
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