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(MAY
29) Last night, at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, in Stuttgart, Germany,
and promoted by Universum Box Promotion, United States Alicia Ashley,
115 ¾, won a ten round split decision and the
GBU Bantamweight Championship
over Alesia Graf, 115 ¾. Final Scoring was 96-94, 96-95, and 94-96.
The German judge had Graf as the winner.
WBAN's
Correspondent, Torben L. said, "Alicia Ashley is a truly gracious boxer, who
really makes boxing look like ballet, to coin a well used phrase. I learned
from the commentator, that Ashley started as a dancer at the age of 6 and
continued until she was 21, and that she had been performing professionally
with a dance company. This was very evident by the way she moved in the
ring. However, it was not only her footwork that caught the eye. She 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. No doubt, she will make her mark in the Bantamweight division
in the future, as she gains more experience. This was only her 11th fight,
and first defeat. 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. "
In a
second women’s championship bout, Silke Weickenmeier, 120, won the
GBU Jr. Featherweight Championship over Miki Kikukawa, 120 with a
10-round unanimous decision. Final judges scores were 98-92, 97-92, and
96-94. In a third women’s match,
Julia Sahin, 110, won an eight-round unanimous decision over
Marianne Chubirka, 112 ½. Judges scores were 79-75, 77-75, and 79-73. |
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