(MAY 16)  Paola Ortiz won a fast paced unanimous decision over local favorite Susan Reno in a featured attraction of Ronson Frank's Uprising Promotion's seven bout card at the historic Masonic Temple in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Friday night. The six round bout was contested over three minute rounds, making it the first such female bout of that length in New York state. Both fighters handled the fifty percent increase in round time easily and the pace of the fight did not waver at any point during the eighteen minutes of action.

Reno, 107, backed by the raucous, late arriving sell-out crowd, seemed to be just a step behind the quicker Ortiz, 109.5, throughout the first half of the bout. Ortiz maintained an advantage in both hand speed and ring movement and invariably came out ahead in most of the in close exchanges during the first three stanzas. To the chants of "Reno, Reno," the New York fighter became more aggressive in the second half of the bout, trying to "cut the ring" against her fast moving opponent and finished strong in both the fourth and fifth rounds to close the scoring gap in the bout. Neither fighter allowed themselves to be trapped on the ropes or in the corners and there was a marked lack of clinches throughout the six rounds. Both fighters finished strong in the sixth round, showing absolutely no effect due to the increase in round length, putting a strong, affirmative exclamation point on the query, "can women fight three minute rounds?" The scoring was decisive: judges John Basile and Waleska Roldan had it 59-55 and Carlos Ortiz Jr. tabbed it 58-56 all for the Texas fighter, providing Ortiz with the first win of her career and raising her record to 1-5-1. Reno dropped to 1-4-2.

Under the heading of "fitting" was the fact that the bout was refereed by Sparkle Lee, the first licensed female arbiter in New York state (2001) and a longtime proponent of three minute rounds for females. Lee will be inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in July. Also worth mention is the continued support provided by Uprising Promotions for the sport of Women's boxing. In an era where promotional advocacy of the sport struggles to attain the level of "cursory," Uprising Promotions, headed by Ronson Frank, has provided on-going opportunity for female boxers in the New York area, featuring, in past programs, title holders, Alicia Ashley, Eileen Olszewski and Sonya Lamonakis in main event spots on their programs. Uprising Promotions added another notch to that record with a historic bout on Friday night in Brooklyn.