(FEB 2) In the midst of the adulation of
an enthusiastic crowd at the Paradise Theater last Thursday night,
following her eight round win over Brooke Dierdorff for the NABF
super bantamweight title, Alicia Ashley took time to mention what,
about the night, also deserved adulation: Joe DeGuardia's Star
Boxing card at the Bronx venue featured two female bouts on the
seven bout card. It was, simply, one more thing the 40 year old
Ashley, known, appropriately, as "Slick" nailed on the button on the
last day of the first month of a new calendar year which, hopefully,
could be the beginning of a figurative new year for the sport of
Women's boxing.
Alicia Ashley was right. The two bouts were both good bouts; not
good female bouts; not good under-card bouts; they were good boxing
bouts, period. And that's what can happen when the right promoter
and the right sanctioning body ignore the all too current and
prevalent thinking of "lets spice up the card and put a couple of
girls on," when boxing programs are being put together. When the
right female fighters are put in the ring together; fighters, with
boxing skill, either beginning their career after extensive amateur
tutelage or veteran fighters honed by competition against the best
fighters in the sport, what results is what happened in the Bronx on
Thursday night at the Paradise Theater. What happens is good boxing.
Part of the good boxing at the Paradise on Thursday was the
professional debut of Ronica Jeffrey, a NY Daily News Golden Gloves
champion. Jeffrey's four rounds exhibited skill beyond the quality
usually associated with the phrase, "debut." She threw combinations
to the head and body that bespoke skills that come, naturally, to
only the best of boxers. Jeffrey has a featherweight's speed and
movement along with poise that contradicted her post fight
contention that she had "some nervousness" going into her first
professional bout."I enjoyed it," Jeffrey noted, "but I wasn't 100%,
there's work to do." That's an attitude too often missing from a
fighter who has just scaled an important hurdle; first time in a
professional ring. Jeffrey has the instincts to realize that a
start, a good start, on a pro career, is just that, a start.
What added a bit more luster to Jeffrey's first pro win was that her
opponent, Karen Dulin, also making her debut, was not a typical
"deer in the headlights" fighter, the type that all too often
provide fodder for a highly anticipated debut bout. Dulin, prior to
the bout, had been described as having an "extensive" amateur career
and this background was given efficacy when she was led into the
ring by Jaime Clampitt, the current IWBF light welterweight title
holder, erasing any doubts that Dulin lacked quality professional
guidance. Karen Dulin has good boxing skills, she moves and throws
punches with skill and confidence, but on this night she was in with
a better fighter and the 40-36 scorecards from all three judges
accurately reflected the bout and the two debuting fighters. There
certainly will be other nights and other bouts for a fighter of
Karen Dulin's quality and on many of those nights she'll occupy the
role Ronica Jeffrey played in this four round bout.
Alicia Ashley, over her eight year career, has occupied both roles
against a "Who's Who" of female fighters. Ashley also figures
prominently in any conversation determining who has the best ring
movement in the sport of Women's boxing. "Slick" is not only
Ashley's nickname, it's an accurate description of her silky smooth
moves in the ring. That graceful aspect of Ashley's repertoire was
on full display over eight rounds against a game, determined Brooke
Dierdorff, who defines the description, "she comes to fight."
Dierdorff took the fight to Ashley early in the bout, but Ashley's
movement was the defining factor for the first couple of rounds. In
the middle rounds, Ashley started to land her jab frequently and had
Dierdorff bleeding from the nose. Dierdorff's best round was the
fifth when she managed to catch Ashley with a couple of hard shots,
but the veteran fighter regrouped, got back into her rhythm and
clinched the bout with big seventh and eighth rounds, when Ashley
landed her hardest punches of the bout. The final scores of 79-73,
76-74 and 80-72 were varying and accurate views of Ashley's
dominance. It was a good bout for fans and a clear candidate for
"fight of the night."
But best of all it was a good night for the sport of Women's boxing
at the Paradise Theater on Thursday. It was a good night because
four quality fighters stepped into the ring and gave examples of
just how deep in talent the sport has become. Featured were two
fighters making their pro debuts, both well trained, one a bit
farther down the development track than the other but both
possessing the ring skills to make a significant mark in the sport;
a veteran fighter who showed the near capacity crowd exactly how
good a combination of experience, skill and boxing know-how can look
in the ring and a tough, action fighter who will have many future
good nights against good fighters who do not possess the world class
ring movement and boxing tools that she was up against on Thursday
in the Bronx, and that's a lot of good nights.
Alicia Ashley was right, the two female fights on Thursday's card
was a welcome sign. It went a long way towards carrying this
particular night of boxing. It had nothing to do with the fact that
these were women displaying quality boxing skill. These were boxers,
boxers who deserved that label as much as anyone in the ring on
Thursday night. And if those who are, ostensibly, making the
decisions about what goes on the next boxing card or the next boxing
telecast, one only hopes that the decision is made on the basis of
what boxers will provide the best show. And if that's the case,
female boxers, just like Alicia Ashley, Ronica Jeffrey, Brooke
Dierdorff and Karen Dulin will be making more appearances on more
cards in the future. It's just, purely and simply, about good
boxing.
Bernie McCoy
