Ashley Stops Dennisson in Uprising Main Event – by Bernie McCoy

Alicia Ashley was awarded a TKO win over a game, but outgunned, Nohimme Dennisson at the top of Uprising Promotion’s seven bout boxing card, Wednesday night, before the customary sell out throng of local fight fans at the Five Star Banquet Hall in Long Island City, N.Y.

Ashley, who came to the bout at 122 pounds, was comfortably ahead when the bout was halted at 1:04 of the final round of the scheduled six rounder. Dennisson 123, from the opening bell, chose to stay at long range with the southpaw Ashley while trying to implement an almost impossible game plan: out box one of the best boxers in the sport.

There are valid reasons why the encomium “Slick” has been universallyThat’s not to imply that the Albuquerque fighter did not have some moments in the first four rounds of the bout, occasionally getting Ashley’s attention with effective counter punching, particularly in rounds two and four. But Ashley was simply too quick with both her hands and her feet and that dual speed allowed the Brooklyn boxer to answer each of Dennisson’s “moments” with effective offensive surges of her own.

Ashley, well ahead, came out for the sixth round with a vigorous attack in mid-ring, snapping Dennisson’s head back several times with right leads and big left hands, almost as if Ashley felt she was trailing on the scorecards. Dennisson was backpedaling around the ring as Ashley landed some of her most effective punches of the bout, and after watching this one sided action for almost the full opening sixty seconds, referee Danny Schiavone called a halt, with slightly less than a minute remaining. Neither Dennisson, nor her corner, headed up by Holly Holm, raised significant protest. Ashley raised her record to 21-9-1 with her third career stoppage, while Dennisson dropped to 5-4-2.

The night began with a four round flyweight bout between Paola Ortiz and Kimberly Tomes. Tomes, who had not fought in the professional ring in almost four years, was a featured boxer in Jill Morley’s award winning documentary, “Fight Like a Girl.” Tomes, 111 and Ortiz, 108, engaged in a “feeling out” first round during which Ortiz continually pawed, with her gloves, at an area just above her belt line. Forty seconds into the second stanza, Ortiz, retreating to near her corner, turned her back to Tomes and stopped fighting. Referee Schiavone immediately signaled the end of the bout and declared Tomes a winner by what goes into the record as a TKO. A member of Ortiz’s corner later stated his boxer stopped fighting due to what can only delicately be described as a gastric disorder. Likewise, there was some confusion over Tomes’ record. Boxrec lists a win for the Brooklyn fighter in what the source records as her last bout (in Michigan in May, 2010 against Tracy Shanks, making her pro debut) while Wednesday night’s “bout sheet” and ring introduction put Tomes’ record at 0-5. Whatever the case, Kimberly Tomes was the winner of this match up and the two minute and forty second bout was the unopposed winner of the “unconventional fight of the night” award. bestowed on Ashley.