Alicia Ashley Takes Nohimme Dennisson To School
Photos by Sue Jaye Johnson
by Sarah Deming
QUEENS–“People use words like lyrical to describe my boxing,” Alicia “Slick” Ashley said. “You’re never gonna see a brawl out of me.”
Ashley fought the main event on Wednesday night’s Uprising Promotions show in Queens just to stay in tune. Most of her fights are in places like Mexico and Argentina, where women boxers earn more. This was a rare chance to see a great touring artist play at home.
At 46, Ashley (20-9-1, 2 KOs) is the oldest female boxing champion in history. What’s left to prove?
“That I can adjust to everyone,” she said. “I’ve won all the titles. The only thing I haven’t done is make the money, but maybe that won’t come until after my time. Like the Olympics. Maybe it’s something that will happen to the women who come after me.”
Her dance partner for the night was Nohimme Dennisson of Albuquerque, a chiseled 123-pounder who was 5-3-2 in boxing and 1-1 in MMA. Dennisson had the great Holly Holm (above) in her corner, still wearing a cast from the broken ulna she suffered in her TKO victory last month over Juliana Werner.
The way the two boxers took the ring told you everything you needed to know. Dennisson stomped her legs on the canvas, shivering with nervous tension. Ashley floated in, cozy in her robe as though headed to the spa.
Both circled in the first, Dennisson trying to get past Ashley’s southpaw jab. Ashley’s trainer Hector Roca said later that they made a mistake in the first round by following Dennison around, but the entire six-rounder felt like a choreographed performance, including the slow opening act.
Gabriela the ring card girl carried in the card marked “2,” fully recovered from her spectacular tumble earlier that evening, after which she had switched to sneakers.
Now Ashley began landing three- and four-punch combinations to the body that set up some good shots to the head, including a straight left just before the bell. She was barely getting hit at all, but that’s what you expect from a fighter called “Slick.”
In the third, she brought out the uppercuts.
“Come on principal, school’s in session!” yelled trainer Don Saxby, in an expansive mood after going 2-0 on the undercard.
The crowd was all for Ashley, who moonlights as a popular trainer at Gleason’s Gym. They had to love her to schlep to the Five Star Banquet Hall, which was in the vacant warehousey part of Queens you might take someone to kill them. Although they did have good fried shrimp.
A straight left by Slick at the top of the fourth set up some nice damage against the ropes. By this time I had stopped watching Dennisson and was only watching what Ashley did to her.
In the fifth, after two punishing left uppercuts to Dennisson’s trim midriff, Ashley stopped to showboat, walking around the ring’s perimeter in a strut that said “light work.”
“You’re my hero, Alicia,” yelled Don Saxby.
Hector Roca adjusted the champ’s braids before sending her out for a roaring finale. She took Dennisson to the ropes and landed two body shots that left her wincing. Dennisson was on her feet and fighting back when the ref stepped in at 1:02 of the sixth.
“Worst stoppage I ever saw in my whole life,” Holly Holm said.
In six-round supporting action, Irish Allan Phelan (5-2, 4 KOs) hit Salvador Perez (2-3-2, 1 KO) of Lexington, Kentucky with everything, but Perez would not go down. Phelan took the majority decision 58-56 (twice), 57-57.
Fast, strong Dominican featherweight Angel “El Gato” Luna (9-0, 6 KOs) took apart Joseph Arroyo of the Bronx (3-4-1). Arroyo threw a fit when the doctor stopped it after two, and he continued fighting all the way out of the building.
In the four-rounders, junior welterweight Wesley “Bongocero” Ferrer of the Bronx improved to 4-0 with a first round stoppage of the unluckily nicknamed Rudy “Intense” Payne, who fell to 1-2. Ouch.
Middleweight Shawn Cameron (6-0, 4 KOs) of Brooklyn dropped Bronx native Lionel Charles (0-2) in the third, taking the decision 39-36, 38-37 (twice).
Jonathan Jeter of Brooklyn had a tough opponent for his pro debut in Juan Perez of Mt. Vernon (1-1). The two strong young junior middleweights fought their hearts out to a majority draw. We liked the looks of Jeter, who says boxing is therapy for the many losses he has endured, including the murders of his brother and grandmother.
“I box for my family,” Jeter said. “My mother’s been my father all my life.”
And in a bizarre opener, flyweight Kimberly Tomes (0-5) stopped Paola Ortiz (0-4) of Houston, who ate a body shot and then fussed with her trunks distractedly before quitting. Ortiz’s trainer told us his fighter had drunk too much water for the pre-fight drug test and had to pee during the fight.
“I woulda just peed on myself,” he said. “And told my coach to pour some water down my legs.”
That’s the difference between men and women.