This is a dream come true,” said an elated Alicia Ashley yesterday, as she savoured her Saturday-night victory over Texan Christina Ruiz, at Hunts Point in the Bronx, New York. Jamaican-born Ashley defeated Ruiz by unanimous decision in the 10-round fight to take home the World Boxing Council (WBC) super bantamweight title.

Ashley, whose record is now 17 wins, nine defeats and one draw, made an unsuccessful challenge for the title on August 20, 2009, when she dropped a controversial majority decision to Marcela Acuna, in Argentina. Since then, she said, her goal had been to take this particular title home.

“The WBC title is the one most highly regarded, and that is why I wanted to win it. For me, this is mission accomplished.”

Her opponent, Ruiz, who entered the ring with a 6-3-1 record, with four knock-out victories, was seen as a dangerous power puncher. Ashley said that she was aware of this, and, as a result, was wary when the fight started.

Things turned quickly during the fight.

“The strange thing is that when she caught me, I did not have any problem absorbing her power punches, but after I landed some solid left hooks and an uppercut early in the fight, I could see that she was hurt, and backed away. She became very cautious after that, and I did not have any problems with her. I used my quickness to good advantage and she could not find any answers. She just could not catch me with anything solid, and I think that she only won one round,’ Ashley said.

The judges agreed with her, as one judge scored the fight 100-90, another 99-91 and the other 98-91, a clear indication that Ashley was the superior fighter on Saturday night.

When asked what was next for her, she said, “Other people want to go to Disneyland, I want to go to Jamaica. I have not been home for a while and I want to get there very soon. The next dream to be fulfilled for me is a title fight in Jamaica.”

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A LOT of industry and no small measure of pride, but in the end, Barbados’ interest at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships ended in two more defeats at the first hurdle yesterday afternoon at the Gymnasium of the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, Wildey.

Molissa Narine was the first local pugilist to go the distance, but the experience of Kazakhstan’s Saida Khassenova was too much in a lop-sided 13-0 points decision in their light welterweight bout.

Just minutes later in the other ring, welterweight Kimberley Gittens produced the most encouraging Barbadian display of the championships before succumbing to Norway’s Lotte Lien midway through the fourth and final round.

Gittens, who seemed relaxed and confident from the time her radiant smile greeted the raucous cheers of a few hundred fans in the stand, produced a sound display and was level 1-1 after round one.

The crowd was even more vocal when she went ahead early in round two but Lien hit back to lead 4-3 after two.

The third round changed the course of the contest as Lien surged ahead 9-4, with Gittens having to endure two eight counts after a couple of effective flurries from Lien.

Gittens, obviously tiring and her guard slipping, was down 5-12 a minute into the final round when the referee eventually stopped the fight.

Coach Gary Bowen admitted some deficiencies within his Barbados quartet but maintained an optimistic outlook.

“There are a lot of things we have to work on. Fitness, technique, defence, there are quite a few things to make them better boxers,” he said.

“But what I saw would encourage any coach.”

Bowen said Gittens,18, a dancer and student of the Barbados Community College, showed great maturity despite her youth.

“I was really impressed by Kimberley’s attitude, or mannerisms. She came out there feeling very confident,” he said.

Bowen also said he had hoped Molissa, a 24-year-old soldier in the Barbados Defence Force, would have been more aggressive with her right hooks.

“You could see that she was jabbing and scoring with the jab but was not able to really push what needs to go behind those jabs, whether it was a right hand or a combination,” Bowen said.

“Unfortunately, you do not score points for jabs. I wanted to see more right hands.”

In other bouts yesterday afternoon, the elite boxers continued to underline their skill.

Ireland’s Katie Taylor, the reigning world lightweight champion, won her 97th bout in 103 fights with a 20-5 decision over Brazil’s Adriana Araujo, the Pan American champion.

Taylor did have to endure a standing eight count in the third round but was a class apart.

Two brash Americans also made their mark with Queen Underwood and Cashmere Jackson continuing their impressive run.

Underwood, who won a ill-tempered slugfest in the first round, was a disciplined winner this time around, content to outbox Thailand’s Supaporn Srisondee to a 8-0 points win.

Jackson, however, allowed her inner brawler to come through in a fast-paced encounter that ended with a 13-7 victory over China’s Yang Qinqin, the Asian Championships silver medalist.

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On a mixed day for Indians, Laxmi Padiya (81kg) advanced to the quarterfinals but former champion L. Sarita Devi (51kg) crashed out with a shock second round defeat in the sixth women’s World boxing championships here.

Laxmi beat Ecuador’s Bianca Burgos 7-3 but Turkey’s Sumeyra Yazici surprised Sarita with a 12-8 victory, on Sunday.

Laxmi did the bulk of her scoring in the first two rounds — notching up six points against her opponent’s two. .

Laxmi joins four-time World champion M.C. Mary Kom (48kg) in the quarterfinals.

Sarita, in contrast, fought a tense bout. After trailing 0-3 in the opening round, the Manipuri came back strongly to make it 4-3 in the second round but despite her valiant fight, she could not prevent Yazici from winning

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Former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres has died in his native Puerto Rico. He was 72. His widow, Ramonita Ortiz, says Torres died Monday of a heart attack. Torres won the world light heavyweight title in 1965 by beating Willie Pastrano at Madison Square Garden in New York. He made three title defenses before losing to Dick Tiger in 1966. Torres began fighting when he joined the U.S. Army as a teenager, and won a silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics competing for the United States. After retirement, he became an author, chaired the New York State Athletic Commission in the 1980s and served as supervisor for the World Boxing Organization. Ortiz says Torres will be buried Thursday in Ponce.

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