(APR 3) In boxing, there are unanimous decisions and then there are UNANIMOUS decisions. Alicia "Slick" Ashley's six round win over a game, but outclassed, Jackie Trivilino on the O'Shea Brothers six bout card at the Masonic Temple in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Friday, April 2, was, assuredly, in the upper case category. The ring announcer's post fight declamation that all three judges scored the bout, for Ashley, 60-54, had a "blinding flash of the obvious" ring to the assemblage packing the floor and balcony of the Brooklyn venue.

Both fighters came to the bout weighing in at 124 pounds and that was where the similarities ended. Ashley, a stylish southpaw whose boxing skills befit her nickname, is a veteran of 24 (14-9-1) bouts over an eleven year professional career against some of the top female fighters, worldwide, in the featherweight division. Trivilino, who made her pro debut slightly over a year ago came to this bout with a 3-1-1 record and with the reputation of being a tough, straight ahead fighter, coming out of a successful amateur career.

Ashley controlled both the pace and the action of each round of the fast paced bout. Her primary tools are speed and ring movement. She has won thirteen of fourteen bouts via decision (a stoppage of Elena Reid on cuts in March 2005, the lone exception). Ashley's quickness has both a forward and reverse gear and she utilizes every piece of the ring, gliding, at once, back and away and then suddenly coming forward with a very effective bolo/uppercut left hand, a weapon that "found a home" in almost every round against Trivilino. Ashley also seems to fight considerably taller than her listed five foot four and a half inch stature, due mainly to her rapier right jab.

While she was clearly outclassed in this bout, Trivilino is certainly not without class. Like any professional fighter who deserves that valued sobriquet, the upstate New Yorker (Albany) came forward in every round, even occasionally catching Ashley on the ropes or near a corner. But each time the winner, utilizing her smooth, quick movement, managed to step quickly away from any potential trouble, winding up in the middle of the ring where she would resume, once more, her motion offense. It was a skillful exhibition of a sometimes overused boxing phrase; but on Friday night, "sweet science" aptly applied to Ashley Ashley's six rounds of boxing.

Ashley improved her record to 15-9-1, while Trevilino, who should be heard from again in the featherweight ranks, dropped to 3-2-1.