Columnist Susan Snyder: Boxer Reid is writing own script

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 5:29 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

WEEKEND EDITION

March 5 - 6, 2005

Hillary Swank brought home an Oscar for playing a boxer, but Las Vegas' Elena Reid is the real deal.

People who want to see an actual "Million Dollar Baby" throw a punch can watch Elena "Baby Doll" Reid take on Alicia Ashley in an eight-round fight March 26 at Harrah's in Laughlin. It is the main event in a night featuring three other women's boxing matches.

World bantamweight champion Reid, 23, is undefeated in her last 21 fights, with 16 wins (including five knockouts) and five draws. She has lost only one match, but she never takes one for granted.

"Boxing is respect, and humility is No. 1. You've got to learn that right off the bat," Reid said between workouts at Las Vegas Athletic Club on Thursday morning. "It's about proving yourself."

The Phoenix native describes herself as a "homebody" who hated leaving her mom, dad, sister and two brothers behind when she moved to Las Vegas three years ago. But boxing beckoned.

"All the major fights happen here," Reid said. "In order to get better training and better sparring, this is the place to be. It's the Hollywood of boxing."

Boxing isn't her lifelong dream -- she's a junior at UNLV studying marketing. But boxing combines the balance, strength and focus she gained in other sports.

"I've played sports as long as I can remember. I was on an all-boy soccer team with my brother at age 5," Reid said. "I was always the most athletic, but not the most talented."

She found her niche with kickboxing at age 15. Three years later she stepped into the ring sporting gloves. Reid said Mom supported it right away.

It's been tougher on Dad.

"My dad had the hardest time with it, once I started fighting," she said. "You know, I wear dresses and everything when I'm home. And he was like, 'I can't believe my daughter is fighting.' "

At 5 feet 3 inches tall and 115 pounds, Reid hardly looks like the powerhouse she is. She works out four and a half hours a day, six days a week. She figures she'll gain two pounds of muscle before the fight, but still weigh less than Ashley.

"It's a hard sport. And being a woman, it's very, very difficult," Reid said. "I hope to be the girl who does it all myself with my trainers and puts the woman's face (on boxing) in the United States."

In an odd twist, Swank trained for the role with Hector Roca, the trainer for Reid's real-life opponent.

That's pretty much where the movie's reality begins and ends, Reid said. The flick's biggest myth is the final fight (movie-spoiler alert), in which an opponent's cheating leaves Swank's character paralyzed.

"That stuff absolutely would not be allowed to happen," Reid said of dirty punches thrown before the final blow. "The fight would be over. I hope people don't think that kind of stuff happens."

The real thing promises to be far better.

"(Ashley) has been boxing for a long time. She's won a lot of fights," Reid said. "And, she's bigger than me."

But she's older, too -- 37.

"I think she's got the idea that it's even because I'm just so much smaller. But I'm going to overwhelm her," Reid said. "This youth thing is really working for me."