NZ Mixed martial Arts

Spirit of Muay Thai 4

Saturday, July 3 2010

(Kickboxing)

Napier

 

 

NZ WMC Heavyweight Title

Fight 13.

   Ben ALE (ETK - Auckland)     Vs.

     Pane HARAKI (Zero Tolerance - Napier)

- Ale wins by unanimous decision.

 

This fight starts at a respectful pace with defending champion Haraki initiating most of the action.  I'm worried that Ale is too chillaxed to be in the game because he takes a couple of hits without firing back and without increasing his rhythm.  Somewhere between there and Round 3, the tempo has upped, Ale is in full stride and we've got the beginnings of a war!  By the final round, both sweat and fighters are flying out of the ring and onto my laptop with Haraki, who throwing all the ammo he had at an increasingly stronger Ale.  Great fight to have as the finale of a very entertaining night!

 

 

NZ WMC Light Welterweight Title 63.5kgs

Fight 12.

   Chris WELLS (SMAC - Auckland)     Vs.

     Willy REWI (Wairoa Thaiboxing - Wairoa)

- Wells wins by split decision.

 

This fight was a WAR and Wells did everything that was asked of him by his corner when he let his legs go in the early rounds then fired up in the clinch for the remainder of the fight.  The judges decision truly reflected how close this fight was.

 

 

NZ WMC Lightweight Title 61.2kgs

This fight has been put on hold for 15 minutes due to a groin kick to Ahipene 14 seconds into Round 2.  Subsequently, the next fight has been bumped up.

 

 

Fight 11.

   Daniel GEMPTON (Highlanders - Napier)     Vs.

     Jason McABE (Broughton's Gym - Wanganui)

- Gempton wins by unanimous decision.

 

Oh man, I can't begin to describe how well these men fought.  It was fast, it was physical, Gempton brought the fight to McAbe and McAbe stood his ground, often driving Gempton backwards with his persistence but in the end Gempton's clinch and strong striking won him the judges call.

 

 

Fight 10.

   Shaun RANKIN (Highlanders - Napier)     Vs.

     Tipeni BOYD (Ngakanui - Rotorua)

- Rankin wins by unanimous decision.

 

Rankin had to work hard to earn this decision because Boyd certainly didn't let the height advantage throw him off using his overhead right and low kicks when he came into range.  A confident Rankin started strong and kept the lead as Boyd obviously closed the distance on points but not enough to convince the judges that he outscored Rankin's clinch.

 

 

Fight 9.

   Steve RANKIN (Highlanders - Napier)     Vs.

     Brendon HOLDING (Univeral Kickboxing - Auckland)

- Rankin wins via referee stoppage due - 0.50min in Round 1.

 

This was such a fast one.  Holding fires a low kick, Rankin responds with a strike combo and a clinch, driving Holding back towards his own corner and against the ropes where he unloads his strikes to Holdings head.  After the restart at 28 seconds it's only a couple more before Rankin's strike to Holding leads to the end of the fight.  First a standing 8-count and 40 seconds, then the "TKO" that leads to the referee stoppage  for another count that sees the end of the fight.

 

 

Fight 8.

   James VANDERKUIJL (Wairoa Tahiboxing - Wairoa)     Vs.

     Damien GRAY (Zero Tolerance - Napier)

- Vanderkuijl wins by TKO - 1.56min in Round 3

 

To say that Gray was gutted to lose this fight by TKO is an understatement, especially with only ten seconds in the final round.  Vanderkuijl - who weathered Gray's straight right in the first round and had his leg caught before being thrown down twice in the second - emerged stronger in the third, with a clinch and strikes that eventually wore Gray down.  A standing eight count precursored the body strike that sealed the fight and made Gray finally but reluctantly concede.

 

 

Fight 7.

   Jamie BOULTER (Bulldogs - Dannevirke)     Vs.

     Clinton WALL (Universal Kickboxing - Auckland)

- Boulter wins by unanimous decision.

 

Boulter definitely earned this win.  He initiated most the action, made more connections, kept busier in the wing and dominated the action.

 

 

Fight 6.

   Jack MARSHALL (Wairoa Tahiboxing - Wairoa)     Vs.

     Jade PHILLIPS (Highlanders - Napier)

- Marshall wins by split decision.

 

So this fight starts with both fighters sizing each other up.  Marshall keeps a tight cover compared to Phillips' lower, relaxed hands so it makes sense to me that Marshall initiates the fight with his hands and takes most the action in the first round.  By round two, I'm looking at the action through my camera and what I saw was Phillips picking up the pace that peaked in round three but it's not enough.  Marshall's tenacity and focus on making his combos and straight strikes win him this fight.

 

 

Fight 5.

   Niko RIGBY (Bulldogs - Dannevirke)     Vs.

     Taylor STEWART (Ngakanui - Rotorua)

- Rigby wins by split decision.

 

This is one of those fights where the resulting winner did enough in the first two rounds to hold on to a split decision.  Rigby came out, with mighty hands, throwing straight combos and an early devastating kick to his opponents right shin, that seemed to throw Stewart off his game a little.  Not to be deterred Stewart came back with his own heavy hands, and in spite of limping mid second round, rose in the third round as Rigby tired, moving his opponent backwards for the rest of the fight.  Too late though, judges go for Rigby.

 

 

Fight 4.

   Lance SMITH (Highlanders - Napier)     Vs.

     Shaun O'CONNOR (Broughton's Gym - Wanganui)

- Smith wins by TKO - 1.21mins in Round 1.

 

I really like the strength of these guys.  O'Connor comes out with a might kick to Smith's chest and in reply gets a 1-2-3-4 combo from the home town fighter.  No range-finding here, just a rapid exchange of strikes that see Smith combo O'Connor to the ground.

 

Fight 3.

   Slade CRESSWELL (Ngakanui - Rotorua)     Vs.

        Brodie RIGBY (Bulldogs - Dannevirke)

- Cresswell wins by split decision.

 

Both fighters start off cautiously with the first round reserved for range finding and sporadic combos, the second round saw both fighters introduce their kicks more and the final round held most of the action.  Cresswell's combos and a mid-round straight right convinced two of the judges that he should win and they give the Rotorua fighter a split decision win.

 

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