ALL FIRED UP KICKBOXING SHOW BRIDGWATER
"A
fantastic show!" was just one of the comments made as the crowd
of fight fans left the
Bridgwater Town Football Club on a warm spring night on Sunday May
10th.The
atmosphere was without doubt one of the best that the series of fight
nights in Bridgwater have
experienced over the last few years as wave after wave of Bridgwater
fighters made their way
from the changing room to the centre of the marquee.
From
the very first fight when Bridgwater's young Ben Nash made his
way to the ring the
crowd were instantly captured by the whole sense of anticipation and
cheered with a deafening roar. Nash's performance was a strong one
and he took the fight straight to his opponent Conner Crutchley of
the Full Circle group. It was by no means an easy fight for Ben for
his early enthusiasm and work rate saw him tire a little which gave
young Crutchley a chance to get back into the fight. However, it was
a vain comeback as the decision went to Nash.
Amanda Williams was straight in to follow and by now the crowd were already behind the home girl who also found her opponent as every bit determined as herself to get a win. The fight went back and forth and was a very close contest. The decision went to the Birmingham girl Katherine Harkin.
Lewis Jordan was up next to face a rematch with Jake Chapman. Both fighters started quickly but this time Jordan showed more skill in his movement and often made his opponent miss. This enabled Jordan to counter with eye catching techniques. Lewis Jordan displayed a good all round ability that impressed not only the crowd but the judges to earn him the decision.
Kirsty James came into the ring with a personal score to settle after a couple of losses recently. In front of the home crowd she took no time in closing down Clare Singleton of Full Circle who was taller by some margin. Singleton tried to keep James at a distance but James was constantly pressing forward and finding some success with her right hand. James would again dance around to keep clear of the long reach before storming forward again to kick and punch her way to a points victory.
Lee
Woodman stepped into the ring for his first ever kickboxing bout
and he was certainly
pumped up for this one. Woodman wasted no time in attacking his
opponent Ricky Evans
of the Wasps club in Bristol. Evans probably wondered where he was
for a moment as Woodman
relentlessly advanced with the crowd loving every minute of the
furious pace. However, the
early pace affected Woodman in the second round and his opponent made
a sterling comeback
and found his mark several times with his straight right hand. The
action was halted prematurely
when a cut to Woodman's nose was judged too much to continue so the
win was awarded
to Evans.
Paul Dunphy was up next against Ben Grant from Dorset. Both these fighters are no strangers to the ring and as usual Dunphy got behind the jab and worked well with his combinations. But Grant was able to neutralize much of Dunphy's work and consistently returned his own kick and punch combinations. This was the trend of the fight that saw Dunphy lose a close but gallant contest on points.
Oscar Marhilevics representing Bridgwater took on Dan Williams of Full Circle. Marhilevics in his first ever fight seemed to enjoy himself immensely as he quickly went to work with a fine display of his kicking ability. Several times he caught Williams with a stunning side kick to the body that clearly hurt. Williams came back in the second half of the fight but the early work by Marhilevics was enough to get the decision over the three rounds.
Damien Borlase looked confident against Dom Tait of Seaton. Borlase, the more experienced fighter showed constant body and face attacking combination that found its mark. But Tait was undeterred and showed great heart and technique to go about his business in his own way trying to catch Borlase with his own boxing ability. Tait couldn't quite make this consistent however, the decision went to Borlase of Bridgwater.
John Jones had a great battle with Darren Muldowney of Wasps club in Bristol. Jones the more senior by some margin typically got stuck into his opponent who displayed some pretty decent kicks. Jones was out to close down the kicks and this tactic worked for a while but Muldowney was up to the task of close range boxing and seemed to have the slight edge as the fight wore on. Jones' tenacity was crowd pleasing to say the least but he got caught too often which saw the fight slip away from him. Decision to Muldowney.
A
considerable portion of the excited crowd had come to see Mark
Godbeer fight
in his first ever mixed martial arts bout. In a semi pro fight
Godbeer was pitched against more
experienced Peter Piewiszko of Paignton. From the opening bell
Piewiszko made clear his
intentions of trying to get the taller Godbeer to the floor. But
Godbeer sprawled and managed to contain
his opponent from completely taking him to his back. After the early
stalemate Godbeer began
to slowly dominate his opponent and keep his opponent on his back for most
of the fight scoring with knee strikes and body punches. This was
enough for the fight to go to the Bridgwater
man, much to the delight of the partisan crowd that must have been
heard across town.
Next
was Rob Ellick. Ellick has developed into a very busy fighter
and this was going to
have to be the case against Chris Bladon of Full Circle. Bladon
showed a good all round style of fighting
and at first looked like he would have too much for Ellick. But
Ellick has a good habit of changing
pace and can sustain this for long periods. Ellick kicks well too and
threw everything at
Bladon. A close contest but Ellick got the unanimous verdict.
Dan Lougheed of Taunton represented Bridgwater's stable. Never in a dull fight Lougheed went to work early against Mike Brent of the Taurus gym in Plymouth. Brent, no stranger to a dust up met Lougheed head on and so continued a battle of attrition between two hungry but well schooled fighters. Both tired but showed no signs of letting up until the final bell that saw a decision go to Brent.
Kickboxing of the highest degree was on display all evening from all exponents but the next bout saw a class performance from Audrius Budrys against Joss Gilbert of Touch Gloves, Penzance. Budrys showed great ringcraft that saw him avoid much of Gilberts attacks. Like a veteran Budrys moved around the ring catching his opponent with clever counter attacks. Suddenly a counter right hand from Budrys flattened his opponent to the canvas. The crowd roared at the knock down but Gilbert was up quickly and showed good fitness and courage to see out the rest of the round and the fight. Budrys was always in control and took the unanimous decision.
The quality of the action did not wane as the evening wore on. Just when you thought the fights couldn't get ant better into the ring stepped two young, professional, experienced fighters. Joe Bale of Bridgwater had a tough task in front of him in the shape of Scott Rowley of Bournemouth's Bulldog Gym. Rowley was a late replacement for an injured Mark Townley and was certainly a more experienced opponent. Bale however, shook off his early nerves with a first round display of sheer class that had him ahead. But Rowley was too experienced to let one round spoil the fight. He came back strong, urged on from his seconds in the corner and began backing up Bale with his own powerful kicks. The fight went one way and another for an action packed four rounds that no-one including the judges could really determine a winner. The draw was a fair result. A possible rematch on the cards in the future.
The final fight and top of the bill was Chris James versus Gordon Childs for the Southern Area 78k division title. James of Bridgwater was the defending champion and Childs of Dorchester the challenger. James started out with his usual methodical approach in order to figure out his plan but was unable to catch Childs with anything clean. Childs was able to nullify James attacks and catch James with a quick counter before holding on. James has a reputation as a big puncher and this was obviously in Child's mind in the close quarter action. There was a lot of holding and James work rate slowed as a result of this. James would admit this wasn't his best performance and Childs was able to be the busier over the six rounds to make the fight his own. Childs on points and the title to add to his own under 76k belt.
All
in all a great show with Bridgwater scoring nine wins, five losses
and one draw.
To see pictures from the show press here
AMATEUR RULES KICKBOXING 3X2MIN ROUNDS
BEN NASH (Bridgwater) V CONNER CRUTCHLEY (Full Circle) NASH pts
1-0 0-1
AMANDA WILLIAMS(Bridgwater) V KATHLEEN HARKIN(BMAC) HARKIN pts
0-1-1 1-0
LEWIS JORDAN (Bridgwater) V JAKE CHAPMAN(Full Circle) JORDAN pts
1-0 0-1
LOW KICK AMATEUR RULE KICKBOXING 3X2MIN ROUNDS
STUART HANNAH (King Tiger) V JEVON CAREW (Touch Gloves) CAREW pts
0-2 1-1
AMATEUR RULES KICKBOXING 3X2MIN ROUNDS
KIRSTY JAMES (Bridgwater) V CLARE SINGLETON (Full Circle) JAMES pts
2-3 1-1
LEE WOODMAN (Bridgwater) V RICKY EVANS (Wasps) EVANS RSC 2
0-1 1-1
PAUL DUNPHY (Bridgwater) V BEN GRANT (A.M.A) GRANT pts
1-2
LOW KICK AMATEUR RULE KICKBOXING 3X2MIN ROUNDS
LEE GRINROD (King Tiger) V ROY HUTTER (Seaton) GRINROD pts
1-1 0-1
AMATEUR RULES KICKBOXING 3X2MIN ROUNDS
OSCAR MARHILEVICS (Bridgwater) V DAN WILLIAMS (Full Circle) MARHILEVICS pts
1-0 0-1
DAMIEN BORLASE (Bridgwater) V DOM TAIT (SEATON) BORLASE pts
4-1 1-1
JOHN JONES (Bridgwater) V DARREN MULDOWNEY (Wasps) MULLDOWNEY pts
0-3 1-1
SEMI PRO RULES MMA 2X5 MIN ROUNDS
MARK GODBEER (Bridgwater) V PETER PIEWISZKO (Paignton) GODBEER pts
1-0
AMATEUR RULES KICKBOXING 3X2MIN ROUNDS
ROB ELLICK (Bridgwater) V CHRIS BLADON (Full Circle) ELLICK pts
3-1 1-1
DAN LOUGHEED (Bridgwater) V MIKE BRENT (Taurus) BRENT pts
1-2 2-0
AUDRIUS BUDRYS (Bridgwater) V JOSS GILBERT (Touch Gloves) BUDRYS pts
3-0
TONY DE SENNA (Bridgwater) V GERRY WOOD (Combat Gym) WOOD pts
1-2 1-2
PRO RULES KICKBOXING 4X2MIN ROUNDS
JOE BALE (Bridgwater) V SCOTT ROWLEY (Bulldog) DRAW
5-4-1
PRO RULES KICKBOXING S. AREA TITLE
CHRIS JAMES (Bridgwater) V GORDON CHILDS (Dorchester) CHILDS pts
5-3-2
