PART ONE – The Day show
The world may be football-mad at the moment – but last
Saturday (June 24) a corner of Belfast was obsessed with a
different sort of kicking.
A unique double whammy kickboxing show took place at the Park
Avenue Hotel in the city – The event seen a matinee
show running from 1pm to 3.30pm featuring first timers and
novices and then an evening series of bouts which ran from
7.30 – 10pm. The evening
seen three British titles and Celtic titles at weights from
lightweight to heavyweight.
The day got of to a flying start with two debutants in the
welterweight division
DING DONG ROUND 1.
Super welterweight bout 2x2 Sponsored by Glen Ross’
Friends and Family
Glen Ross Winner Points (comber) Vs Ronan McGragh (Dublin)
A young Comber kickboxer took his first steps towards major
glory with a close win in Belfast at the weekend.
Glen Ross took on and beat Dublin’s Ronan McGrath at
the Next Generation event at Park Avenue Hotel in emphatic
fashion.
He landed a points decision in his super welterweight clash,
but was not that comfortable in the win, Glen was ahead in
round one putting McGragh under a lot of pressure. But it
was time to even the score thought McGragh. The second round
saw the Dublin push the Comber fighter to the wire –
At the final bell it was Ross’s first victory and a
hard fought one at that. Some ringsiders thought a draw would
have been better as neither boy deserved to loose. This one
will make a good rematch in the future!
   
DING DONG ROUND 2 & 3.
Bantamweight Junior bout 2x2 Sponsored By Ross Jess Friends
and Family
Ross Jess (Dromore) Winner Vs Joshua Ferry (Dungannon)
 
Bantamweight Junior bout 2x2
Stewart Ferry (Dungannon) Vs Warren Betts (Dublin) Winner
 
 Kickboxing
in Tyrone is on the up and looking good for the future –
that’s the belief of one of the most experienced men
in the sport after watching some of the county’s young
kickboxers in action at the weekend.
Brothers Stewart and Joshua Ferry, as well as young Kyle Foster,
made their competitive debuts at an action-packed event in
Belfast on Saturday. Murray said, “Making that commitment
to step from a training gym into the ring takes guts like
you wouldn’t believe. It’s a daunting environment
under the lights, in front of hundreds of pairs of eyes with
noise building all around. “Stewart and Joshua gave
brilliant accounts of themselves. They might not have got
the result they would have hoped for, but it was an essential
learning time. They know what they can and can’t do
and what to prepare for the next time. And young Kyle Foster,
taking part in a demo bout, really impressed me. He is a clever
fighter with quick hands. If these three are representative
of what is west of the Bann, then kickboxing in that part
of the country is going to soar.”
DING DONG ROUND 4.
Super Middleweight Celtic title eliminator
Shane Loughlin (Dublin) Winner 2nd RSF (Dublin) Vs Billy Stevenson
(Fraserburgh)
It was an all Celt affair for a final eliminator for the Celtic
Nation WKN super middle weight title. The winner Shane Loughlin
will now face The Loup’s Darren Dougan in his title
defence for the crown. A venue has yet to be named.
DING DONG ROUND 5.
Super Heavyweight 2x2 Sponsored by Simon Kerr. "The Morgage
Group"
Steven Allen Winner (Belfast Vs Jim McLoughlin ( The Loup)
Popular Shankill-based super heavyweight kickboxer Steve Allen
was not thinking about second place after demolished his opponent
on Saturday.
The big man, who coaches ProKick’s kickboxing class
at the Shankill Leisure, stopped Magherafelt’s Jim McLoughlin
in the first round of their contest at Belfast’s Park
Avenue Hotel. He found amazing dexterity to add to his power
and bamboozled his opponent with some incredible head and
body combinations before the ref jumped in with just over
a minute gone in the first round.
“He was amazingly fast,” said Murray. “In
this division, you expect pure brute strength in a first time
fighter to be the deciding factor. Steve has plenty of that
but he can also get around the ring like someone a few weight
divisions lighter. Jim McLoughlin is a veteran with a lot
of experience, but he looked shell-shocked coming out the
ring. I don’t think Jim was expecting that type of start
from Steve.”
  
DING DONG ROUND 6& 7.
Demo bouts
Tony and Joel Amos (Belfast ) Vs Kyle Foster (Dungannon)
Underage members are not sanctioned to compete in full-contact
kickboxing until they are 15 years of age. 12 year old twins
Joel and Tony are very eager to compete and got in the ring
for a demonstration bout with Dungannon’s Kyle Foster
who showed nice kicking style. They are clever fighters with
quick hands demonstrating some excellent skills. Thy are certainly
young fighters to look out for in the future
DING DONG ROUND 8.
Gary Jess Vs Rene Le Cuirot
When South Belfast man Rene Le Cuirot and Saintfield’s
Gary Jess’ opponents failed their medicals the two faced
each other in a two round demonstration bout. The two big
men showed good skills, the pair can’t wait to get in
the ring for real next time.
DING DONG ROUND 9.
Bantamweight bout 3x2 Sponsored by Friends & Family
 Alana
Carson (Belfast) Vs Nicola Craigie (Fraserburgh) Draw
Andersonstown Road girl, Alana Carson had her second outing
as a kickboxer, the light welterweight was up against Scotland's
Nicola Craigie in a scheduled three round full-contact match.
The West Belfast 'whirlwind' was forced to share the spoils
of victory as all three judges called it a draw.
Now Carson is set to travel the world in search of lessons
from the oriental masters of the martial arts.
The 19-year-old will embark on a journey to Thailand for a
month of intensive training and aims to return home "a
new woman and a better fighter".
An event security guard, who has put in extra hours in order
to fund her daunting trip, is determined to one day rule the
kickboxing world.
"I don’t know of many 19-year-olds who go to Thailand
alone to concentrate on fighting," She said. "Hopefully
I’ll be in a good position to advise others someday.
I want to show my coach, Mr Murray, how determined I am to
improve and to become the best female fighters ever to come
out of Ireland."
   
DING DONG ROUND 10.
Super Welterweight bout 3x2 Sponsored by, Martin Smyth, Spar
Clarawood
 Gary
Fullerton (Belfast Vs Stuart Cullvile ( Motherwell)Winner
ProKick’s Gary Fullerton lost his second bout at the
weekend. For whatever the reason Fullerton didn’t turn
up to the office of work. In fairness he has been down with
the flue the week before the event – not making excuses,
Stuart Cullvile was very good on the day and looks a good
prospect for the future.
DING DONG ROUND 11.
Middleweight bout 3x2
 Bill
Henry Winner (Belfast) Vs Ewan Zhu (Belfast - Steelheels)
Bill Henry’s opponent Ewan Zhu ring entrance was a spectacular
one with high flying, jumping kicks. And it was much of the
same as the bout got under way - Ewan used his superior kicking
skills to keep Bill at bay. It took Bill nearly a full round
to get inside Ewan’s legs to unload his fast hand techniques.
Round two was as if Bill was an Exocet Missile - ‘seek
and destroy’ The referee had no option but to call a
halt to the fight half way into the second round. This was
a very classy first time fight for both boys. Well done Bill
and Ewan – lets hope we see more from these two in the
future.
  
DING DONG ROUND 12.
Super Heavyweight bout 3x2
 James
Gillen Winner (Portadown ) Vs Tomachek (Polland)
A Portadown-based super Heavyweight kickboxer is gearing up
for a British title shot after a stunning win at the weekend
in Belfast.
James Gillen who teaches the ProKick Kickboxing class in Fall’s
& Lisburn Leisure Centre, took less than one round to
polish off Polish opponent Tomachek at the Park Avenue Hotel.
It took James no time to find the form that he once had when
he lifted the Irish title. This was his second fight back
in eight weeks with both of them resulting in first round
stoppages. This is a clear message he is sending out to all
heavy weights across Ireland that big James is back and he
means business. Gillen said. “He had a fearsome reputation
as a terrier-like fighter. But I didn’t let him get
started. I went for him right from the first bell and he simply
couldn’t handle the pressure, I was so relieved with
the ref said THAT’S IT! .”
   
And that is it for another event - we had a great afternoon
of action with lots of good first time fighters stepping in
the ring for their first bouts – we had knockouts and
of course lots of surprises on the day.
Thanks to all the clubs who supported both events –
a big up - to our loyal fight fans, the sponsors, the Park
Ave and not forgetting my team who work very hard to make
the day and the night event
happen, without them events like these may not even take place!
I thank you all
Billy Murray
'It was a gladiatorial clash
of the newest fighters around and all the greats'.
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