THE GLAMOUR WORLD of the rich and famous
collided with Irish kickboxing last weekend.
An Irish team, led by kickboxing figurehead Billy Murray,
travelled to Villars in Switzerland
(November 4) for an international WKN event against a Swiss
select. Villars, nestling in the beautiful Swiss Alps, is
the favoured hideaway bolthole of Scottish F1 legend David
Coulthard.
“The event was a co-promotion between former world champ
Carl Emery and Claude Oehrli,
owner of a restaurant called Rotisserie Des Alpes,”
explained Murray.
"When Coulthard is in town he likes to stop by the local
restaurants and Carl tells me that during the winter he gets
there as often as he can. We’ve had stars like Marvin
Hagler ringside at kickboxing events and recently at the USA
K1 Bruce Willis took in some action too.”
The event was tough for the Irish competitors. It is over
1,500m altitude, something they were not used to. However,
the thought of thin air in the mountains didn't phase local
hero Gary Hamilton.
“I’ve fought in the heat of Spain and in the bear-pit
atmosphere of Eastern Europe – Villars was tough for
all of us but we all got through it and had a great time,
We were all in prime condition
,”
Special thanks to Carl Emery, Claude Oehrli and
Serge Beslin for their hospitality and a well run event -
we all look forward to returning next year for 'Punch on the
Rocks II'.
Punch on the Rocks–
Villars
FULL CONTACT KICKBOXING
Results In Brief
Gary
Hamilton (Winner Points)vs.
Cédric Moyon
Carrickfergus (Irlande du Nord) Toulouse (France)
63 kg – professional – 5 x 2 minutes
Gary Hamilton returned to form, after being disapointed
last month on not being able to return to boxing. His angst
was short lived as he headed an international event in Villars.
He faced talented Moyon from France in a thrilling 5 rounder.
Hamilton seemed rusty in the opening rounds but found his
feet in the fourth and fifth flooring the frenchman on two
separate occasions and to take the nod from all three judges.
Ken Horan (Winner Points)
vs. Alain Pinel
Galway (République d’Irlande) Toulouse (France)
76 kg - 3 x 2 minutes
Ken Horan, ProKick's adopted son, took his second fight in
less than one week - first up he defended his WKN Middleweight
crown beating Julien Pinel on points and just four days later
jumped on a plane to Switzerland and headed to the scenic
ski location of Villars. The Hitman Horan then faced another
Frenchman Alain Pinel ( Not related) and won on points after
the referee giving the tough Pinel a count of eight.
Ian
Young vs. Luca Staeger (Winner
Points)
Saintfeld (Irlande du Nord) Carouge (Suisse)
70 kg – 3 x 2 minutes
If winning a British title last month wasn't enough - Ian
Young was back in action in just a week. The Saintfield man
took the fight at short notice to be part of an all Ireland
assault against the Swiss. the bout turned out to be a rematch
against an old foe Lucas Staeger. Young Gun, Ian managed a
draw in the UN's Capital back in May 2006. "Ringside
judges definitely got it wrong this time out." said Murray
"The fight was very close and in my opinion Ian was the
busier of the two landing the cleaner shots and pressing forward.
The only difficult round he had was in the second and I would
have scored that even as well."
Mark
Hennessy vs. Mickael Magliano (Draw)
Belfast (Irlande du Nord) Martigny (Suisse)
76 kg – 3 x 2 minutes
Belfast's Mark Hennessy found himself up against Mickael Magliano
for the 2nd time in the events only low leg kick bout. Hennessy
started strong in the first but found the altitude a little
too much to bear, The North Belfast man managing only to scrape
a draw this time out. Perhaps now a third match will be on
the card for the two talented Thai free stylists.
Darren
Dougan vs. Sacha Vetterli (Winner
Points)
Loup (Irlande du Nord) Genève (Suisse)
78 kg – 3 x 2 minutes
The Loups Darren Dougan received fight of the night for a
well fought battle. The Derry man clearly won the first round
but was caught with a hard kick in the 2nd which landed him
on the canvas forcing a count. With true fighting spirit he
fought back to the best of his ability until the final bell,
Dougan lost on a close points verdict. The was the 'Man from
the Loup's' first international and he showed just what he
was made off!
BOXE THAILANDAISE
Jamie
Crawford vs. Farid Mlaikia (Draw)
Belfast (Irlande du Nord) Genève (Suisse)
76 kg – combat professionnel - 5 x 3 minutes
Belfast's Jamie Crawford travelled with the Prokick team to
take on Geneva's Farid M'Laikia. The pair didn't disapoint
the packed venue in Villars as they put on a great display
of Mauy thai. It was a see-saw bout with judges unable to
separate the pair. Lets hope fight fans will get a chance
to see this fight in Belfast.
If any supporters would like to leave
a thank you to the tourist office or the promoters - you can
do so by logging onto Villars web site
at www.villars.ch
  
For
more info on Kickboxing :-
t: 00 44 (0)28 9065 1074
e: prokick@group.tm
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