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MONDAY, June 30th, 2003, AT 9:00 PM, PT
How Does An Event Police
Itself?
Beware MMA (And
Kickboxers Too) People...
Look Who Is Trying To Walk In Your
DORE!
There is a very hot
topic running around the last few weeks and it's called SAFETY! The topic has come up from the most recent
deaths in Toughman competition. A total of 14 now. One of the most recent deaths
was a 30-year-old mother of two, Stacy Young of Florida.
Young had no fight training but was encouraged on the day of the
event to step into the ring to fight a younger (20) better conditioned and
TRAINED competitor, Sarah Kobie. However, no one can blame Kobie
for her death. Kobie was there to WIN, but the referee was there to "WATCH",
and he wasn't watching out for the fighters safety. He was watching out for the
promoter Art Dore to assure he would have a "3 Round Cat
Fight" for the crowd to see.
Even when Young dropped her gloves and stumbled to her corner while members of the audience called for the bout's end, the referee never even stepped in to break the two to separate. He just stood by and watched Kobie PUMMEL Young! Kobie landed punch after punch on Young who was visibly out of shape (At 240 lbs) and spent much of the fight backed into a corner trying to defend herself as best she could. At one point, the two fighters fell to the canvas and Promoter Art Dore yelled over the PA System, "A real cat fight!"
Even though
spectators yelled frantically at the ridiculous referee Dore had placed
as the bout referee, he just stood there and watched it all without a care for
fighter safety in mind. Again, he was making sure the audience saw a beating!
And they did. By round 3, Young couldn't even hold her gloves up to
protect herself. As she walked toward her corner before the match was over, Kobie
punched her three times on the side of the head. The referee still didn't step
in as Young went down on the third punch. Young absorbed 14
unanswered punches to her head. Twice, Kobie went after Young
when Young's back was turned to her, and neither time did the referee
intervene.
Nobody knows which punch rendered Young brain dead but the last time she turned her back to Kobie, Kobie jabbed the back of her head with a left and then cocked her right fist and delivered a blow squarely on Young's brain stem, snapping Young's head from side to side. From the final blow, Young collapsed, and never got up. While Young was being fatally pummeled the ringside doctor (Hired by Dore) doctor was busy taking pictures as the event's official photographer. Young collapsed in the ring and suffered a seizure. Paramedics were on hand to treat her, but the fight doctor who was suppose to be there to protect fighters never tried to stop the match even though it was clear Young was being overwhelmed with punches and couldn't defend herself. As Kobie was punishing Young with blows, Dore is heard bellowing through the P.A. system, "C'mon ladies! Punch! Punch! Punch! Punch! Punch!" So Sarah Kobie continued to punch, even after Stacy Young turned her back and the referee gave no warning let alone put a stop to it.
Toughman competitions
have made Dore (Right) a millionaire while leaving some
participants disfigured, brain damaged or dead. Fourteen fighters (13 men, 1
woman) have died in Toughman-style amateur fighting since the sport's
inception in 1979 and at least five more have suffered brain damage. The
fatality rate is more than quadruple that of organized amateur boxing and the
sport's deadliness is directly linked to its loose rules and lack of regulation.
"There's no regulation, no strong system to see if these people are physically capable of getting in and performing in such a rough, tough, combative physical sport," said boxing trainer Emanuel Steward, whose Kronk Gym in Detroit has more boxing champs than any club in history.
So who was there to discipline the referee in Young's bout for such a TERRIBLE job? Art Dore of course. And who was there to oversee Dore? Art Dore of course. Wait a minute, "Art Dore?" How can he oversee his own events? Toughman competitor Scott Wood's was killed in January when the referee wouldn't allow him to give up. Jason Pyles of Michigan was Wood's opponent. He said Wood, who died of blunt force head trauma, indicated to the referee that he wanted to give up, but wasn't allowed to, which the referee denies. In some cases, referees are allowed to work bouts even when they don't meet the sport's minimal requirements -- described Dore only as, they have to have been "involved in so many fights in the past." In one fatal bout, the referee had worked only five fights. He has no system for hiring doctors other than recommendations from friends. In states where Toughman is not regulated, Dore appoints all ring doctors, refs, judges and cornermen. Its prefight exam tests only for blood pressure and alcohol; only those over the age of 35 need a doctor's permission to compete; fighters are responsible for their own medical expenses and must sign a waiver that frees Toughman from any liability; and there are no minimum requirements for referees or medical personnel.
"We have some major concerns" about Toughman, said Marc Ratner, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. "Those concerns would have surfaced had Dore followed through and applied for a license renewal in Nevada, which he was going to do this past January. But when he got wind of Nevada's opposition, Dore pulled his request and hasn't surfaced here since."
Welcome to the non sanctioned world of Art Dore, and sadly as well, 99% of all MMA events and a good majority of kickboxing events. In MMA, everyone seems to have their own sanctioning body, but they are also their own promotional company. Just like Art Dore.
Art Dore, the founder of Toughman has policed his own events for years by his own sanctioning body. His association takes in more than the IKF and ISCF combined. Dore's non-profit "American Boxing & Athletic Association" took in nearly a million dollars over the last 2 years. (That was on paper, not cash intake from merchandise, ticket sales or any other cash sales.) According to tax records, Dore's nonprofit foundation, originally named the Art Dore Boxing and Athletic Association made just less than $1 million over the past two years. The foundation incurred expenses of more than $820,000, most of it in payments to Adoreable Promotions Inc., the company Dore founded and is now in the name of his daughter, Wendy Dore.
Toughman has had a reported 14 deaths now in its organization. Dore has fighters sign a waiver beforehand. He also has them fill out an entry form that includes these words: "Wimps need not apply." He also promises that a doctor will be on hand. Some of these events have no doctor at ringside and some others have had a Chiropractor as the ringside doctor. In two of the Toughman deaths, the doctors Dore hired to monitor the fights were chiropractors. Some of the weight spreads are as much as 30 to 50 lbs.
Toughman competitions have been banned in five states. Florida also intended to ban the events in the early 1990s, but Dore has been able to continue staging Toughman competitions because of a loophole in the state law. Because Dore does not offer more than $50 in prize money in Florida, the Toughman bouts aren't considered professional boxing and aren't regulated by the state. Boxers in professional fights are required to undergo strict medical evaluations and referees undergo rigorous training before they can judge a fight.
So why this article now?
Well,
over the last week we have received a few phone calls from the likes of some
people with PPV and other TV sources and some news reporters all asking about
what a sanctioning body is for and our stance on Art Dore wanting to now
do his own MMA events (Calling it something like Frontier Fighting.).
Yes... Art Dore nopw wants to be an MMA Promoter!
Although their questions and comments were mainly in regards to Dore's MMA Promotion desires, these individuals informed us that they will be crackin down on ANY and ALL events they will show on TV and support in their press from now on. They asked tons of questions and wanted to know where we stood on them. Questions such as our (IKF & ISCF) safety record (which is 100% clean) and where we sanction events. What MMA promoters we have worked with in the past and who we are working with now, and of course, how we felt about Art Dore wanting to promote MMA now and worse yet, his desire to do so in the state of Georgia.
They wanted to know why not every MMA Promoter sanctions with the ISCF? The "ONLY" MMA Sanctioning body that does not promote their own events. Why so many MMA Promoters sanction their own events, etc. etc. Their main concern was about Art Dore though and his desires to do his new MMA Events in every state he could.
We informed them that MMA in general, despite promoters sanctioning their own events, has a far better safety record than Toughman. However if anyone in MMA allows Art Dore to get involved in our sport, that safety record will get washed down the drain. It's not enough to sanction one of Dore's events. Fighters need TRAINING! Which is something Dore will never require. No matter what safety rules are applied or enforced, if an untrained fighter goes into ANY ring (Like Young did) they take the chance of serious injury or as in Young's case, DEATH!
Those in the media and TV were clear about needing events sanctioned by a sanctioning body that was not promoting the event. But in defense of the groups that sanction their own events (UFC, King of the Cage etc.) they admitted they never thought of the issue we brought up, that sanctioning alone will not save every fighter. Training experience IS MANDATORY and cannot be bought for a $50 enrollment fee! It changed their thinking of the whole Dore issue altogether. Once thinking his events might be safe with sanctioning, we made them realize that sanctioning alone would not save unexperienced fighters who don't know how to protect themselves and fight back. However, a Qualified referee would have saved Young, or at least gave her a much better chance of survival.
The issue of Liability has come up with them and they said they do not want to be a part of an unsanctioned event that has a major injury or worse yet, a death, with no sanctioning body to stand by them to assure that all safety measures were taken. Be aware MMA Fans, Dore is now trying to not just knock, but walk in your door, to your living room and on your TV, no matter what the costs of others like Stacy Young.
For some interesting reading, CLICK HERE!
STILL NOT CONVINCED?
Operation Clean Up: Congressman Plays
Monopoly
Written By: Boxing Insider - 04.16.2003
03:12 AM, By Charles Jay Editor/Publisher
TotalAction.com at
fightpage@totalaction.com
The following is a FREE Chapter from Charles Jay's award winning series Operation Clean Up.
55th Round CONGRESSMAN PLAYS A DANGEROUS GAME OF MONOPOLY
A
bill introduced in Congress last year illustrates how truly gullible public
officials can be. Or how treacherous. Especially with a promoter pulling the
strings.
Posted April 15, 2003
Years
ago, when I was doing a little matchmaking, both on the pro and amateur level,
in the Tampa Bay area, I was trying to put a certain aspiring heavyweight on one
of my Friday night amateur cards, but was rebuffed by some officials of the ABF
(now known as USA Boxing), who told me he was ineligible, because not only had
he competed in a "Badman" contest (a knock-off of Toughman) a couple
of weeks before that, but he had actually won the first prize - a check in the
amount of $1000.
According to those officials, by just competing in that event, he forfeited his amateur status. I was at the "Badman" show, so I saw the guy fight. But I really didn't know about the rule, since the competition was billed as something that was essentially "amateur" in nature. So I put the kid into a pro show the next week. He wanted to be a fighter, so if he wanted to do so he had no real choice. He got knocked out, and that was basically the end of his career.
The point is, these "toughman" contests - or any variation thereof - exist in this nether land between professional and amateur boxing. As far as some commissions are concerned, they are not professional contests and therefore don't fall under the same laws and/or regulations as professional fights would, and the bouts obviously don't go on anyone's professional record. For anyone but the winner of most of these events, there is no financial reward. But the amateur governing body - USA Boxing - doesn't want to come anywhere near it, beyond the extent to which it bans Toughman competitors from ever competing in amateur boxing - that is, if they find out about it.
On June 13, 2002, a Michigan congressman proposed something he promoted as a solution to this dilemma. Rep. James Barcia, a Democrat, introduced H.R. 4929, which would "recognize the American Boxing and Athletic Commission as the official sanctioning body for amateur elimination boxing contests." This would have established the ABAA as the entity setting and enforcing standards for these types of events across the country. And I would assume that no one would be permitted to go forward with an "amateur elimination contest" without ABAA sanction and approval.
For now, let's get away from semantics. Let's forget about the proposition that someone from this ABAA might walk into a courtroom, maybe even in the state of Michigan, and try to enjoin an event like the National Golden Gloves or the Olympic Trials because it could be argued that these too could be considered to be "amateur elimination boxing contests." For now, I'd rather focus on just exactly what the "American Boxing and Athletic Association" really is. In a letter sent to Barcia on October 16, 2002, Tim Lueckenhoff, president of the Association of Boxing Commissions, wrote, "As they are private entities, there may be more than one legitimate sanctioning body for such sports. To bless one with the designation of 'official' will unfairly give preferential treatment to a non-governmental organization over others in the marketplace, regardless of their proficiency or standards."
It's actually much worse than that. In fact, it's worse than
any sanctioning body one can imagine, because it's clearly set up as a promotional
tool, designed to support one organization and one organization only - The
Original Toughman Contest - to the exclusion of all others.
There's a good explanation for that. You
see, the "ABAA" is Art Dore. And Art Dore IS
the "ABAA".
The Amateur Boxing and Athletic Association is 501-C(3) non-profit corporation that is on file in the state of Michigan. The registered agent for the company is Arthur P. Dore. Dore, and Murray Sutherland, the former super middleweight champion who is one of his employees, are listed as officers on the Form 990 of this corporation, which was previously known as the "Art Dore Boxing and Athletic Association". The address is a post office box in Bay City, Michigan. James Barcia, the representative who introduced this bill, is from Bay City as well. And in case you're a little slow, what this means is that - unbelievable as it may seem - an elected public official actually engaged in a pro-active attempt to create a legal monopoly for one of his constituents - no doubt a constituent who arranged some "campaign financing" somewhere along the way. If this bill had gotten through the House Science and Commerce Committee and eventually passed, Dore could have effectively knocked out all opposition - not to mention all of his competition - in what would have been one of the all-time great end runs around any form of independent boxing regulation.
Thank God it never got that far. Mercifully, for the sport of boxing, Congressman Barcia became a victim of redistricting and re-apportionment. The 2000 U.S. Census eliminated one of Michigan's seats in the House of Representatives for 2002, and Barcia was the casualty. So instead of working for the benefit of Art Dore in Washington, he now must do so from the Michigan State Senate, which he was elected to last year. But this should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who contends that the solution to ANY of boxing's ills is to get a bunch of Washington politicians involved, because we have before us a textbook example of the potential disaster that can result. Barcia's office won't clarify it, but what we're presented with is one of two possible scenarios - either it was a case of a politician who was completely clueless as to the ramifications of legislation he was actually introducing, or a politician who was perfectly aware of the potential effects, and consciously proposed that kind of bill anyway, in the name of the public interest, with hidden motives we can only speculate on. Either way, it sucks.
Likewise, either way, because this was his "brainchild", there's very little doubt as to where Art Dore's head is at, in terms of his long-term objectives. And that's a very dangerous place, even by the standards of professional OR amateur boxing.
SATURDAY, June 28th, 2003, AT 4:10 PM, PT
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England
Ready For Tomorrow Nights
Fight
Night - The Heat Is On!
IKF England: IKF England Promoters Mark Wilson and John Rice will host a joint promotion with IKF European director Alby Bimpson tomorrow night, Sunday the 29th June. The event entitled "Fight Night - The Heat Is On" will take place at Barcleona on Renshaw Street in Liverpool England. The event will feature all Amateur Kickboxing and Thai Boxing which hopes to follow the great success of the last one there. For more info contact Mr. Alby Bimpson or Jacqui Thompson at jacquithompson@msn.com.
MORE NEWS OF 6-28-03
IKF/TKO USA National
Contests!
You could be a winner without throwing a
kick or punch!
As the announcer would say on the long running game show…"come
on down…you're the next contestant on the Price is Right!" Well,
YOU could be the next winner of various prizes offered by the IKF.
The IKF
Marketing Department will start running various contest starting today and
leading up to this year's 2003
IKF/TKO USA National
Amateur Tournament. Prizes will range from IKF
water bottles, T- Shirts, Kickboxing Training Videos, Manuals, License Plate
Frames and more!
Here's how it works: The IKF will
post trivia questions here on the News Page, Message Board and, or request you
to do certain things to further promote IKF
Kickboxing in your community. All you need to do is submit your entry and
increase your chances to win!
Contest #1
Send in a
recent article about you and your plans to attend the 2003
IKF/TKO USA National
Amateur Tournament. The article must be from your local newspaper. You
will receive an IKF Water Bottle as a
prize at the event. The article must be dated no earlier than June 23rd but no
later than August 5th. You must have the IKF
letters and, or web site (www.IKFKickboxing.com) mentioned in the
article. Go to your local paper today and request a story!
Contest #2
Send a one
page essay (single spaced) stating why you love Kickboxing and what it
has done for you. How has it changed your life? How has it changed someone's
life you know? Make it compelling! The writers of the best three (3) essays
chosen will receive a free copy of the official IKF
Kickboxing Training Video. Essays must be received not later than July 25th to
be considered.
Send your newspaper article or essay to: IKF Nationals Contest P. O. Box 1205, Newcastle, CA, 95658, or you can submit them via e-mail to jd@ikfkickboxing.com. Yes, YOU are the next contestant! So enter Now and Win! Only those planning to attend the 2003 IKF/TKO USA National Amateur Tournament and have already pre registered are eligible to win.
FRIDAY, June 27th, 2003, AT 6:40 PM, PT
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Two Time IKF
World Champion
Steele Back In The Ring!
Former
Two Time IKF USA National Amateur Champion
Erickson Also!
IKF Hawaii, USA:
It's been a little while since we've seen two time IKF Pro World Champion Danny "Hard As"
Steele (R) in the ring, but even longer since the Blaisdell
in Hawaii has rocked with Kickboxing! Tonight, 4 Kicks Productions will
bring kickboxing back to the famous
Neal Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA where plenty of IKF History has been
made.
The Blaisdell Arena was a famous place for other IKF stars such as Ramona Gatto (L) and another Hawaii legend, Dennis "The Terminator" Alexio (L) Both won their IKF World Titles at the Blaisdell.
Gatto (Now retired), was a
3 Time IKF Pro
Woman's World Champion. She became the first ever IKF
Pro World Champion 
when she KO'ed Debbie
Page of Albq, New Mexico, USA on October 16th, 1992. She won her other 2
IKF Pro World titles here in the states.
Alexio won
his IKF Pro Heavyweight title when he
defeated Barrington Patterson of London, England by TKO at the end of
the 5th round on May 31st, 1997.
However tonight the spotlight will be on Steele who won one of his IKF Pro World Titles there at the Blaisdell on July 16th, 1999 when he defeated Miguel Reyes of Tijauana, Baja CA, Mexico by unanimous decision, 100-88, 98-91 and 99-91. Tonight Steele hopes to repeat history as he faces off in a 10 round non title main event against Jason Brees of Los Angeles California, USA.
Also on the card will be former 2 Time IKF USA National Amateur Tournament Champion (2001 & 2002) Dan Erickson (L). This will be Erickson's second Pro fight having won his first last year and he will face no easy fighter. Erickson will match up against well known Hawaiian fighter Rodney Joseph.
For more info on the event please contact Mr. Adrian Silva at (808) 216-4241 or e-mail at adriansilva@operamail.com. The IKF Representative for this event is Mr. Dan Stell.
MORE NEWS OF 6-27-03
Dubuque
Kickboxing School
To Represent IKF National
Tournament!
Tomorrow, Lessei and his team will pass out leaflets and perform demonstrations during the annual Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival on June 28th. Their efforts for all of us are to illustrate what spectators can expect to see at the upcoming IKF/TKO USA National Amateur Tournament in Cedar Rapids Iowa this August. Here's More On Team Lessei Below
This Info Below was Re-Posted Today
From The 18th.
IKF
Dyerville, Iowa, USA: Kickboxing Instructor Dean Lessei (R)
of Dyerville, Iowa has been appointed to represent the International Kickboxing
Federation (IKF) demonstration team to
promote the August 16th and 17th IKF USA National Amateur Kickboxing tournament.
The tournament is the largest of its kind in the United States and will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Over two hundred of the best kick boxers in the United States are expected to compete in the event. IKF USA Nationals Director of Marketing Johnny Davis says, 'This tournament is the Golden Gloves' event for Kickboxing and spectators will have the opportunity to witness some of the best fights ever!"
Lessei has been operating his Kickboxing School out of
Dubuque, Iowa since 1990. On August 2nd they will "kick off" the
popular Kernels baseball game at the Veteran's Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids
with a demonstration of Muay Thai Kickboxing. Muay Thai Kickboxing (knee &
elbow strikes to body and kicks to the legs allowed) is one of the three
divisions that will feature juniors, men and women competing for the beautiful
brass and leather IKF National
Championship belts.
International Rules (No knees or elbows but kicks to the legs) and American Kickboxing (all kicks above the waist) will round off the other two divisions. All three styles will incorporate the art of Boxing to bring some of the most exciting Kickboxing action to the State of Iowa! For more information on the IKF National Kickboxing tournament Click HERE!
2003
IKF Nationals
Rule Changes,
REMINDERS & Other Info?
Please NOTE the Following Rule
Changes, Reminders and or Adjustments for the 2003
IKF/TKO USA National
Amateur Championships:
HEADGEAR: In respect to our
sponsor (TKO) that will be supplying the equipment for the tournament (Including
HEADGEAR), If a fighter chooses to wear a headgear OTHER THAN TKO,
they must TAPE OVER the brand of the Headgear shown on the forehead. If
the fighter comes to the ring without doing so, they will be disqualified. This
was a rule the first 2 years of the Nationals. The last 2 years we did not
require it because our equipment sponsor, Ringside, did not supply any event
headgear.
CORNERMAN
& TRAINERS: Like every year, there are a lot of people who try to
sneak into these events claiming to be assistant trainers etc. etc. For this
reason, as of last year we now charge for an Official IKF
Nationals Event Cornerman/Trainers Badge. (A 2002 Fighters Pass is displayed
at right.) This will prevent individuals just attaining a cornermans pass
for free only to watch the event. The other reason for this is to police each
fighters corner so that only Registered Cornermen and Trainers are in each
fighters corner in the ring area. Only registered cornermen/women will
be allowed into each fighters corner and in the ring area as well as the locker
room area. The cost of each Official IKF
Nationals Event Cornerman/Trainers Badge for the entire weekend is $10.00 and
you MUST HAVE A HEADSHOT PHOTO OF YOURSELF no larger than 2 inches X 2
inches. If we have to take your picture for your badge, because of the delays
this will cause like last year, the fee will be $15.00. Cornermen and Trainers
will register on Friday during the hours of 12 noon and 7 PM at the event Arena.
For Nationals Badge info please CLICK
HERE! All Cornermen/women must meet, follow and abide by the
Official IKF Cornerman/women rules of the
IKF. To review these rules please
CLICK HERE!
MORE NEWS OF
6-26-03
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Results From The International
Kickboxing Show
IKF
England Vs IKF Norway
Sunday, 22nd June, 2003, Standard Triumph Club, Tile Hill,
Coventry England, Promoter: Steve Donnelly
Alby Bimpson, (R) IKF
European Director
IKF England: IKF
Europe Norway Representative, Trevor Ambrose (R) arrived with an
excellent team from Norway with trainer
Bard Trones. The show was
restricted to 5 bouts of 5 x 2 minute rounds of top class fighters. Top of the
bill was Steve Donnelly himself.
Fight Profile: Steve 'THE DON'
Donnelly makes his comeback after 10 years out of the ring against the
formidable Arild Mikalson of Norway. Whilst competing at British and
European level Donnelly had a chance for another organizations World
Title against their Featherweight 
champion
(Ireland in 1992) Paul 'The Lemon Drop Kid' Lenihan.
Unfortunately Donnelly broke his hand through an accident which put him
into retirement. Donnelly then concentrated mainly on teaching and
coaching.
IKF Europe: Why are you (Donnelly)
making a comeback now?
Donnelly: "It's always been my
ambition to fight for a world title. I lost the chance 10 years ago so I am
taking it now. I have to beat Arild from Norway to have a shot at any
major titles"
IKF Europe: Why go into the deep end
with a well established fighter? Why not a lesser opponent?
Donnelly:
"I would rather fight the best around to see if I could actually fight
for the World title. Arild will test me to the max; he is a well
established fighter and wants major titles as well. So, after this fight I will
know whether or not I am capable of fighting for a World title or should hang up
my gloves for 
the last time"
Donnelly's fight record is 42 wins, 6 loses, 2 draws. Arild Mikarlsen's fight record as an amateur was 35 wins, 7 loses with 18 wins coming by TKO/KO. As a pro his record is 11 wins, 7 loses with 7 of his wins coming by way of TKO/KO.
Bout One, 5 X 2 Full Contact
Brian
Aston, 77 Kg, England vs Bertil Queeley 76.5 kg, England
Excellent technical bout. Queeley had the edge on the first 2 rounds
with all three judges agreeing. The 3rd round this evened out with both fighters
coming back at each other with combination of kicks and punches. Queeley
stepped up a gear in the 4th taking the round. The 5th round Aston tried
to come back to the delight of the crowd, making the final round his, but Queeley,
already ahead, took the bout on unanimous decision.
Bout Two, 5 X 2, Full Contact
Tiffany
Williams 51.5 Kg, Brighton, England Vs Trine Thorkildsen 51 kg,
Bergen, Norway
Thorkildsen
believed that she was to have a 3 round fight, but 5 rounds had been arranged
with Williams. The Norwegians fighters are great fighters and Thorkildsen
was up for the challenge against the IKF
European title holder Williams even though it was the first time at 5
rounds. Respect to Thorkildsen as she pushed forward at every given
opportunity. Williams countered and attacked with her excellent
technical ability taking all 5 rounds with a unanimous points decision. This was
a great fight to watch as the technical ability of both fighters was at a high
level, and an education for the crowd, which showed their approval for both
fighters.
Bout Three, 5 X 2 Full Contact
Darren
Forrest 71 Kg England Vs Daniel 'Pretty Boy' Nordas, Bergan, Norway.
WOW what a fight. Forrest
has been around for a long time, a great fighter, and is well known for his
acrobatic ability, which sometimes lets him down BUT tonight this was serious
and did it show. Forrest's trademark pants the American stars and
stripes, had changed to a new design, had this changed his style in fighting?
Both fighters were very strong and the crowd gasped as they heard the impact of
the kicks and punches landed by both fighters. Forrest took the first
round. Nordas was not having this and came out in the 2nd round
determined to win the round, and succeeded. Third round Forrest came out
hard with a wide range of of kicks and punch combinations giving a standing 8
count to Nordas, and followed this up by winning the 4th. Nordas
knowing he was behind came out with all barrels blazing. The crowd was excited
with this bout, as Nordas gave Forrest a standing 8 count, but
Forrest recovered to take the bout on unanimous points decision.
Bout Four, 5 X 2 Full Contact
Kevin
Smiles 101 kg, Blyth, England Vs Tomas Rossvoll 105 Kg, Bergen,
Norway
Well what can I say, Smiles the current IKF British Heavyweight champion, today moving up
into the Super heavyweight standing at 6' 6", and Rossvoll who I
last saw in Brighton 2 years ago several weights lighter, is now a strapping
Norwegian Marine standing at 6' 4". TWO GIANTS in the ring.
Smiles I must say has been out of the ring for nearly a year traveling,
and arrived late due to getting lost on the way, but this is not to take away
anything from Rossvoll, who was here to win. This was a great fight.
Round one Rossvoll came out and was determined to stamp some kind of
authority and took the first round. 2nd round Smiles woke up and came
back with hard punches and kicks which Rossvoll took well, winning the
2nd. This did not put Rossvoll off and the 3rd round was even, with a
query over the number of kicks Smiles threw. In the 4th round Smiles
did not get the required 8 kicks and the round went to Rossvoll. Rossvoll
sensing victory came out in the final round and took the round on a majority.
Final result unanimous decision, Tomas Rossvoll.
Bout Five, 5 X 2 International Rules
Steve
'The Don' Donnelly, 65 Kg, Coventry, England Vs Arild Mikalson,
65 Kg, Bergen, Norway.
What everyone was waiting for was about to happen.
Steve Donnelly's absence from the ring was going to be put to the test.
The Full House was in an uproar as he made his way to the Ring. His opponent
Arild Mikalson, was already in the ring watching the frenzy of support
and applauded Steve as he entered the ring. It must be said Steve
Donnelly does not do things in half measures. Besides putting on one of the
best and exciting shows this year, he put his head on the chopping block by
accepting his opponent, Arild Mikalson, with a record of over 60 fights
(amateur & professional) who was in excellent condition.
ROUND ONE: This round started with both fighters assessing each others
technical ability. The crowd was already in an uproar, but this seemed to
encourage Mikalson who was actually on fire from the sound of the bell.
The difference was obvious from this round with the lightening technique and
combinations from the Norwegian, which stunned Donnelly. At one point
with Donnelly's head connecting with a roundhouse kick which stunned
him. This did not put Donnelly off, and he came back with some excellent
combinations himself, but unfortunately after 10 years out, his timing was not
quite there with his opponent taking advantage of this. Round 1 to the Norwegian
by all 3 judges cards.
ROUND TWO: Donnelly with excellent
work from his corner came out with more intent, determined to change the pattern
from the first round. But Mikalson was having none of this raising his
own game plan, which resulted in a standing 8 count for Donnelly at the
end of the round. 2nd round to Mikalson.
ROUND THREE: Once again
both fighters came out determined to stamp their authority. This resulted in
Mikalson once again moving up another gear catching Donnelly
across the ribs with a roundhouse kick that sent him crashing to the floor.
Referee Clive Tennant started the count. Donnelly rose to his
knees as Tennant continued counting to ten, counting Donnelly
out on his knees. The crowd fell silent for a moment realizing Donnelly
had picked a top fighter. The crowd showed respect to Donnelly as well
as his opponent, Mikalson who took this win by TKO.
It must be said that Donnelly could have picked a much lesser experienced opponent, but as we have said before Donnelly does not do anything by half measures, and was first to congratulate his opponent and thank the crowd. Steve has now gone on holiday to consider his future.
He would like to say a
'Special thank you to sponsor Dean Woodhouse
from FIRST CLASS MARKETING for making the show possible'.
'A big
thank you from the Don, to Kash & Harry for organizing the
show.'
'To all sponsors for their continued support and also to all
the Officials, Doctors, Fighters and support from everyone involved in the show.
'
A Sincere THANK YOU!
WEDNESDAY, June 25th, 2003, AT 1:20 PM, PT
IKF/TKO
USA Nationals Championship Bouts
To Be Filmed
For IKF/CSS TV
Program
IKF Headquarters:
Make sure you bring your best to the ring at this years 2003
IKF/TKO USA
Nationals fighters. This years Championship bouts on Sunday will be
filmed for the upcoming IKF
CSS TV Series beginning in
September.
Although all the bouts will not make it to the first show, the
IKF plan is to use the Championship Fight
footage of all the Championship bouts as added footage throughout the 17 week
series that will run from September through the end of December. Beginning
Friday night and continuing throughout the entire weekend the IKF/CSS Team will
be scheduling 
special interviews with fighters, trainers and
IKF Promoters.
Interviews will be given to individuals from Brooks Mason (L), Steve Fossum (R) and others working as on air personalities of the TV Program. Interviews and filming will include visiting IKF PRO Champions as well.
So make sure you not only bring your best to the ring amateurs, make sure you wear your best as well when you show up in Iowa this August to "Walk The Walk" and Bring It ON! For more info on the 2003 IKF/TKO USA National Finals CLICK HERE!
MORE NEWS OF 6-25-03
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St. Louis Is Ready To
Showcase Talent
IKF St. Louis,
Missouri: This Saturday Lucky's on the
Landing isn't going to be just another Saturday night out in St.
Louis. Most of the time you would see drinks being poured, people dancing, and
the best nationwide DJ's spinning records, but not this time. On this Saturday
Lucky's on the Landing, is being
transformed once again from the hottest night club to an arena for the hottest
ticket in town, the event...The Midwest Fight Fest. A combination of IKF sanctioned Full-Contact Rules Kickboxing and
ISCF
sanctioned MMA/HNB fights.
The event will showcase fighters from Canada, Iowa, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Missouri. Once again showing the St. Louis fans why some of the best fighters in the United States come from the Midwest and some of the best fighters in North America come from our neighbor country up north. The fights will showcase many fighters that will be completing in this years 2003 IKF/TKO USA Nationals.
The night will also be filled with plenty of action including a special exhibition fight and two fighters making their returns to the ring after some time off. In the main event Kevin "Boom Boom" Bozada is making his return to the ring after a short retirement. After leaving the kickboxing fight scene to become one of the head trainers of Finney's Championship Kickboxing and Martial Arts, one would think that he would want to come back slowly. Instead he is jumping back into the ring against Ken Keiser out of Windsor, Ontario Canada.
The other fighter
stepping back into the ring is no other than Marc "The Hammer"
Mayfield. Mayfield has taken the last 8 months off after a injury that he
received sparring. Now back in the gym and working hard, he will be coming out
looking for a win. Standing in his way is Dwight Lee, out of Detroit,
Michigan.
There will be three ISCF sanctioned fights on the card. The first will "Mean" Mike Green, from St. Louis, Missouri up against Jaime Dawson, from St. Joseph, Oklahoma. Green has started to put together a good record since starting at Finney's. Green came to Finney's. to work on his stand up and has won some fights in FCR.
The second ISCF NHB/MMA will be between Kyle Hancock, of St. Louis, Missouri and Manual Salato, of St. Joseph, Oklahoma. Hancock has been training at Finney's. for 6 months and has started to put together his stand up and ground techniques.
The Last ISCF fight will be worth the price of the ticket. Up and coming "Brazilian" Mike Rothmeyer, of St. Louis, Missouri has started to make a name for himself in NHB. Now going into his third fight, he has shown that he has the power to stand up and also the patience to work from the guard. His opponent is Marty Daul out of Fort Wood, Ohio.
Kevin "The
Hitman" Engel... What more is there to say? No one will step into
the ring with him. That is why he will be doing a Special exhibition with Ray
Dardon. Dardon is the current KICK North American Pro Light Heavyweight
Champion.
Rounding out the fight card, will be a team from Waterloo,
Iowa. Russ O'Connell will be bring three of his fighters down to fight
three of Jesse Finney's fighters. The first one will be Josh Fisher,
from St. Louis, Missouri against Matt Bedard, from Waterloo, Iowa. Both
these fighters are starting there kickboxing careers. 
The second will be two fighters that
are no strangers to the ring. Finney's Dylon
Leonard will be facing John Hoppes. Leonard has improved
dramatically since starting over a year ago. Hoppes has started to
diverse in his fighting styles, not only NHB/MMA but also in the FCR style.
The last of the three fights will be a rematch. "Little" Matt Taff, from St. Louis, Missouri and Nick Anderson, from Waterloo, Iowa. These fighters have fought before with Taff winning by decision. One thing is for sure, we will see both of these fighters in Cedar Rapids in August at the 2003 IKF/TKO USA Nationals.
For additional fight and ticket information call (314) 351-5226. Or email: finneys@finneyskickboxing.com.
MORE NEWS OF 6-25-03
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Cowtown Rumble
Results!
Overland Park, Kansas, USA, June 21st
Cowtown
Fight Promotions, Inc. headed up by IKF
& ISCF
Promoters Mr. Dan Tharp and
Mr. Oren Gautreaux, presented the third installment of 'Cowtown Rumble'. Riding on the wave of two
previous sold out shows the decision was made to find a larger venue that would
allow for more seating and better show production. The Overland Park
International Trade Center fit the bill.
Mr. Tharp says of the move, "We thought it was
a good thing to invest in making the show bigger and better so more people could
recognize these sports and become fans of them. We did radio
interviews, flyer distribution and some other marketing things. It was obvious
that a lot of new people were introduced to these sports at our show. With about
1100 people at the show, the word is sure to spread. We also have received a lot
of publicity through our Hooters sponsorship. They've been great to us and we
look forward to working together in the future."
On to the Fights…
After
a card is considered 'confirmed', then the fun begins. This card experienced
numerous pull outs and injuries that would make even the most experienced
promoter grimace. But in the end, the fights proved to be highly competitive and
entertaining.
IKF
Amateur MuayThai Rules Kickboxing: Josh Edmonds vs. Sky Morris.
ISCF MMA:
This first fight in a triple main event matched Rob Kimmons of AJJ
against Aaron Bollig of Victory Sports fight team against each other.
Bollig stands 5'5" and 195 of solid muscle. Kimmons 5' 9",
193. This fight was fast and furious. It wasn't the first day on the job for
either of them. After a flurry of punches and clinching , Kimmons
discovered the Knee and put one to Bolligs face. Stunning Bollig,
he continued the assault, mounting Bollig and the ref stopped the fight
after
Bollig was not defending. The crowd roared in approval. Winner Kimmons,
now 3-0.
IKF
Pro Full Contact Rules Kickboxing:For more info please contact Mr. Oren Gautreaux at (816) 229-6611 or e-mail at Owen@cowtownrumble.com or contact Mr. Dan Tharp at Dan@cowtownrumble.com for event PICTURES, go to their website at www.CowtownRumble.com and click "PAST EVENTS"
TUESDAY, June 24th, 2003, AT 6:50 PM, PT
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2003 IKF
North Central U. S. Regional Championship A Huge Success!
56
Fighters Register To "WALK The WALK" At
Zbilski's Regional!
IKF Lake Zurich,
Illinois Rob and Jim Zbilski of Z Promotions, who have hosted four successful
midwest events, selected KITS SPORTS CENTER to host this year's
IKF/TKO North Central Full Contact Regional
Championships that featured 24 high-caliber bouts of some of the nation's
finest amateur kickboxers.
The night provided participants and spectators alike with knockouts, toe-to-toe exchanges of tremendous kicks and punches and first-timers that performed like veterans in the heat of the moment. The big discussion after regionals was this years 2003 IKF/TKO USA Nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
With the main event of the year approaching quickly the competitors are surely jumping right in to training to ensure that everyone is ready for the grueling competition that the national event always provides. Also in attendance at the event were some of martial arts and kickboxing finest champions. Take a look at some of these names!
Rob and Jim Zbilski and the entire Z Promotions team thank each and every competitor, trainer and their families who continuously support the sport of kickboxing and midwest martial arts. We hope to see everyone this year at Nationals. For more information on the regional event hosted by Z Promotions you can go to the Team Z web site at www.teamzs.com. See everyone in Cedar Rapids!
Fight
Results: "Not in bout order"
Walkover fighters who did not have a fight at the event were, Amy Beck, Patricia Bradley, Jorge Rodriguez, Sean Crowe, Demetry Lewis, Jason M. Adams, Zein Al-Ziyadi, Anthony Linenfelser and Eric Medina. For more info contact Team Z at (847) 458-8333 or by e-mail at teamz@3di.net or go to their website at www.teamzs.com
MORE NEWS OF 6-24-03
POSTED AT 2:15 PM, PT
Here's Our Terrible Tuesday News...
STOP THE PRESS!
Ultimate
Athlete Magazine
Goes Under
IKF News Source: It was by far the best magazine for Mixed Martial Arts and one of if not the best out there for kickboxing news as well, considering there are no magazines for kickboxing. However financial troubles and other issues have brought an end to a great publication. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you had until it's gone." Well everyone, Ultimate Athlete Magazine is GONE! But this was no surprise to us as you will read below.
Back in late February early March we had announced that the IKF was teaming up with Ultimate Athlete Magazine (UA) to bring more media attention to kickboxing. There's a reason you didn't hear much more about this and today is the time to tell you about it. As many know, in mid January of this year we announced we were starting our own IKF Kickboxing Magazine. However on January 28th, we were presented with another opportunity that we thought would better fulfil our needs and the needs of the sport of kickboxing. This opportunity presented itself when Mr. John Pack took over All Operations at UA in January of this year. Pack sent an e-mail to us that stated, "As of Monday I have assumed the position of Editor as well as Publisher. I would like to discuss a long-term relationship between IKF & ISCF, I would especially like to put together a joint marketing agreement for 2003. This year I plan to step up the Kickboxing coverage in a big way and very much like to see how we can work together."
From Pack's e-mail we made the decision to hold off on publishing our magazine, mainly due to the promised distribution numbers UA had given us. To us, these numbers meant great exposure for not just the IKF and ISCF, but for our promoters, fighters and trainers as well. UA had made announced that ALL the 7-11 stores would carry the UA Magazine which promised a distribution of 82,000 + per month. We don't know about anyone else but we never saw UA in any 7-11 stores we visited. They also wanted us to be a part of their newsletter that claimed to be 12,000 per week and a website that boasted 150,000 unique visitors per month, yet never ranked on Alexa.com below 250,000. (These numbers are like Golf, the lower the number the more traffic the site receives. For more info, Click HERE.)
Since UA had offered to
cover IKF Kickboxing we thought it better
for everyone and the sport to hold off with yet another magazine that may
compete with UA. This is why you have not heard much about the
IKF Kickboxing Magazine in the last few months.
On February 7th, Pack sent an e-mail to the IKF that stated, "Let's get started. I want to expand my coverage of kickboxing online, in print and on video. I would like to structure an agreement between us that will allow me to market the hell out of you with massive coverage and lots of free advertising. I want to position my company as THE AP/ESPN of combat sports and want to do it through relationships. However to reach my goals I need to work very closely with you."
His enthusiasm continued when he sent another e-mail on February 18th where he said, "As a marketing partner with us, we'll provide you and your tournaments pre and post coverage as well as free advertising." However after we had already made an agreement and UA was placing IKF Ranking into the May UA issue, we received an e-mail from Pack on April 1st, announcing his resignation from UA. Of course we thought it was an April fools joke, but not so. In a conversation with him he stated how much financial trouble the magazine was in and doubted it would last more than 3 more months. Pack moved on to a better opportunity with his new venture, www.badbreed.tv.
After Pack left, we re-contacted the new Editor at UA,
Dave Davis. Davis countered everything Pack said and assured us
UA was in strong financial shape. He stated it would be better than ever
and
would continue. However Davis was not willing to fulfill the publication
promises made to us by Pack. In fact, his reply to us was rather rude in
a response e-mail to our agreement on April 17th which stated; "These
promises of prostituting the magazine for ones benefit is not what the
publication is about. We accept a lot of material that never reaches print. The
content submitted is a group effort. This is the way it has to stay! No
preferential treatment! We will be happy to accept your submissions, but that's
as far as it will go."
From this e-mail we threw in our hat and to say the least, we were a bit offended by it. We had carried the UA link on both the IKF and ISCF front pages since January and all we got back was the IKF Rankings listed in UA one time, in the May issue. Well, good thing we didn't bet Pack on his claims that UA would only last 3 months at the most. Ultimate Athlete Magazine is GONE, and Pack is busy collecting on all those bets he made.
Now that you know what all happened we can assure you that we will re-focused back to our IKF Kickboxing Magazine in hopes to bring you "PRINT" media coverage of our sport and those who are in it. It may have been delayed but the wait will be worth it, and as well, you now have the full reason why there was a delay at all. Look for the new IKF Kickboxing Magazine at this years IKF USA National Amateur tournament in August.
MORE ABOUT Ultimate Athlete
Phone dead, doors
locked, lights out.
May 30th 2003.
RIP
Press From www.badbreed.tv: After 20 months of trying Ultimate Athlete magazine finally succumbs to chasing the rainbow. During the last six months, Ultimate Athlete had made many staffing changes in an effort to saving the drowning magazine – all attempts failed. Ultimate Athlete magazine made a great attempt at reaching a broader market by offering the athletic side to combat sports in addition to the event coverage. At least this was the initial plan when John Pack published the first edition in October of 2001.
Beginning in April 2002 the magazine began to feel financial pressure from investors, experience internal bickering between editorial staff and investors and by February 2003 it had all come to a head. The first change was letting go of Editor Clyde Gentry and having publisher John Pack take over the additional responsibility. Then by April 28th with the mounting tension building over video rights, financial threats and pure frustration John Pack quits.
With the only remaining principals of Ultimate Athlete being former Sales Manager Dave Davis and the initial two investors: it was only a matter of time. By the last week in May, the money had dried up and all attempts had failed – it was time. A true loss to the sport and will be remembered and missed. Phone dead, doors locked, lights out. May 30th 2003. RIP.
NOTE: the writer called UA's Phone number at
MORE NEWS OF 6-24-03
Fairtex Deals With Legal Issues
Press Release –
Bangkok, Thailand
NOTICE: FAIRTEX is a trademark of
Fairtex Equipment Company, Ltd. ("Fairtex Thailand"), a Thai
company with exclusive rights to the FAIRTEX tradename and trademarks in the
U.S. Fairtex Thailand owns both the FAIRTEX and TRAIN LIKE A THAI. FIGHT
LIKE A THAI marks, which are protected under U.S. common law, with federal
trademark applications pending. The FAIRTEX brand was established for garments
in the late 1950s in Thailand by the
Busarakamwongs family. Under the direction of Mr. Bunjong
Busarakamwongs, also known as
Mr. Philip Wong, the FAIRTEX brand was expanded to Muay Thai and boxing
training and related apparel and gear. Fairtex Thailand began operating Muay
Thai training camps in Thailand in 1975 under the FAIRTEX name and brought the
training camps to the United States in 1993.
You may have heard or read about offers to license the FAIRTEX mark for training in gyms, camps, cruise ships, and seminars in the United States. These licensing activities are NOT authorized by Fairtex Thailand. Further, trainer certifications issued and/or licenses granted by individuals or entities other than Fairtex Thailand are NOT recognized by Fairtex Thailand and infringe Fairtex Thailand's rights. If you have heard of any such unauthorized licensing activities or trainer certification, or if anyone claiming to be "Fairtex" has approached you with a licensing or training certification opportunity, please contact Mr. Anthony Lin IMMEDIATELY by fax or e-mail at Fairtex Equipment Company, Ltd. Anthony Lin President & CEO Fairtex Equipment Company, Ltd. Fairtex Worldwide Headquarters, Thailand 99/5 Moo 3, Soi Boonthamanusorn, Theparak Road Banplee, Samutprakarn 10540 THAILAND Web: www.fairtexbkk.com Fax: +662 385-5403 (Thailand number) E-Mail: anthony@fairtexbkk.com TRAIN LIKE A THAI. FIGHT LIKE A THAI.™ FAIRTEX®
MONDAY, June 23rd, 2003, AT 3:45 PM, PT
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Selbee
Assists In Search For Suspects
IKF U.S.
Heavyweight Champion Weighs In For Home Invasion Victim
IKF Georgia, USA: More
than anything else, victims of crime want to know that someone out there cares.
Certainly, in dealing with law enforcement officers they see that, but what
often torments them is the sense of isolation they feel from their fellow
citizens. Thanks to IKF U.S. Champion,
Mark Selbee, (R) some of that pain on the part of one victim and
his family will be, in part at least alleviated. He has let them know that he
cares.
As reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Selbee,
with the help of his employer, communications and billboard advertising company,
Clear Channel Outdoor, spearheaded an effort to help find the
suspects involved in still unsolved
a home invasion, aggravated assault and murder, that occurred two-and-half years
ago in East Point, Georgia, USA. What Selbee and Clear Channel
did was arrange for the prominent posting of a billboard seeking information on
the crime and offering a reward for same. It will stand for a period of six
months, at a meager cost, only to cover the supplies involved in creating it.
Selbee and Clear Channel's philanthropy here is set forth in more detail in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's article on the matter as posted below. We at IKF and ISCF want to express our admiration and respect for this effort. Mark Selbee has, again, taken serious steps towards setting the kind of example for which true champions are renowned and has made strides to make his community a better place. Thank you again, Champ!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
6/19/03:
Sign Seeks Leads on Home
Invasion
By BILL MONTGOMERY The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
Assault victim Joe Wood put up
a billboard in East Point to help find the killers of his wife. Now he awaits "that
call from someone who knows something." Travelers eastbound on Camp Creek
Parkway in East Point will have a hard time missing the billboard announcing "$25,000
Reward." The sign, 14 feet high by 48 feet wide near the Main Street (U.S.
29) overpass, was installed Friday and will remain up for six months. It's the
latest effort by assault victim Joe C. Wood and East Point police to crack a
home invasion that left Wood's wife, Lourine, slain in the trunk of their luxury
car.
The attack occurred 2 1/2 years ago at the couple's antique-filled
brick house on Prince George Street. To Wood's surprise, and gratitude, the
billboard company charged only $350, to cover the cost of the vinyl lettering. "The
kindness these folks have shown sure does renew your faith in humanity,"
Wood said Despite the year-old reward from the retired service station owner
and the governor's office, authorities have no suspects or solid leads in their
search for the men who pistol-whipped Wood, 71, unconscious and killed his
84-year-old wife with blows to the head. Police believe the attackers used heavy
statuary. Wood said he had considered for several months buying a billboard to
publicize the killing and reward. He succeeded with the help of Mark Selbee,
senior account executive with Clear Channel Outdoor, the billboard advertising
arm of the radio communications company. "I was ready to give him
$1,200 for what the sign cost, and he insisted he wouldn't take a penny for it,"
Wood said. "I'm a salesperson, and my job is to sell advertising, but
it's not often you get an opportunity to help a person so deserving as Joe Wood,"
Selbee said.
Besides the reward figure, the billboard shows a
photograph of Wood and his wife, and the number to call East Point police with
tips: 404-761-2177. Police Lt. Russell Popham said investigators believe the two
intruders slipped into the house when Wood turned off the burglar alarm and went
outside to feed his cats. The killers overpowered him as he returned inside,
tied and beat him. They took $400 cash and Wood's large, size 17 Masonic ring,
but they ignored his checks and credit cards, items that could leave a paper
trail. A search of pawn shops as far away as Florida has been fruitless, Popham
said. Said Wood: "I must have gotten 15 calls from folks who know me and
have seen the billboard. But all I really need is that call from someone who
knows something. It just takes one, and I'm praying for it."
MORE NEWS OF 6-23-03
POSTED AT 12:55 PM, PT
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Fightatorium Sees Historic
IKF/TKO
"Big South" Regional Event
IKF Richardson, Texas,
USA: Saturday night (June 20th) marked yet another
kickboxing landmark for The State of Texas when IKF
promoters Chuck Best & Steve Goin and the rockin'
fight-house known affectionately as 'The
Fightaorium' treated an electrified and charged-up crowd to 5
IKF/TKO BIG SOUTH Regional Title fights.
The faithful took a moment to acknowledge a part of Texas' kickboxing history. With the house lights darkened for a few minutes, the arena PA system replayed the 'General Patton fight speech' made famous by George C. Scott in the opening scene of the Academy Award winning movie. As the speech came to a close, the house lights were turned up as the night's competitors paraded into the smallish fighting zone to the theme from the 'Patton' movie.
Shortly thereafter,
former World Title contender Steve Goin took the microphone and
acknowledged the hard work of one of 'The
Fightatorium' volunteers....non other than its workhorse referee
Bobby Stovall. As he acknowledged Stovall's current work, Goin
also mentioned that an 'injustice of sorts' had occurred more than 2
decades before; whereas
Stovall was The Lone Star State's first ever lightweight kickboxing
champion, yet had never been awarded a belt. At that cue, a lovely ring-card
girl paced a beautiful "Big South"
Regional Title belt into the
ring, where Stovall's young son and daughter were there to help him
place his overdue trophy around his waist. Stovall has been a mainstay
for the Fightortorium in it's near 2 year history; having seen a total of 161
bouts, with Stovall refereeing 144 of them. As the classy Fightatorium
crowd applauded both respectfully and enthusiastically, the house could then
turn it's attentions to "matters-at-hand" and bring in the competitors
for the first of several Regional Title bouts of the evening. Those bouts and
their results are as follows:
BOUT #1: BOY'S JR
CRUISERWEIGHTS: Levi Best (2-0, Age 12, 94 lbs)
Allen, Texas -vs- David Oppman
(0-0, Age 12, 91 lbs) Houston, Texas.
Making the adjustment from 2
minute rounds to 90-second rounds seemed to throw Best off just enough
to keep Oppman in the fight. Although Best landed more telling
blows flush to Oppman's face, Oppman was busier throughout and
simply out scored Best as Oppman took the
win by split decision.
BOUT #2: WOMEN'S
WELTERWEIGHTS: Megan Rogers (2-0, 145 lbs) Waxahachie, Texas -vs-
Katy Frame (1-1, 142 lbs) Dallas, Texas.
This was a rematch
of last months' battle of 2 very competitive stable-mates from Kingdom
Kickboxing. In May, 
Rogers simply
dominated Frame with her power and reach on the way to a unanimous
decision. In last night's Regional Title match, Frame turned the tables
by utilizing movement, bursting offense, and slick evasive maneuvering. Frame
was able to cause Rogers to go down in each of the first 2 rounds by
knocking her off balance, and although Rogers was never in danger of
being knocked unconscious, standing-eight counts were levied against her and
Frame took the win by unanimous decision.
BOUT #3: EXHIBITION OF REGIONAL CHAMPIONS: Will Ford
(1-1/1KO, 152) Dallas, Texas -vs- Zak George (2-1/2KO, 139
lbs) Norman, Oklahoma.
Remember the scene from the movie 'Jaws'
where Sheriff Brody, after seeing the gigantic shark up close, goes over
to his boatmates and proclaims, "We need a bigger boat!" ???
Let's just say here that Zak George is going to be a 'big fish'
in kickboxing, and we predict that he will be a leading contender for the IKF/TKO National Tournament Super Lightweight
Championship. Anyone stepping into the ring with Zak George is stepping
off into 'deep waters' and had better bring a BIGGER BOAT!! George
simply did away with Ford at 1:07 of round 2, after having knocked him
down twice in the first round. George weighs-in like a Super
Lightweight, but hits to the head and body like a Light Heavyweight. George took
the win via TKO at 1:07 of round 2.
BOUT #4: MEN'S MIDDLEWEIGHTS:
Nathan Bagby (2-2-1 / 1KO, 162 lbs) Carrollton, Texas -vs- Joey
Pena (1-2 / 1KO, 165 lbs).
At the end of this fight, Joey
Pena proclaimed that he needs to spend more time training on his kicking
abilities. Pena was right on the money, as it was neither a lack of
heart or conditioning that cost him this bout, but rather a deficient
propensity to kick effectively, if at all (he was penalized a point for
missing a kick in 
round #1). Pena
has tremendous hand power for a middleweight, yet Bagby was able to
neutralize Pena's hands with some effective kick/punch combinations, as
well as superior conditioning (he has been training with Doyle Gayler
& John Vakidis under the watchful eyes of Chuck Best &
Steve Goin with the blessings of his Instructor, Mr. Jeff Laun
at Carrollton Martial Arts). Bagby comes away with a tremendous
victory and has momentum rolling towards the 2003 IKF/TKO
USA National Finals as he wins it by unanimous decision.
BOUT #5: WOMEN'S
FEATHERWEIGHTS; Jaquee Hennefer (2-0, 126 lbs) -vs-
Kornelija Numic (8-1 / 2 KO, 125 lbs).
Most anyone familiar
with the IKF knows something about Numic,
who has built a nice fighting record over the past 17 months. With those "props"
being paid to Numic, the real story in this fight was the 'intangible'
Jaquee Hennefer, who at a mere 2 fights and young 16 years of age has
already gone face-to-face with some of the finest women's fighters in IKF ( Such as Sherri Maxwell and now
Numic). Predictably, Numic controlled the bout from bell to
bell, however, in taking her first loss in a young career, Hennefer was
willing to make an attempt to trade with Numic though she is yet not
experienced enough to do so effectively. We see two "potential"
IKF/TKO USA National Tournament Champions
coming from this bout; Numic in her women's division, AND Hennefer
in a true Girls' Junior/Teen Division. Numic took the win by unanimous decision.
In addition to those
bouts listed above, congratulations are due to the 'walkover winners' in
each respective division from the IKF/TKO BIG SOUTH
Regional Tournament. Those walkover winners are as follows: Asher Best
(2-0, age 10, 65 lbs) Boys' Jr Featherweight Allen, Texas. Chris
Royer (0-2, age 14, 143 lbs) Boys' Teen Lightweight Richardson,
Texas. Dusty Miller (6-1/ 3 KO's) Men's IR Heavyweight Norman,
Oklahoma. John Vakidis (9-2 / 5 KO's) Boys' Teen Light
Cruiserweight Mesquite, Texas
For more information about Kingdom Kickboxing, 'The Fightatorium', or IKF-Texas please contact Chuck Best or Steve Goin at (972) 889-0129 or email Best at sirkikman@juno.com
MORE NEWS OF 6-23-03
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IKF
Blasting On Message Board
Is JUSTIFIED!
Steve Fossum, IKF &
ISCF
World President
IKF/ISCF
Headquarters: Today we had a look at the
Kickboxing Message Board and found the issue of
pro's vs amateurs being brought to the
attention of the IKF. The issue was directed to this last weekends
IKF/
TKO South East Regional where we (IKF) allowed Pro MMA/NHB fighter but amateur
kickboxer
George Allen (Right) fight amateur
kickboxer Yahoshua Yahudah.
Allen is not ranked as a pro fighter in the
ISCF
Pro rankings but has fought several Pro MMA/NHB bouts. In fact, he's not
ranked at all in the ISCF Rankings. Amateur or Pro. Allen and
Yahudah along with Chris Sasek had already won their registered
divisions by walkover since they had no competition in them.
Since all three fighters wanted to fight still, we matched them up in a special 3 person fight bracket which included Allen and Yahudah fighting first and the winner would advance to fight Chris Sasek in the night show. All fighters knew who each other were (Including Allen's MMA status and experience) and all 3 agreed to the special bracket. In the first bout, Allen defeated Yahudah by a Head Kick KO at 1:47 of round 1. From what our sources told us, Allen's KO was so disturbing to fighter Chris Sasek (As it would be to anyone) that it made him decide he didn't want to fight Allen at the night event. He never told any of the officials or the promoter this, he simple didn't show up for the night event.
Now "AFTER" the event, we (IKF) are being attacked and questioned on the Kickboxing Message Board for allowing a "PRO" MMA/NHB fighter fight in our IKF Amateur Kickboxing Regional Tournament. To begin with, we would like to admit that we feel the questions and concerns here are JUSTIFIED! However, we feel it is important to inform those concerned here of the full history of this issue in hopes we can come to a final decision and conclusion on the ruling of this for future events.
We too questioned the status and acceptance of pro MMA/NHB fighters fighting as amateur kickboxers over 2 years ago. Our first stance on this was as many have suggested on the Kickboxing Message Board recently, "To NOT allow Pro MMA/NHB fighters to fight as amateur kickboxers." However, when we made the stance, we were attacked from other fronts from MMA/NHB fighters, trainers and promoters in California, Nevada, Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and other parts of the USA. These attacks brought focus to the beginning fighters in MMA that had not had a lot of amateur experience but were now considered pro mma fighters since they were getting paid to fight. Many of these fighters argued that MMA and Kickboxing were different sports. Their stance was mma had more ground fighting than kickboxing which made it more of a wrestling style of fighting. Their argument was to take the focus off the stand-up portion of the fight and focus on the so called "Ground and Pound" style of fighting they referred to as MMA/NHB.
The discussion and resolve on this issue took several months. During this time we had contacted several state athletic commissions to hear their stance on this. Of the ones we contacted, all of them took the side of the MMA/NHB argument, that the two sports were so different that they didn't care if a fighter had fought pro MMA/NHB, as long as the fighter had never fought in what they determined at the time as the "Big MMA" events which were UFC and Pride. With this knowledge, we finally agreed to a compromise, which was what the athletic commissions agreed to. That as long as the fighters had not fought in the major MMA/NHB events (UFC or Pride) we would allow them to fight as an amateur kickboxer.
As we know, MMA/NHB has grown and progressed greatly over the last year alone. Top fighters are now fighting in "OTHER" big events (Such as Allen in an event called "King of the Cage") and may never get to fight for UFC. Because of this, we are re-opening the case here and we can say at first glance, "This will be changed" and "PRO (PAID) MMA/NHB fighters "Will no longer be allowed to fight as an amateur kickboxer in the IKF."
Although we (IKF) will be the first to stand up to this rule and make this change, we can only hope that other kickboxing sanctioning bodies and their promoters will do the same. For example, over the past few weeks we know of several "PRO" MMA/NHB fighters that have fought as an amateur kickboxer on other sanctioning bodies events but they did not receive the attention this bout did due to the Kickboxing Message Board. It will be up to you, the peers as well as fans in our sport to, as one would say, "Blow the whistle" when you see this being tried again. Feel free to do so on the Kickboxing Message Board or the MMA Message board. This is what these boards are for. So YOU can have a voice in our sports.
More Importantly, we
would like to add that we STRONGLY APPRECIATE and THANK those who posted
their opinions (No matter how abusive towards the IKF
they were written, we know how emotions can get heated on the board) about
this on the Kickboxing Message Board board. NO ONE, including
the IKF is above the law here and we as a
sanctioning body for both kickboxing as well as our
ISCF organization for MMA/NHB must LISTEN to our
peers. When the complaint is justified, as we strongly feel this one was, we
must stand up for everyone and make required changes in our sports for the
better and move forward in a positive way for everyone.
Those of you who spoke up were "RIGHT!" What
may have been allowed in the past now needs to be regulated and watched more
closely in the future. The sport of MMA is growing rapidly and changes in
regulations such as this one will not be the last one. As in this case, there
will be times that individuals like those who posted on the
Kickboxing Message Board will be the voice of many.
Some of you feel they are wrong in attacking us, however, we feel they were
RIGHT, and we thank you for standing up and making a stand for what you feel is
right!
Sincerely,
Steve Fossum
IKF & ISCF World President
PS ADDITION: Now comes another question and another
issue of discussion as well as possible argument we must determine. The fighter
in question here, George Allen (Who is innocent in his actions here)
entered the IKF Tournament system under
the impression that his status in this event was allowed. He registered to fight
in the South East Regional event and has said he would like to now come to Iowa
to fight for the IKF National Title. With
the discussion now of this new regulation, what should Allen's status
be? Should he be allowed to fight in the IKF
National Championship Tournament in August or not? Please voice your opinion on
the Kickboxing Message Board.
Thank you.
SATURDAY, June 21st, 2003, AT 11:55 PM, PT
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IKF/TKO
South East Regional
In Georgia ROCKS!
IKF
Valdosta, Georgia, USA: Although this event didn't get on
live internet radio tonight, when we tell you why you will be more worried about
our internet radio man Johnny Walls. We were informed yesterday
that Walls
was the victim of some flooding around his hometown that caused a retaining wall
in his back yard to slide into the rear of his house. Lucky for Walls
him and his family were unharmed but of course shaken up since a lot of his back
yard is in his kitchen. We hope he has a quick recovery of the damage.
Speaking of Damage there was plenty of damage at the IKF/TKO South East Regional in Valdosta Georgia today hosted by IKF Promoter James Corbett which came in many forms. Some of the damage came in forms of kicks, punches and KO's. However sadly enough, some damage was done with some fighters who no showed as well as others who pulled out of fights just before they were ready to happen, leaving others without a chance to "Walk the Walk" in the ring! This was a 2 part event that finished with a "Standing room only" night time event. Here's a quick rundown below of the fight brackets and the results for all you eager to be informed fight fans.
FCR, 16-17 year olds, Middleweight Regional
Championship Bout: Jason Barrett defeated Joey Myers by
split decision 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.There were several "Walkover" Champions who had no bout as well. They include Jessica Botha, Jason Barrett, Bobbie Brown, Avigail Yahudah, Rachelle Hart, Nathan McCall, Nicholas Finney, William Phillips, Damien Frost, Dallas Crowe, Justin Pickett, Jason Kuhn, John Greubel, Andre Camarena, Reginald Kitchen, Mark Adams, William White, Joe Laughlin, Bert Chandler, Jarel Bowman, Philip Petersen and Michael Bengochea.
Other fighters who had scheduled bouts but were unable to attend due to various reasons were Billie Jo Grieswich, Dennis Waters, Scott Ward, John Ganner and Jin Kim. In all there were a total of 66 amateur kickboxers that registered to "Walk The Walk" at the IKF/TKO South East Regional. The event also featured some ISCF MMA Bouts. Here are those results below.
ISCF
Lightweight: Joe Laughlin defeated Kenneth Graham by TKO/Strikes at
1:56 of round 1.We would like to thank all the volunteers who helped make this event a great success. Without such TEAMWORK, these events would not be possible. GREAT JOB "South East TEAM!" For more information on this event, go to www.valdostamac.com/newregional.html or e-mail South East Regional Director, Mr. James Corbett at sensei@valdostamac.com or call (229) 245-8622.
WEDNESDAY, June 18th, 2003, AT 11:15 PM, PT
THIS WEEKEND
IN
THE IKF
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Z Promotions Ready For This Weekends
IKF/TKO North Central Regional!
IKF Lake In The Hills,
Illinois, USA: The IKF/TKO North Central
Full Contact Regional Championships are upon us. Over the years the Midwest
has produced many of the nation's finest Pro kickboxers such as IKF Pro World Champions Mike LaBree, Rick Roufus
and Tommy Bach along with other IKF
Pro title holders like Jason Robinson and Jim Zbilski. And don't
forget other Pro Champions like Brad Hefton and C. B. Bunkholt.
Many fighters like these have gone on to win multiple national and world
championships, all beginning with regional tournaments that showcased their
talents. The path to become a champion starts here!
This weekend Rob Zbilski's Z Promotions will host their 4th
IKF North Central
Full Contact Regional Championships. Zbilski's have hosted this
event all but 1 year when they took a brief break from the regional promotional
scent. This weekends event will be at Jimmy Z's Fitness in Lake Zurich,
Illinois and will play host to full contact rules fighters from Illinois,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Central & Eastern North
Dakota ( Timezone Line east) and Eastern South Dakota (Timezone Line
east) Fighters will be competing for top seeding positions at this years
IKF/TKO USA National Amateur Kickboxing Championships
in Cedar Rapids Iowa on August 15th, 16th and 17th.
The official event Weigh-Ins and Physicals will be Friday, June 20th from 5 to 7PM (Required to weigh-in to fight during the tournament). If necessary any preliminary bouts will be held at Jimmy Z's Ringside Fitness. On Saturday night, June 21st at 7:PM the finals will begin.
Event tickets prices start at $20 for general admission and $30 for table seats ($25 in advance). For more info contact Team Z at (847) 458-8333 or by e-mail at teamz@3di.net or go to their website at www.teamzs.com
MORE NEWS OF 6-18-03
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