James Mitchell
06-12-2005, 07:07 PM
KICK INTERNATIONAL UNSAFE TOURNAMENTS
For those who didn’t know, KICK (Kickboxing’s Incompetent Crackhead Kooks) International held their Pan American Tournament (should have been called Texas Tournament) this weekend June 10-12 2005. I attended this “tournament” bringing one welterweight fighter to compete. The events that transpired would awe even the most underhanded event and was the worst Tournament I have seen in thirty years.
Before I begin I know that most of you will know that Tommy Alcozer Sr. promoted this Tournament. What you should also know is that Tommy Sr. is a friend of mine and still is. I find this hard to write because of this, but necessary. Most of what transpired at this tournament was the responsibility of the KICK Representative and the Sanctioning Body KICK International. Tommy Sr. tried to rectify certain aspects of this event only to be cancelled by the KICK Representative, Ted Welch V.P. of Kick International.
To begin this story, we left Little Rock Arkansas Wednesday June 8, 2005 for Plainview Texas a 650 mile trip one way. We had already done a favor For Tommy Sr. the week before by moving my welterweight up one weight class to super welterweight to spread out the events. We arrived the morning of the ninth of June checked into the hotel room. After getting some rest I telephoned Tommy Sr. to let him Know we had arrived. We went down to his school to let my fighter warm up and practice for this weekend’s tournament. I talked with Tommy Sr. and asked if there would be a Judges Clinic as I would like to be a KICK certified Judge. Tommy replied not today. I said okay.
Friday Morning June 10, 2005. Arrived at the Ollie Liner Center for weigh in and Doctor Certification. I found out that because Tommy Jr. was competing in welter weight that the other fighters did not want to compete against him and moved up weight class to avoid having to fight him. End result, Tommy Jr. does not get to compete because the other fighters had NO HEART to fight him and my fighter now to heavy to move down to give him a bout and the entire schedule had to be redone. My fighter changed weight for nothing and now at the bottom of his weight class, my first thought was, what champions. Next I met Ted Welch V.P. for Kick International and Event Representative. He handed me a computer generated business card printed on perforated stationary was dressed shabbily and looked as though he had come off a three day beng. He was accompanied by his wife (I think) who looked the same. They set up on the stage in front of the ring with a computer to organize the bouts. The Building was a NON-SMOKING building and there was dozens of very young athletes running about and there she sat chain smoking cigarettes in front of these kids while in an official capacity and no one in charge said a word. To say the least I was highly UNIMPRESSED.
Now the fun begins. My fighter weighs in gets his physical and is Okayed by the doctor. His opponent is nowhere to be found is NOT weighed in and is NOT cleared by the Doctor. Next the rules meeting. No role of the fighters is taken and again my fighter’s opponent is not present and does NOT attend the rules meeting. About 15 minuets before the first bout is to begin Tommy Sr. asked if I would be a Judge. Now mind you I do have good experience in Kickboxing and have judged events before and I feel I am qualified but I am NOT certified as a KICK International Judge. I had previously inquired about a clinic and test to certify me as I have no problem showing I can Judge before I judge but this did not happen and here I am judging. It made me wonder as to the qualifications of the other judges as this was the Pan American Tournament, a major tournament and I knew none of them. Tommy Alcozer Jr. was to be the Referee since he no longer had a bout. I don’t believe he was a certified referee and his attitude in the ring was one who did not want to be there. As his attention often wandered outside of the ring during the bouts. The Time Keeper used a cell phone to time the rounds and rest periods and was shouting instructions to Tommy’s fighters during the bout. I could barely hear the ring gong and I was sitting next to him and the gong. The KICK Representative did NOT sit ringside and had his head buried behind the computer on the stage 10 feet from the ring and payed little to no attention to the bouts in progress. No one wore ID badges to signify their official capacity at the tournament and the tournament began haphazardly. The first bout begins and ends with a clear and decisive winner. Alas the other fighter is declared winner. Later the decision is reversed and the rightful winner is declared with no reason given for the reversal. The day events concluded with no more questionable decisions and had some good action.
Friday June 10, 2005 evening events. Fighters are reassembled for rules meeting. Again no role taken and again my fighter’s opponent not present. I asked Tommy Sr. where was my fighter’s opponent. He stated that he was at work in Herdferd (a city about an hour away) and would arrive before the bout. Tommy Sr. knew he had NOT weighed in been cleared by the Doctor and had NOT attended the rules meetings. The hair on the back of my neck was beginning to rise. I wrapped my fighters hand and realized there was no one to check the wrap or sign it off and that no other fighters hand wraps had been checked or signed off. Donning of gloves had not been witnessed or checked and some gloves not even taped much less signed off. NO one was checking anything for fighter safety. I should have pulled my fighter that is my fault. But we had traveled so far and spent a lot of money for this tournament. I let that cloud my judgment, but it won’t happen again. My fighter’s opponent showed up about 15 minuets before his scheduled bout. No one weighs him in nor completes a physical nor briefs him on the rules meeting. He wraps his hand and dons gloves and NO checks are completed.
My fighter enters the ring wearing long pants and proper safety gear (Top Ten) that cost him a lot of money to ensure his safety and his opponent’s safety. This is a Full Contact Rules Bout. His opponent steps in the ring with plain gym shorts and appearing to weigh about 160-165 pounds. This is a 153 lb bout. His wraps and gloves unchecked. The bell rings and the bout begins. My fighter lands two three punch combos and two kicks right off the bat. His opponent turtles up (balls up close to the canvas) and stays there most of the bout. My fighter continues aggressively landing punches and kicks where he can on his completely ingressive opponent. Every time his opponent came up my fighter landed punch combos and kicks three times knocking his opponent five or six feet back to the ropes. His opponent landing only eight punches and no kicks the entire bout. He did however attempt to boot to boot sweep my fighter but fouled by striking the ankle and calves of my fighter bringing him off balance causing his glove to touch the canvas. These were ruled as knockdowns and my fighter given standing eight counts even though Boot to Boot sweeps do NOT count as knockdowns according to KICK international Rules and Regulations Page 1 Section 5 Last line “A successful sweep is not considered a knockdown.” In addition my fighter’s opponent did not make his kick count two of three rounds. The kick counter counted his sweeps as kicks. Page 1 section 5 line 5 “A sweep is not a kick and shall not be judged as such.” In addition Page 2 section 7 paragraph A line 3 “if a contestant fails to achieve the minimum-kicking requirement in a majority of the scheduled rounds the contestant may be disqualified.” Page 2 section 7 paragraph B line 1 “A contestant intentionally avoiding any physical contact with his opponent will receive a warning from the referee. If a contestant continues to avoid a confrontation with his opponent after receiving a warning during that round he may be penalized by the referee.” My fighter’s opponent fouled his sweep four times and struck the back of his head two times during the bout.
The third round. Much of the same as mentioned before with one big exception, the gash. In the last thirty seconds of round three my fighter’s opponent lands a pawed ( using the wrist side of the glove at the wrist) shot to the back of my fighters head leaving a ½” wide ½” long and 1/8 deep gash that is punctuated in nature in the opening of the head gear back right section. This gash bleeds profusely down the head and back of my fighter. The bout ends. The next is classic they announce my fighter’s opponent as winner by a landslide. Even though my fighter never fell down or went into the turn buckle or was kicked in the head. The doctor examined the gash and concluded a small probably metal object punctured my fighters head. No one examined his opponents gloves or wraps for any evidence of a foreign object. I did what I was supposed to do, I left the ring with my fighter quietly and professionally. There were only two bouts left and I waited for the end of the nights events and approached Tommy Alcozer Sr. and lodged a protest asking if he would review the tape of the bout that my fighter’s dad had made for fouls and for a suspect wound not normally found as a result of a ring fight. I also asked to see his opponents weigh in and doctor’s certification of his opponent. He agreed to view the tape only. When I returned with the tape Tommy informed me that Ted Welch would NOT allow review of the tape without a formal protest and of course a $100.00 fee. The other request of weigh in and doctor’s certification were denied. Also NO investigation as to the cause of the gash to my fighter’s head would be conducted even though it was an injury that does not normally occur in the ring. If I wanted to I could file a protest they would send it to committee and I would know in 30 days and if found in my favor I would be refunded the $100.00 plus the tournament fee of $30.00. This meant my fighter could not win the tournament no matter what, that the $450.00 spent to attend this tournament was for nothing the 1300 miles total travel for nothing and time off from work his father made to be there for nothing. I told him I had no reason to believe that KICK would even actually review these blatant and dangerous fouls or the credibility of the tournament as he was already aware of many KICK rule infractions that were ignored and would only be another $100.00 wasted on a BS organization such as KICK.
Even the crowd which was all home town could not believe what had happened and the decision rendered and voiced there objections but it none of this mattered. We packed up our gear and on the way out Tommy Alcozer Sr. and Jr. stopped me on the way out. Tommy Sr. said I hope this doesn’t damage our friendship. I told him it doesn’t but that I would write this story and place it on the websites and any media that would take it. He asked me not to, to which I gave no reply. Tommy Jr. (who was referee) said he called it the way he saw it. I thought about your statement Tommy Jr., I am only calling it like it was.
I will never enter a fighter in KICK International sanctioned event again nor will I recommend any other fighter enter a KICK International sanctioned event. I hold KICK International and Ted Welch responsible for the tournament and the injury my fighter sustained as a result of poor safety management. They failed in their responsibility to run a safe competitive tournament I don’t consider their organization credible or safe. After this many of my fighters are questioning whether they want to continue in Kickboxing. After all the biggest reason to attend sanctioned events is SAFETY and fair judging. I even question the world title bout between my fighter and Tommy Jr. back in February 19, 2005 where it was a close fight but now I question the judging and the event as a whole. KICK International is the POOREST example of a sanctioning body I have seen.
We now Prepare for the IKF regional next weekend and then the IKF NAC. Mr. Fossum I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye and my post can be blasting but I will take the time to thank you and give you the respect you do deserve. I have no fear of your tournament not being safe for fighters and I commend you and those of you who work hard to ensure a better and better Organization. Perhaps in the future we can work more together for that goal because I do believe the IKF is the best Sanctioning Body out there and the safest one for our young fighters. My post aren’t to tear you down but to hopefully make a better brick in the foundation. Thanks for your dedication and thanks to all those who make up the IKF I would like to be one too.
As for KICK International I guess I will have to chalk that one up for experience. For all who read this take heed a bout is not a bout and who you fight under makes a difference choose carefully. I for one choose IKF.
For all who read this, know this, if you have an event and it is not on the up and up, if safety or otherwise violations occur, I will document and tape your event and you too will wind up on a post or newspaper article or on my new website for kickboxing which will premier in two weeks and air your event in the judge for yourself section. I am becoming a rules and regulations master in all sanctioning bodies they will start calling me for interpretation I will know them so well. At the same time if your event excels I will post and comment on that as well. This is what destroys our sport the most. I will attend events whether I have fighters in it or not. Everyone lets clean up and do it for the sport not ourselves. Without good clean and fair bouts ranking means nothing, titles mean nothing don’t let our sport drop to that category. No more unfair hometown advantages, no more stacking bouts and padding opponents, NO MORE!
James Mitchell
For those who didn’t know, KICK (Kickboxing’s Incompetent Crackhead Kooks) International held their Pan American Tournament (should have been called Texas Tournament) this weekend June 10-12 2005. I attended this “tournament” bringing one welterweight fighter to compete. The events that transpired would awe even the most underhanded event and was the worst Tournament I have seen in thirty years.
Before I begin I know that most of you will know that Tommy Alcozer Sr. promoted this Tournament. What you should also know is that Tommy Sr. is a friend of mine and still is. I find this hard to write because of this, but necessary. Most of what transpired at this tournament was the responsibility of the KICK Representative and the Sanctioning Body KICK International. Tommy Sr. tried to rectify certain aspects of this event only to be cancelled by the KICK Representative, Ted Welch V.P. of Kick International.
To begin this story, we left Little Rock Arkansas Wednesday June 8, 2005 for Plainview Texas a 650 mile trip one way. We had already done a favor For Tommy Sr. the week before by moving my welterweight up one weight class to super welterweight to spread out the events. We arrived the morning of the ninth of June checked into the hotel room. After getting some rest I telephoned Tommy Sr. to let him Know we had arrived. We went down to his school to let my fighter warm up and practice for this weekend’s tournament. I talked with Tommy Sr. and asked if there would be a Judges Clinic as I would like to be a KICK certified Judge. Tommy replied not today. I said okay.
Friday Morning June 10, 2005. Arrived at the Ollie Liner Center for weigh in and Doctor Certification. I found out that because Tommy Jr. was competing in welter weight that the other fighters did not want to compete against him and moved up weight class to avoid having to fight him. End result, Tommy Jr. does not get to compete because the other fighters had NO HEART to fight him and my fighter now to heavy to move down to give him a bout and the entire schedule had to be redone. My fighter changed weight for nothing and now at the bottom of his weight class, my first thought was, what champions. Next I met Ted Welch V.P. for Kick International and Event Representative. He handed me a computer generated business card printed on perforated stationary was dressed shabbily and looked as though he had come off a three day beng. He was accompanied by his wife (I think) who looked the same. They set up on the stage in front of the ring with a computer to organize the bouts. The Building was a NON-SMOKING building and there was dozens of very young athletes running about and there she sat chain smoking cigarettes in front of these kids while in an official capacity and no one in charge said a word. To say the least I was highly UNIMPRESSED.
Now the fun begins. My fighter weighs in gets his physical and is Okayed by the doctor. His opponent is nowhere to be found is NOT weighed in and is NOT cleared by the Doctor. Next the rules meeting. No role of the fighters is taken and again my fighter’s opponent is not present and does NOT attend the rules meeting. About 15 minuets before the first bout is to begin Tommy Sr. asked if I would be a Judge. Now mind you I do have good experience in Kickboxing and have judged events before and I feel I am qualified but I am NOT certified as a KICK International Judge. I had previously inquired about a clinic and test to certify me as I have no problem showing I can Judge before I judge but this did not happen and here I am judging. It made me wonder as to the qualifications of the other judges as this was the Pan American Tournament, a major tournament and I knew none of them. Tommy Alcozer Jr. was to be the Referee since he no longer had a bout. I don’t believe he was a certified referee and his attitude in the ring was one who did not want to be there. As his attention often wandered outside of the ring during the bouts. The Time Keeper used a cell phone to time the rounds and rest periods and was shouting instructions to Tommy’s fighters during the bout. I could barely hear the ring gong and I was sitting next to him and the gong. The KICK Representative did NOT sit ringside and had his head buried behind the computer on the stage 10 feet from the ring and payed little to no attention to the bouts in progress. No one wore ID badges to signify their official capacity at the tournament and the tournament began haphazardly. The first bout begins and ends with a clear and decisive winner. Alas the other fighter is declared winner. Later the decision is reversed and the rightful winner is declared with no reason given for the reversal. The day events concluded with no more questionable decisions and had some good action.
Friday June 10, 2005 evening events. Fighters are reassembled for rules meeting. Again no role taken and again my fighter’s opponent not present. I asked Tommy Sr. where was my fighter’s opponent. He stated that he was at work in Herdferd (a city about an hour away) and would arrive before the bout. Tommy Sr. knew he had NOT weighed in been cleared by the Doctor and had NOT attended the rules meetings. The hair on the back of my neck was beginning to rise. I wrapped my fighters hand and realized there was no one to check the wrap or sign it off and that no other fighters hand wraps had been checked or signed off. Donning of gloves had not been witnessed or checked and some gloves not even taped much less signed off. NO one was checking anything for fighter safety. I should have pulled my fighter that is my fault. But we had traveled so far and spent a lot of money for this tournament. I let that cloud my judgment, but it won’t happen again. My fighter’s opponent showed up about 15 minuets before his scheduled bout. No one weighs him in nor completes a physical nor briefs him on the rules meeting. He wraps his hand and dons gloves and NO checks are completed.
My fighter enters the ring wearing long pants and proper safety gear (Top Ten) that cost him a lot of money to ensure his safety and his opponent’s safety. This is a Full Contact Rules Bout. His opponent steps in the ring with plain gym shorts and appearing to weigh about 160-165 pounds. This is a 153 lb bout. His wraps and gloves unchecked. The bell rings and the bout begins. My fighter lands two three punch combos and two kicks right off the bat. His opponent turtles up (balls up close to the canvas) and stays there most of the bout. My fighter continues aggressively landing punches and kicks where he can on his completely ingressive opponent. Every time his opponent came up my fighter landed punch combos and kicks three times knocking his opponent five or six feet back to the ropes. His opponent landing only eight punches and no kicks the entire bout. He did however attempt to boot to boot sweep my fighter but fouled by striking the ankle and calves of my fighter bringing him off balance causing his glove to touch the canvas. These were ruled as knockdowns and my fighter given standing eight counts even though Boot to Boot sweeps do NOT count as knockdowns according to KICK international Rules and Regulations Page 1 Section 5 Last line “A successful sweep is not considered a knockdown.” In addition my fighter’s opponent did not make his kick count two of three rounds. The kick counter counted his sweeps as kicks. Page 1 section 5 line 5 “A sweep is not a kick and shall not be judged as such.” In addition Page 2 section 7 paragraph A line 3 “if a contestant fails to achieve the minimum-kicking requirement in a majority of the scheduled rounds the contestant may be disqualified.” Page 2 section 7 paragraph B line 1 “A contestant intentionally avoiding any physical contact with his opponent will receive a warning from the referee. If a contestant continues to avoid a confrontation with his opponent after receiving a warning during that round he may be penalized by the referee.” My fighter’s opponent fouled his sweep four times and struck the back of his head two times during the bout.
The third round. Much of the same as mentioned before with one big exception, the gash. In the last thirty seconds of round three my fighter’s opponent lands a pawed ( using the wrist side of the glove at the wrist) shot to the back of my fighters head leaving a ½” wide ½” long and 1/8 deep gash that is punctuated in nature in the opening of the head gear back right section. This gash bleeds profusely down the head and back of my fighter. The bout ends. The next is classic they announce my fighter’s opponent as winner by a landslide. Even though my fighter never fell down or went into the turn buckle or was kicked in the head. The doctor examined the gash and concluded a small probably metal object punctured my fighters head. No one examined his opponents gloves or wraps for any evidence of a foreign object. I did what I was supposed to do, I left the ring with my fighter quietly and professionally. There were only two bouts left and I waited for the end of the nights events and approached Tommy Alcozer Sr. and lodged a protest asking if he would review the tape of the bout that my fighter’s dad had made for fouls and for a suspect wound not normally found as a result of a ring fight. I also asked to see his opponents weigh in and doctor’s certification of his opponent. He agreed to view the tape only. When I returned with the tape Tommy informed me that Ted Welch would NOT allow review of the tape without a formal protest and of course a $100.00 fee. The other request of weigh in and doctor’s certification were denied. Also NO investigation as to the cause of the gash to my fighter’s head would be conducted even though it was an injury that does not normally occur in the ring. If I wanted to I could file a protest they would send it to committee and I would know in 30 days and if found in my favor I would be refunded the $100.00 plus the tournament fee of $30.00. This meant my fighter could not win the tournament no matter what, that the $450.00 spent to attend this tournament was for nothing the 1300 miles total travel for nothing and time off from work his father made to be there for nothing. I told him I had no reason to believe that KICK would even actually review these blatant and dangerous fouls or the credibility of the tournament as he was already aware of many KICK rule infractions that were ignored and would only be another $100.00 wasted on a BS organization such as KICK.
Even the crowd which was all home town could not believe what had happened and the decision rendered and voiced there objections but it none of this mattered. We packed up our gear and on the way out Tommy Alcozer Sr. and Jr. stopped me on the way out. Tommy Sr. said I hope this doesn’t damage our friendship. I told him it doesn’t but that I would write this story and place it on the websites and any media that would take it. He asked me not to, to which I gave no reply. Tommy Jr. (who was referee) said he called it the way he saw it. I thought about your statement Tommy Jr., I am only calling it like it was.
I will never enter a fighter in KICK International sanctioned event again nor will I recommend any other fighter enter a KICK International sanctioned event. I hold KICK International and Ted Welch responsible for the tournament and the injury my fighter sustained as a result of poor safety management. They failed in their responsibility to run a safe competitive tournament I don’t consider their organization credible or safe. After this many of my fighters are questioning whether they want to continue in Kickboxing. After all the biggest reason to attend sanctioned events is SAFETY and fair judging. I even question the world title bout between my fighter and Tommy Jr. back in February 19, 2005 where it was a close fight but now I question the judging and the event as a whole. KICK International is the POOREST example of a sanctioning body I have seen.
We now Prepare for the IKF regional next weekend and then the IKF NAC. Mr. Fossum I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye and my post can be blasting but I will take the time to thank you and give you the respect you do deserve. I have no fear of your tournament not being safe for fighters and I commend you and those of you who work hard to ensure a better and better Organization. Perhaps in the future we can work more together for that goal because I do believe the IKF is the best Sanctioning Body out there and the safest one for our young fighters. My post aren’t to tear you down but to hopefully make a better brick in the foundation. Thanks for your dedication and thanks to all those who make up the IKF I would like to be one too.
As for KICK International I guess I will have to chalk that one up for experience. For all who read this take heed a bout is not a bout and who you fight under makes a difference choose carefully. I for one choose IKF.
For all who read this, know this, if you have an event and it is not on the up and up, if safety or otherwise violations occur, I will document and tape your event and you too will wind up on a post or newspaper article or on my new website for kickboxing which will premier in two weeks and air your event in the judge for yourself section. I am becoming a rules and regulations master in all sanctioning bodies they will start calling me for interpretation I will know them so well. At the same time if your event excels I will post and comment on that as well. This is what destroys our sport the most. I will attend events whether I have fighters in it or not. Everyone lets clean up and do it for the sport not ourselves. Without good clean and fair bouts ranking means nothing, titles mean nothing don’t let our sport drop to that category. No more unfair hometown advantages, no more stacking bouts and padding opponents, NO MORE!
James Mitchell