SOUTHERN HEAT CHAMPIONSHIP MUAY THAI/KICKBOXING CARD - Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada / June 30th, 2001

This report was written and supplied by Mike Miles

A near capacity crowd filled the 'Crabby Mikes' Nightclub in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada for the first Kickboxing card in that city in nearly 16 years. The audience was treated to some very spectacular bouts under both Kickboxing (low kick rules) and Muay Thai rules (full rules and modified rules).

The main event featured the owner of the establishment Mike Davis (Indomitable Spirit Kickboxing), battling against Roger MacNeil (Victory). Though the two athletes both were very green in the ring experience department, this bout had complete audience participation as the patrons of the establishment were very vocal, rooting for their friend and owner of the club. Both athletes were wired and came out swinging with large looping punches and heavy kicks meant to put the other athlete into the next world. In the first round, MacNeil dropped Davis with a punch but the referee ruled the knockdown a slip much to the protest of MacNeil's corner people. By the end of the first round, Davis was looking the more weary of the two athletes. However in the second round, Davis was to switch the momentum and he connected with several shots which dropped MacNeil onto the canvas. Several of the knockdowns seemed to be aided by MacNeil moving backwards and the referee gave MacNeil the benefit of a doubt by allowing him to be given 4 standing 8 counts in the second round before finally stopping the fight in favour of Davis. This was a war and the audience was happy with the decision. A rematch should be given in the future to MacNeil who looked very frustrated at the outcome of the bout.

There were 2 semi-main events of the evening, both of which were fought under full Muay Thai rules. The first was for the vacant WKA Western Canadian Supermiddleweight Muay Thai Title. It featured Edmonton's Justin Parsons stepping into the ring against Winnipeg's Domingo Zuniga. These two athletes were originally slated to fight each other back in early June when the fight event had to be cancelled. These two athletes had been itching to battle with each other for quite some time and when they entered the ring, it was obvious that both athletes were going to give 110%. In the first 2 rounds, Parsons seemed to have Zuniga's number in terms of evading blows and countering effectively. Unfortunately for both these athletes there seemed to be a lot of unintentional low blows, (all roundhouse kicks) and Zuniga seemed to be on the receiving end of them the most. At one point in the second round, Zuniga was very frustrated by the low blows and he shouted out in protest. As the third round began, Zuniga seemed to be fired up and he started pressing the fight on the tiring Parsons. Zuniga would dominate in the clinch, even though Parsons would make most of the knee attacks miss or block them, Parsons counter knees seemed to have very little steam on them. Parsons was keen on using his elbows and though he would score with them, Zuniga proved to have a heart of a true warrior. By the end of the 4th round, the bout was even. The final round was going to be the deciding round. The fifth opened with Parsons all over Zuniga who seemed somewhat overwhelmed at first. Parsons seemed to lose steam shortly into the round and Zuniga picked up the pace with an excellent knee barrage. Though many of the knees were blocked, Zuniga also managed to get many of the strikes through, and Parsons energy seemed to disappear as Zuniga pushed the final round. The decision went to the judges and a split decision went to Domingo Zuniga. Zuniga has proven he has a great future in front of him as an athlete, but topped off the win with great sportsmanship to Parsons. This is the kind of champion the sport needs. But Parsons is no slouch either, who also proved he is a very capable and talented athlete. Watch for this young athlete in the future as well.

The other semi-main event was one of the best bouts of the night and featured a beautiful display of full Muay Thai rules. Sokhim Or (Calgary) stepped into the ring against Michael Balle (Edmonton). In the first round, Balle delivered a very confident and fast attack of punches, kicks, elbows and knees at Or who seemed very frustrated as the round progressed. Or would score with a blow and Balle would answer back with multiple attacks many of which were just slightly off the mark and could have had Or in big trouble. In the second round, Or changed his battle plan and started pressing the fight with combinations of punches, kicks, elbows and knees and Balle seemed very frustrated not being able to lead off. The Edmonton athlete did not seem to be able to get his battle plan together. Or started intercepting with excellent crosses and followed up with strong knees and kicks. By the third round, Or was having his way in the fight landing excellent low kick combinations and punches almost at will. Midway through the round, Balle was cornered and Or delivered an excellent knee to the body. Balle went down and could not make the count. Or won the bout by TKO. Excellent Muay Thai technique as well as speed, power, composure, was demonstrated in this bout. It could have been the highlight bout of just about any event.

In a Modified Muay Thai rules bout (not allowing elbow attacks or knees to the head), Calgary's Sandra Bastian stepped into the ring against Dawson Creek, B.C.'s Jade Irwin. The bout started off with Bastian overwhelming Irwin with a strong straight up the center attack. Irwin seemed somewhat stalled in her tracks but as the round was coming to an end, she seemed to finally figure out what needed to be done. In the second round Irwin would continually answer any of Bastian's attacks with good punches and roundhouse kicks. Bastian was having a difficult time because her headgear seemed to be too loose and every time she would get swatted, the headgear would spin on her head. Much of the final two rounds was the referee giving Bastian time to try and straighten out her headgear. This proved to frustrate Bastian. Irwin on the other hand, really kicked the pressure into full gear and overwhelmed the tiring and frustrated Bastian in the third and final round. The decision was awarded to Irwin unanimously. What a great bout (other than the headgear problem).

In another modified Muay Thai bout, Calgary's Shelley Evans stepped into the ring with Tammy Pace (Edmonton). The Edmontonian weighed at least 25 lbs. heavier than Evans and had 2 times the experience in the fight department. Evans really tied crisp kicks and punches together to intercept and/or counter Pace who could not seem to land the blows the way she wanted. Pace seemed to be more comfortable in the clinch and knee department, but Evans would easily slide off the ropes and out of the clinch attempts way. In the third round, Pace used her weight advantage and pressed Evans more effectively. The decision was given to Evans unanimously.

In the final modified Muay Thai rules bout, Brad Wall (Lethbridge) took on Joey Stronquill (Pine Falls). Stronquill was significantly shorter than Wall but he oozed confidence and was extremely calm during the whole bout (looking like a professional athlete). Wall used his reach and size to dominate in the punch department. By the end of the second round, the bout was neck and neck. In the final round, Wall pulled the trigger faster and more effectively to snatch the win from Stronquill. Wall won the bout by split decision. These two athletes are very talented and show great promise for Canada. A very good bout that the audience thoroughly enjoyed.

The remaining 3 bouts were fought under Kickboxing (low kick) rules. Calgary's Adam Gorski stepped into the ring against Tom Saitle (Edmonton). This was a very impressive bout with both athletes demonstrating excellent punching and kicking technique. A game of physical chess was obvious from the first bell with both athletes trying to out manipulate each other during the bout. Gorski's low kicks were starting to slow the Edmontonian athlete down and Gorski surprisingly switched his attack to the body and the head. "I backed off on attacking his leg because wanted to get as much ring time as possible", said the victorious Gorski.

Lethbridge's Davor Kaluza squared off with a taller but lighter Rocky Zuniga. In the first round Kaluza seemed to overwhelm his opponent but Zuniga just shelled and weathered the storm. As the bout progressed Zuniga delivered some excellent kicks and punches and at times Kaluza seemed a little frustrated. This was a great match with good heart demonstrated by both athletes. Zuniga won the nod of the judges.

The first bout of the evening featured journeyman athlete Scott Williams (Calgary) squaring off with Darren Snell, another Calgary athlete. Snell was to overpower and overwhelm his taller opponent with heavy cut kicks and strong effective punches. Williams was to hit the ground 3 times in the second round when the referee decided to stop the fight in favour of Snell. Williams was discouraged with the decision but he has been offered a rematch with Snell in the future. A good fight!

Crabby Mikes is looking at doing another fight event in September 2001. It proved to be a good venue for the bouts and the audience was very appreciative of the bouts, event, and athletes.