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WPKL European Fight Night 13th April 2003, Woodville Halls, Gravesend
By Colin Hopkins
What makes a sanction worthy is the credibility of the fighters that contest the titles, and over a long period of time the good and the great have fought under the WPKL’s banner, and in most cases, not just anyone who can find the sanctioning fee is allowed to contest their championships. Of equal credibility is the reputation of the World famous Sitan Gym from Holland, a gym whose fighters are regulars on such events as the Kings Birthday, boasting famous names like Hussan Ettaki, Vincent Vielvoye, Ashwin Balrak and Mohammed Ouali. Tonight it’s Adil Boukhari they have brought over, the 21-year-old nephew of Ajax footballer (also called Boukhari) and 2003 IAMTF World Champion. His professional record is an impressive 27 wins in 31 fights, and he is currently World ranked by the WPKL in a division with names like Skarbowski and Khapon-Lek amongst them. WPKL Dutch champion he may be, but the indicators are that with only seven wins by stoppage he isn’t a banger and is more often used to winning over the full duration. Details like this must have been encouraging for the magnificently sculptured figure of Michael Showers, our challenger, fighting out of the Nai-Khanom Tom gym in Croydon, and when the fight got underway we were looking for optimistic signs that Showers could put Boukhari under some pressure. Disappointingly it didn’t happen, and even in the very early stages of the first round, the signs were not good. There were too many things that weren’t working for Showers. He did have some success with his leg kicking, and a nicely timed front kick had Boukhari on the seat of his pants, but generally, Showers didn’t stick to the stuff that was working successfully for him. He was looking, but, despite nicking Boukhari with and elbow, just couldn’t find himself much opportunity, and instead of working to make something happen he was waiting for openings to appear. This suited the champion. Boukhari was getting off first with most things, courtesy of the time Showers was giving him, and had a good work rate to accompany his techniques. Round two and Showers distance was excessively long and respectful. Again he was spending time waiting. Showers tried too hard to land loaded shots in my opinion, and didn’t work behind effective scoring techniques that would have benefited him over a longer duration instead of looking for an instant result. Showers just wasn’t causing the Dutchman enough problems. Boukhari, like any fighter should be, was content to just throw stuff in. He may not have been troubling Showers excessively, but he was working for his chances, trying to make things happen, in the knowledge that if nothing else there were accumulative effects to his work, the benefits of which might appear at some later stage of the fight. In any case, the judges were observing what was going on and the advantages in their eyes would have defiantly been with the champion’s efforts. Not long into the second round and one of the kicks that Boukhari ‘threw in’ - a lovely high roundhouse - landed to Showers head, causing him to ‘dip’. He looked to have taken it ok as he gathered himself and went for Boukhari with some aggression, but perhaps he wasn’t as ok as he appeared? As Showers tried trading bombs on Boukhari, he left his chin wide open for the Dutchman to bang a big right hand through, multiplying the effects as Showers was coming onto it. Usually, Boukhari isn’t a big puncher, but he laid out showers completely with a perfect right hand. Showers was asleep long before he hit the canvas. Thankfully, a knee that Boukhari threw to the head as Showers was on his way down, just missed. Showers was out for quite some time before coming round. Boukhari proved his quality and retained his European title. We have quite a wealth of fighters at 67kg here in the UK, so hopefully we will see him challenged again before too long. WPKL European Title 52.5Kg
Falsone’s credentials are courtesy of his Belgium championship, coupled with the fact that he won it at the tender age of eighteen, indicating some maturity for someone so young. Paolo Da Silva must have thought he had his work cut out to win this European championship, but as it turned out, that wasn’t the case. Da Silva was stronger than Falsone and suffered little from the effects of anything that the Belgium could accomplish. Da Silva quickly gained control of the fight and within two rounds had demoralised Falsone to the extent that he lost heart for the fight. Da Silva took advantage of this and with a sustained punch attack had Falsone quit the fight half way through the second round. ISKA British Title 67Kg
Holmes looked well prepared and ready for a full distance fight against Chavillier as he settled into a defensive stance, successfully countering Chavilliers early attacks. A short session of clinch work was fairly evenly matched and not pursued by either man. Holmes patience was impressive as he waited for his opportunities and picked his shots. Chavilliers made things easier for Holmes, lunging in, open for Holmes’s counters, one of which, an overhand right, caught Chavillier, but didn’t stop his wild advances. Presumably deciding attack was the best form of defence, but without the defence, Chavillier walked into a straight right hand. Holmes turned the pressure on and went for Chavillier, landing several punches as Chavillier wobbled. The referee gave Chavillier a standing eight, but things already looked over. Holmes picked the next few shots, a left hook, a right cross, then finally a left hook finishing the job, dropping Chavillier to the canvas for an easier than expected first round tko. ISKA English Title 72.5Kg
Weston, despite his time away from the ring, carries a lot of experience. His relaxed and technical style is nice to watch, and after the short time it took for him to relax into this fight, he probably couldn’t believe the open invitation Saunders defence offered. Saunders style lent itself to some basic techniques against a boxer. Single shots - roundhouse, long knee etc. Weston threw a roundhouse that landed and put Saunders down. He was quickly up again taking the count, but the Bangrajan fighter failed to heed the warning. Weston whipped the same shot again over the ineffective guard of Saunders, this time landing cleanly on the jaw. Although not put down by the kick, the referee decided that Weston could land a little too easily on Saunders and stopped the fight, Weston winning by first round technical stoppage. It seems a long time ago that I watched Weston win his first National title, then the WKA version. Now, despite all the injury problems, Weston looks like this National ISKA championship is only the start of his reborn ambitions. International 5 x 2 mins 62Kg
His opponent, Karim El Osrouit, 2003 IAMTF Champion from the Sitan Gym in Holland is an excellent substitution fighter for both the fans and for Winter to gauge himself against. This should be seen as an opportunity gained as much as one lost. A good start from Winters in the early rounds, with a nice tight guard, compact and fairly economical style, strong in the clinch and a sharp kicking game. El Osrouit was finding difficulty in settling and his efforts were refined to short bursts as he struggled to land with anything clean. In the second round El Osrouit took the fight to Winters and was more bullish in the clinch taking the play away from Winters, who, although still looking controlled, wasn’t as effective. Winters caught El Osrouit with a good right hand during the third causing him to cover up, but Winters didn’t follow it up and allowed his opponent time to recover. The Dutchman’s experience as an Amateur World champion enabled him to see the rest of the round out untroubled and perhaps a missed opportunity for Winters. The fourth was probably the clearest round to the Dutchman, with Winters stalking but doing nothing. Personally I favoured Winters stronger stance but he wasn’t working for his openings and when his opponent did attack, Winters just tied him up on the ropes, leaning on rather than balanced and working good techniques, something I’m sure was being noted by the judges. Round five had both men trying hard to leave their impressions but neither conclusively taking the round. The final result was yet another split decision, this one going in favour of The Dutchman, Winters not quite doing enough to convince all three judges. Winters was rewarded for his efforts and inconveniences though, as Co-promoter Alan Keddle announced to the crowd after the fight. The ISKA had decided to "award" Winters the British Championship belt that he was meant to have originally been fighting for. 5 x 2 mins 63.5Kg
I can’t pretend that Irelands style is pretty, but one thing I can guarantee you is it’s exciting. Ireland overwhelmed the technically proficient Donnelly, thrilling the home crowd with his non-stop pressure fighting style. He trades on his outstanding fitness, and as I’ve said before about Ireland, he is proof that fights can be won in the gym. Donnelly never got to grips with Ireland, and every time Donnelly showed flashes of what he can do, Ireland quashed his advantage, besieging him with flurries of punches and kicks - several quite unorthodox looking, but effective - which had Donnelly looking uncomposed. This is something that doesn’t look good, as composed is something Donnelly’s style is based upon. Ireland, reaping the benefits of his efforts, had Donnelly down several times in the fourth round, mostly from fatigue, but one of which the referee thought warranted an eight count. Donnelly recovered well to finish the fight, and throughout showed many glimpses of what he is capable off, but he was never allowed to settle into any sort of rhythm by the fighter from Keddle’s Gym who adds another good scalp to his growing collection. ISKA Area Title 5 x 2 mins 63.5Kg
The fight turned when Anwar, who was under pressure at the time and shipping increased punishment, found a punch to put his assailant down for a count. The tables were turned, as it became Anwar’s turn to take advantage of Saunders defensive deficiencies. In truth both men had poor defensive skills, but this only added to the excitement factor for the audience with both fighters vulnerable. After some sticky moments, Anwar’s strength eventually overcame Saunders, bringing things to a conclusion with a fourth round stoppage. 5 x 2 mins 70Kg
A technical contest early on, Scholey seeming to have the better of things. As the fight reached it’s mid to later stages, Collins continual pressure had Scholey looking fatigued and under more pressure than he probably was. Scholey ‘showed out’ his tiredness and looked like he had to dig deep on several occasions to stay with Collins whose pressing game was constant throughout the fight, and probably what tipped the decision in his favour. ITKBA Junior British Title 5 x 2 mins 67Kg
I was particularly impressed with his front kicking which he used on a regular basis, including setting up other techniques, keeping an advance from his opponent at bay and to be seen to be doing something when there was any lapse in the action. Vosper was so passive in the first two rounds I thought he had nothing at all to offer the fight. Vosper continually flicked out an ineffective front leg that had nothing on it at all, and hardly responded to any of the consistent work of his opponent. With no snap to Vosper’s kicking, Barwise was easily able to block and sometimes counter off Vosper’s relaxed efforts. It looked like as long as Barwise continued with things the way they were going, the result would turn out to be a forgone conclusion. To my surprise, though, in the third round, Vosper reacted to being caught, and unexpectedly exploded into life. He showed aggression, power and ability. His determined and sustained effort backed Barwise into the corner, causing the referee enough concern to administer a standing eight (although Barwise didn’t look hurt in my opinion, just overwhelmed a little, but, wasn’t throwing back enough). This should have spurred Vosper on. I can’t imagine why it didn’t wake him up to realise what he had to do, and that the fight was well winnable for him, but, for some reason, he lapsed back into his previous ‘relaxed’ mode and saw the fight out with it. Barwise picked up the reigns again over rounds four and five, and worked well until the final bell. Although Barwise deservedly walks away the champion, Vosper, imo, ‘could have done better’. The Undercard Results Piers David (Saints) and Jim Sigston (Satsanga, Gilligham) shared the decision in their 3 x 2’s contest at 66kg. Reebok Williams (Keddles, Orpington) beat Gary Ashley (Nemesis, Erith) pts (3 x 2) Paul McCabe (KO Gym) beat Paul Gleeson (Keddles, Orpington) pts (69kg, 3 x 2) Katie Proctor (KO Gym) beat Martha Jones (Kaobon, London) by tko3 (60kg) Ben Rhodes (Saints, Plymouth) beat Nick Owen (Keddles Orpington) pts (76kg, 3 x 2) Pat O’Brian (KO Gym) beat Dan Jefford (Satsanga, Gillingham) tko3 (67kg, 3 x 2) Nicky Carter (Keddles, Orpington) beat Lucy Hunking (Woking Thai) pts (63kg, 3 x 2) Paul Marrat (KO Gym, London) beat Taz (Nemesis, Erith) ko1 (76kg, 3 x 2) |
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