ISKA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP KICKBOXING
WOLVERHAMPTON RACE COURSE
SUNDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2008

USKA's Jake 'The Rattlesnake' Richards stepped into the ring and into his forth full contact kickboxing bout on Sunday 10th February 2008 at the Wolverhampton Race Course matched against a fighter older and heavier than him. Jake who is naturally growing bigger need not have bothered going on fluid restriction and having the bare minimum intake of food for the last week of training to make weight as his opponent ended up coming in heavy giving him a 2kg weight disadvantage on the night.
The opponent Johnny Harris a southpaw from the KKAW in Wales looked confident and handy and also like Jake has an unbeaten full contact record to protect.
This bout was part of a packed undercard of a bill being topped by Former ISKA Light-middleweight World Champion Fran Zuccala who would be attempting to regain the title he lost to Frenchman Willy Borrel in October 2006. Zuccala was hoping for a rematch with Borrel but he got into a dispute with the French Kickboxing Federation and was stripped of the title last year. Zuccala would now face Ibrahim Cicek from Turkey. Ibrahim Cicek was unbeaten as a Pro with a record of 19-0 he won a World title as an amateur and has had over 90 amateur contests. Zuccala had a point to prove here after failing to avenge his lost to John Orchard last December in Bournemouth.

The third bout of the night saw Jake 'The Rattlesnake' called to action.
Jake second to the ring to meet the Welshman showed no signs of nerves and looked to be enjoying the reception he was getting from the Wolverhampton crowd.
Johnny Harris aswell as having a weight and age advantage also had a substantial height advantage and this coupled with the fact he was a southpaw had danger written all over it.
Some last minute general advice on how to deal with a southpaw from the USKA corner and the fight began.

The first round a mixed one with Jake having to solve the problems of a southpaw stance and Johnny moving well laterally making him difficult to nail. Jake starts to find his range but is walking onto a few too many shots in mid range for his efforts. A close round just edged by Jake with the higher work rate.

Round 2 and Jake steps up the pace cutting off the ring well and finding his right hand both on the attack and the counter attack against his left handed rival. He is also scoring well to the body now as Johnny is trying to move more to get out of the way and in turn not landing that much of his own. A better and more conclusive round for the Rattlesnake.

Round 3 and Jake goes through the gears landing well looking the much stronger of the two despite being the lighter by 2kg. Jake is mixing up his shots well to the body and head and is showing real class against the Welsh lad who seems to have run out of ideas on how to deal with him. Despite having Johnny hurt and in trouble Jake fails to find the knockout blow and the final bell rings to end the contest with Jake having his best round in the 3rd

Jake and his corner happy with their nights work felt they had the decision in the bag and this was confirmed by the MC announcing score card totals of 30/27 , 30/27 , 30/28 all in favour of the USKA Rattlesnake.
That's 4 out of 4 for Jake now as he continues to climb through the amateur ratings and ever closer to an amateur full contact title shot.

See the fight in full at the following link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebm1m0S8__I

The Zuccala team from Eclipse kickboxing in Wolverhampton also enjoyed a great night with Chief instructor Fran powering his way back to the top of the world in front of his home crowd at Dunstall Park.
Zuccala smashed the previously unbeaten Ibrahim Cickek from Turkey to defeat inside four rounds to win back the ISKA world light-middleweight title he had previously held.
Brother John completed a family double by being crowned ISKA British light-heavyweight champion on the same bill.
The top of the bill world title battle got under way with Cicek, unbeaten in 19 fights, taking the fight to the home-town hero.
But he started to come apart when Zuccala blazed back with fast-fisted combinations.
The Turk was rattled late in the first, then clubbed to the canvas by a crunching right in the second.
He took another count before the end of the round and Zuccala stayed on top in the third to hand him another count.
The end came in the fourth when Cicke was hurt by a volley of body punches and the referee stepped in.
Zuccala said: “It’s great to win the world title back – especially in front of my home crowd.
“He was dangerous, but I broke his heart. I took everything he threw at me and hit him back.”
Zuccala had earlier seen brother John claim title glory by blitzing Gary Bettle from Weston-Super-Mare to defeat inside two rounds.
Beaten in his previous bid for the British light-heavyweight belt, Zuccala was in no mood to suffer more title heartbreak.
He decked Bettle late in the opening round and a combination of blows dropped him again early in the second.
Zuccala kept the pressure on and, while Bettle was forced to retire with a foot injury, he was booked for defeat anyway.
The Zuccala brothers run the Eclipse gym on Temple Street in Wolverhampton and the club enjoyed a successful night with all six of their fighters winning.

Full results from the night:

Fight 1: Nick Davis BCCA Dudley Vs Sam Beasley FEATHERSTONE Kickboxing - Win Beasley

Fight 2: Nathan Capeness ST GEORGE Vs Kyle Williams ECLIPSE - Win Williams

Fight 3: Johnny Harris KKAW WALES Vs Jake Richards USKA - Win Richards

Fight 4: Liam Jones BCCA Dudley Vs Dale Dixon ECLIPSE - Win Dixon

Fight 5: Shane Davis BCCA Dudley Vs Aaron Evans ECLIPSE - Win Evans

Fight 6: ISKA British Light Cruiserweight Title
Gary Bettle WAMA Vs John Zuccala - Win Zuccala

Fight 7: Luke Sayce KKAW WALES Vs Ricky Massey BCCA Dudley - Win Sayce

Fight 8: Ben Edwards KKAW WALES Vs Kully Nagra ECLIPSE - Win Nagra

Fight 9: Marcus Griffiths KKAW WALES Vs Ivor Price FEATHERSTONE Kickboxing - Win Price

Fight 10: Oliver Walsh WEXFORD IRELAND Vs Ricky Gammon ST GEORGE - Win Gammon

Fight 11: ISKA World Light Middleweight Title
Ibrahim Cicek ISTANBUL TURKEY Vs Fran Zuccala ECLIPSE - Win Zuccala