Five of U.S.K.A's finest turned out with over 100 loyal
spectators to do battle at a F.I.S.T promoted show at
the Hardy Spicers Social Club in Erdington Birmingham
on the 14th May 2006.
All matched in exciting fights they were out in front
of the Birmingham crowd to put on a show and reaffirm
just why they are being touted as some of the best up
and coming fighters of the future.
...........
First up and a welcome return to the night shows from
Azad 'THE WRATH OF'
Khan challenging for the vacant
-47kg English National Title against the -45kg English
National Champion Damian Hirons from Oldham who was
coming off some good wins going into this match against
Azad who a few year ago held the British title at almost
half the
weight at -25kg.
An as always ice cool Azad was second to the ring to
meet Damian who although Champion ship class was looking
pensive and noticeably nervous in the opposing Blue
corner.
Round 1
Damian was fast out of the corner only to be met with
hard accurate punch combo's from Azad that seemed to
have his man shaken up. Referee Mike Fowles stepped
in to remind Azad that he wanted more control with the
punches to the head.
Azad looked very confident and was mixing his boxing
well with his accurate and as we already know deadly
legs.
His eagerness to land cleanly on Damian had Azad on
occasion miss quite widely with his single punches and
the call from the USKA corner was to lighten up and
pick his shots more conservatively.
Damian was struggling to deal with the strength and
technique of Azad and just when it looked like it could
not get any worst for him Azad landed a perfect right
leg side kick to face that rocked his head right back.
The referee ushered Damian back to his corner to clean
his face from blood that was coming from his nose and
there was a dejected look from the corner and from the
Oldham fighter.
The fight resumed after the referee issued a power warning
for the kick to Azad.
Not over worried about the warning Azad threw and just
clipped Damian with a spin kick that showed Damian that
he was now in very deep water.
End of a very one sided round one.
Round 2
And Azad started by throwing and landing a jump turning
side kick to the body of a running forward Damian.
Things were now looking bleak for Damian and visibly
distressed he leant against the ropes in his corner
looking in a bad way.
The action resumed and again after another punch assault
from Azad and with nose bleeding Damian doubled over
sending the signal to the referee that he has had enough.
A compassionate corner at the same time wave the towel
knowing their mans fight is over.
The winner by second round TKO due to one fighter being
unable to continue and new English National Champion........
Azad 'THE WRATH OF' Khan.
Credit must go out to the brave Damian Hirons on a spirited
and gutsy performance but what this does show is that
Azad is exceptionally strong for his weight and age
and really he needs to be fighting in with a higher
class of opponent.
Another British or even Commonwealth title shot beckons
for Mr Khan me thinks.
Next up was the long overdue ring return of Tyler
'THE STEPPIN RAZOR' Shakespeare
who had been out of action since October last year.
The come back opponent had been selected in the shape
of James McKeef from Sunderland who knew if he could
crash Tyler's party and pull off an upset it would put
him right up there in terms of status in the junior
light continuous ratings.
The triple British Champion Tyler had it all to lose
and very little to gain in this intriguing bout.
Second to the ring and a rapturous Champions homecoming
welcome greeted Tyler as he made his way past his fans
and into the red corner of the ring.
With confidence exuding and very apparent what would
the sound of the first bell bring against an opponent
that very little was known about.
Round 1
Tyler opens up the round with his trade mark left round
kick to the head but James's defence and movement is
serving him well with no clean connects from the Razor.
James although tidy enough in his movement and defence
is visibly wary of Tyler's legs and seems reluctant
to commit with any sustained attack of his own.
Tyler in attempt to make an in road and change the pattern
steps forward and lands a flush jab scoring for the
first time of the night with a clean connect.
Tyler settling down better now and sticking to basics
starts to land his jab more frequently and gets his
boxing going building on that with good punch to kick
chops to take the round.
Round 2
Again Tyler opens up with his legs to put his man in
a defensive posture.
Finding his range now he is landing more cleanly than
in the first now and putting his techniques together
with precision and accuracy.
Tyler picking his shots well and picking his man apart
is taking all the fight away from James and the Sunderland
lad for the first time in the contest is starting to
look out of his class.
Another round in a bag to the 'STEPPIN RAZOR' fans delight.
Round 3
Tyler still in his flow continues where he left off
in the previous round, picking his shots well working
effectively to the body and head.
James totally out of idea's now is in survival mode
knowing he has no chance of a win.
Tyler knowing he can do pretty much anything he wants
to at this point lets go with a fast spinning kick that
lands cleanly onto the side of James's headguard.
Shaken up James makes his way back to his corner and
Tyler receives a power warning for the hard contact
of the spin kick.
A brave but outgunned James continues and his now negative
approach is making it harder for Tyler to land. Good
survival tactics from McKeef lets him hear the final
bell but he is under no illusion that he has done enough
to win the fight.
a unanimous decision and successful ring return to the
USKA rising star Tyler 'THE STEPPIN RAZOR' Shakespeare.
Third man in for the USKA team in a full contact bout
over three rounds
was Tommy 'GUN' Collett.
Tommy unbeaten (2-0) and on his day simply breathtaking
was in against another unbeaten fighter Dan Parker (3-0)
from Ellsmere Port in Chester who brought with him a
good reputation.
However Tommy is making a habit of spoiling unbeaten
fighters records and was looking forward to doing the
same to Parker tonight so we were we about to be treated
to something that little bit special.
A confident ring entrance from Parker had the crowd
thinking that this was going to bad a tough one for
Tommy but on the sound of 'THE GUN's now famous Machine
gun fire ring entrance music they knew that Tommy was
equally if not more up for a rumble.
The ring centre stare down was a good one with both
fighters smirking at teach other at the thought of what
they were going to do to each other at the sound of
the bell. They wouldn't have to wait long............
Round 1
Tommy scores first and is pushing his man back with
a strong jab and lead leg round kick to the body.
The referee issues a warning to Dan for holding the
leg in an attempt to stop it landing so cleanly.
Tommy gets straight back to action and puts the heat
on his man. under heavy fire Dan motions to the referee
Mike Fowles that he has been hit low in an attempt to
momentarily buy himself a rest bite and the ref Fowles
intervenes and sends Tom to the neutral corner giving
Dan time to recover.
The action resumes and Tommy again presses forward having
it all his own way landing freely with precise shots
to body and head.
A good first round to Tommy who is well and truly in
the driving seat in this fight.
Commotion in the Parker corner had the referee Mick
Fowles rule the fight over originally in what we thought
was a TKO win for Tommy.
It later transpires to our surprise that he had stopped
it due to a phantom low kick landing from Tommy that
left Dan parker unable to continue and therefore ruling
it a no contest.
Interestingly no one else in the room including the
three fight judges, promoter or three hundred plus paying
spectators witnessed anything resembling a low blow
that could have or should have stopped this contest.
A disappointing end to Tommy's night and result to a
contest that was only going to end one way. Our disappointment
lies with the experienced referee in Mick Fowles that
should have spotted a fighter and corner looking for
a way out of a fight that they knew they could not win.
Although we welcome a rematch something tells me that
the Parker camp aren't going to look for that one anytime
soon.
Our second U.S.K.A light contact title fight of the
night now with 'RELENTLESS'
Reiss Larvin challenging the Midland
champion from a lower weight Jack 'HAMMER' Clay from
Ripley in Derbyshire for the -64kg Midland Area title.
Clay teak tough and always ready to fight against Reiss
who by his own admission loves to have a tear up was
a mouth watering bout in prospect and one we knew even
before the first bell that was not going to be for the
weak hearted or squeamish among the spectators.
Jack had in April come off a gruelling English title
points loss to another USKA fighter Jake Richards in
an absolute classic so we knew what we were getting
with this strong kid and trained accordingly to insure
we were up for the challenge.
Both fighters called to the centre of the ring by referee
Bob Taggart looked confident as the final instructions
were being read to them.
Round 1
Jack rushes forward straight away and it is unusual
to see Reiss pushed onto the retreat as he is such a
physically strong fighter himself.
Reiss starts to land a good prodding jab that has Jack
have to take note and for the first time take a half
step back in the proceedings. This new range instigated
Reiss has more success getting his shots off and mixing
up his technique.
Reiss getting off first now and landing the cleaner
shots but Jack still coming forward with good pressure
and work rate.
On the sound of the bell Reiss lands a good right hand
that momentarily looks to have scrambled Jacks senses
and wobbled his legs. First round we think to Reiss
but not by much due to The Ripley fighters work rate.
Round 2
Reiss this time scores first and is keeping Jack on
the end of long punches and long side kick to the chest
of Jack.
Referee Taggart calls both fighters together and tells
them both to lighten up there shots but this is going
to prove difficult due to the aggressive style of both
fighters.
Reiss seems to be frustrating Jack with the cleaner
long shots and in an attempt to break up his range and
rhythm Jack is trying to get close and turn it into
a brawl.
Frustrated at the power level from Referee Bob Taggart
issues his first public warning to both fighters resulting
in minus one point each.
The round ends and Reiss again with the cleaner work
has just nicked the round but he was having to work
hard to do it.
Round 3
Reiss again opens the round trying to employ his long
game to avoid any more warnings from the ref but it
increasingly difficult against Jack's marauding style
of fighting.
A beautiful side kick to the face of Clay rocks his
head back to the delight of the USKA crowd. Those are
the type of kicks that win the round for you.
Reiss getting the best of the action now and for the
first time really breaking away on the scorecards. Jack
having to contend with a badly bleeding nose has even
more worries as he looks to be having breathing difficulties
too.
A good round for Reiss comes to a close and one more
to go to we hope be crowned Midland Area Champion.
Round 4
U.S.K.A corner man Neil Kelly very happy with his charges
work in the last round requests more of the same in
the 4th and final round as both fighters touch gloves
and prepare for one last big charge in an effort to
try to persuade the judges that they are worthy of the
belt.
Jack back to his game plan of rushing Reiss and putting
the pressure is again working well for him but Reiss
knows at this stage in the fight that he won't be able
to
keep this up for long.
Reiss is looking for volume rather than power now and
is getting his best work of the fight done landing light
but accurate scoring punches.
Jack blowing now seems to be on the end of everything
that Reiss is throwing and it looks like being a really
big round for Reiss if he can maintain what he is doing.
A now very bloodied Clay is flagging and Reiss has him
pinned in his own corner picking his shots well tattooing
his man with accurate punches.
Just when it looked in the bag Reiss launches a rocket
launcher straight right hand that lands flush and takes
Jacks legs from under him and sees him collapse against
the ropes.
The referee quickly ruled it was too much contact (fair
enough) and deducted a point from Reiss for excess power
(fair enough again).
The action resumed and in a messy exchange Jack got
tangled and tripped over the leg of Reiss without any
punches from Reiss landing.
To our surprise the referee called a halt to the bout
and it was not clear what the outcome of the bout would
be as he did not look happy at all.
After discussion with promoter and other officials it
was ruled yet another No Contest due injuries sustained
to Jack Clays nose that by now was masked in blood.
A few revelations showed after the fight that Reiss
was ahead on all three score cards and if it went to
the cards due to injury as it should have done Reiss
would have been crowned champ.
We also found out off Jacks coach that in a tactical
move he was not wiping the blood away from Jacks face
after each round which made the injury look worst than
it was to the referee.
All's fair in love and war as they say and this is still
business that has to be resolved between the two.
We are hoping this title rematch will go ahead on 16th
July on the Night of Champions event at again the Hardy
Spicers club where there will be 15 championship light
continuous matches.
Main event time now with USKA golden boy Qasim
'THE DREAM' Nisar in a three round
full contact bout and effectively a warm up for his
Midland Area title shot on the 11th June pitched in
a potentially dangerous fight against Daniel Clarkson
from Accrington Stanley.
Clarkson had got a draw with the highly rated WKA English
Champion Steve Jevons in his last bout and had a weight
and age advantage over Qas in tonight's contest.
Qasim knew that if he tripped up on this hurdle that
his title fight with Ricky Massey would be in jeopardy
and that it would be back to square one rebuilding his
reputation.
First to the ring and blue corner was Clarkson to a
warm applause and second to the now frenzied support
from the USKA crown Qasim 'THE DREAM' to the red corner.
No surprise that Qasim had a height advantage over Daniel
ring centre as he does over most his opponents but Daniel
looked well built and unfazed by the reception the U.S.K.A
man had just received.
Round 1
Qasim unleashed the dragon straight away landing a good
push kick that unbalanced his man and then going from
0-60 in about 5 seconds letting rip with deadly punch
combinations and right straight leg kicks to his hapless
opponents body.
A right uppercut stiffened the legs of Clarkson and
referee Fowles was very quick to step in and administer
a standing eight count at only 22 seconds into the round.
Happy Daniel was alright to continue he waved the action
on and Qas again stepped forward with a strong jab that
took Daniel clean off his feet.
Although ruled a slip the feeling was that Daniel was
still reeling and had not fully recovered from the initial
barrage from Qas.
Again the action was resumed but Qasim was in no mood
to let his man off the hook as again he carried on where
he left off hammering Daniel with power round kicks
to the body and vicious punch combo's to the head.
Referee Fowles again stepped in at the same time that
the Accrington corner jumped up on the canvas waving
the towel to signal an end to the contest.
The winner 1 minute and 3 seconds into round number
one and still undefeated
Qasim 'THE DREAM' Nisar
This puts his record at 8 fights 7 wins 1 no contest
with 6 wins coming by way of KO.
In the eight fights of Qasim's full contact career so
far he has gone a grand total of less than 15 rounds.
The words Mike and Tyson spring to mind!
So although USKA never suffered any losses tonight
there was a definite feeling that they had been robbed
in the two no contest decisions.
This was a feeling expressed by not only the USKA spectators
but impartial spectators and even the evenings judges
and some of the promotional team.
No crying over spilt milk as they say. What doesn't
kill us makes us stronger and an even stronger USKA
fighter is a fierce fighter to face.
Get you tickets for the next fight night at the Emerald
club on 11th June where once again USKA's finest will
be in action and see first hand why we are becoming
the number one force to be reckoned with!
