QASIM 'THE DREAM' NISAR Vs MICHAEL HARBONE

Round 1

Michael was fast out of the blocks leading with his side kick and a wide punch combinations that Qas easily seen coming as he moved out of the way with smart lateral movement.
Qas then turned his man and to show him that he was not intimidated in any way shape or form from his fast start pushed him back with a double jab, straight right finishing with
a left hook to the body.
Michael showed his kicking ability firing a right round kick up to Qasim's head that just clipped him. Qasim showed it had no effect brushing his chin as if he had a little dust on it.
Qasim's jab was working well and it seemed that Michael did not really know how to deal with the straight punches from the taller man.
Michael was swinging very widely with his punches making it easy for Qasim to avoid and pick him off on the counter attack. Qasim had the centre of the ring and by far looked the physically stronger of the two in the exchanges.
Qasim backing Michael up to the ropes checked one of his kicks with a knee block, balanced himself with a jab and slammed a hard straight leg kick to Michael's body that dropped him heavily to the canvas.
After an eight count from the referee Michael still looked hurt and as the action was waved on he tried to buy some time by moving around the outside of the ring. Qasim not wanting to let him off the hook flew from one side of the ring to the other with a big Cobra right hand that landed clean onto the side of Michael's head.
Qasim then walked his man down and stepped inside a wide left hook to once again drop him this time with a short left hook. At the same time of the knockdown the bell rang to end the round and save Michael from a first round stoppage.

Round 2

Round 2 and Qasim comes out southpaw firing off his lead leg side kick. Michael looks less confident now and it is Qasim who is pressing the attack.
Qasim is throwing hard singles and finding his target pushing Michael from one side of the ring to the other. Offensively Michael is not throwing much and landing with even less.
Michael's wide technique is easy to see coming and Qasim is using straight front kicks and jab to intercept them.
As Michael swings another lead leg round kick in Qasim again steps in with his jab and knocks Michael back onto the ropes with his head going under the top rope.
It seems as though Qasim has got an answer for everything Michael tries and he is running out of ideas. The feeling is that it is only a matter of time before Qas can get him out of there.
Qas throws a strong left hook to right leg chop and as Michael tries to walk through it again gets knocked down with a clean lead leg push kick to the chest.
This is all getting painful to watch and the referee must of at this point be thinking of stopping the contest to save Michael from any further punishment.
Getting up slowly the action again resumes with Michael trying to get a breakthrough with high round kicks and spin kicks that are missing Qasim by a country mile.
The round finishes with Michael caught on the ropes shipping heavy punishment to the body from the punches of Qasim. Two down, one to go.

Round 3

Round 3 starts with Qasim again moving forward and Michael moving around the outside of the ring looking for some sort of position.
Qasim throws a lead push kick that slips off the sweaty body of Michael and makes him lose his footing. The people at the back of the room must have thought it was a knockdown as a cheer went up. Unfortunately for Michael Qasim was unhurt and back on him again like a killer shark.
Michael not learning from his earlier mistake throws another wide left hook and again Qas steps inside with a short left hook this time landing alot heavier onto Michael's jaw.
Michael drops and his head goes over the bottom rope in the USKA corner and it is clear that he is badly hurt and will do well to beat the count.
To his credit the tough Michael does get to his feet and although on shaky legs the referee after a good long look gives him the benefit of the doubt and allows the fight to continue but stays close watching the action.
Qasim knows that he has his man hurt and jumps straight back on him in the USKA corner pounding him with punches to the body and head forcing the referee to once again step in this time calling the fight to a close and saving Michael from any further beating.
The winner by TKO 59 seconds into round 3...................QASIM 'THE DREAM' NISAR!

So another strong dominant performance from The Dream that now brings his Full Contact record to 11 fight 10 Wins 1 No Contest 7 KO's.
Qasim has a busy end to the year planned with The Golden Belt rematch on the 24th September, The Danish open on the 30th September in Copenhagen, A fight on the Walsall World title card on the 28th October and an English National title fight at the Emerald club on 12th November. If all of that were not enough we are also in negotiations for fights for Qasim in December as well.
A message for all the Dream Team fan club............Make sure you all seat belt up, It's going to be one hell of a fast ride!

TOMMY 'GUN' COLLETT Vs JAMIE BATES

This time for the USKA team it was Tommy first into the Blue corner. Jamie being a five times junior world champion and the named fighter so to speak made his way into the Red home corner second.
Straight away the height advantage to Jamie was apparent. Tommy used to sparring Qasim at 5ft 11" looked dwarfed next to the at least 6ft 1" Jamie Bates.
Again Referee Mike Bellgave administered final instructions to both fighters and it was time to see if the fight could live up to all the hype.

Round 1

Jamie moves first throwing a long push kick from one side of the ring to the other. The very first technique thrown highlights the range that young Jamie has in his legs and makes Tommy have to move right back to the rope to avoid it.
Nothing from both fighters is landing cleanly but Jamie is throwing first and as a result looks the more balanced of the two lads. Tommy waiting to get his shots off second is not throwing with full commitment and is for the best part falling short on the counter.
In respect of styles Tommy had the more compact full contact looking posture and Jamie slightly ungainly and unorthodox in his approach. This however was working to his advantage and was giving Tommy problems trying to work it out.
Tommy seems to have set in the pattern of allowing Jamie to move first and therefore is on the end of combinations of twos and threes. Very little still landing from both fighters but Jamie's workrate and effort pushing him in front.
Nearer the end of the round Tommy stands his ground a little more and has more success intercepting Jamie's attack. A close round ends with the Durham lad taking it on workrate.

Round 2

Tommy starts the second round working harder to close the gap and range advantage of Jamie. Although moving forward better he is not throwing as he does so and is walking onto Jamie's shots. Tommy looks frustrated and is taking more shots than he did in the first round for his efforts. Tommy has very much fallen back into the pattern of moving second and he is coming of the worst in the argument probably landing on a ratio of 1:3.
nearing the end of the round Jamie is just slightly starting to slow down and loses his footing after a kick to suggest that he is starting to feel the high pace that he has set for himself.
Round two in the history books and another good one for Jamie putting him two rounds in front by our estimations.

Round 3

So into the third now with Tommy playing catch up and with some problems and puzzles to solve if he is going to have a serious chance of winning this fight on the score cards.
Tommy's instructions in the corner was to close the range and turn this into a dog fight, take one to give one if you have to with the feeling that he was the physically stronger of the two lads if he could make that strength be felt.
Best round yet for Tommy throwing more in combination and beginning to get his shots off first. Could it be our suspicions were right in thinking Jamie was getting tired?
A rear push kick from Jamie catches Tommy on the thigh that sees the USKA fighter grimace in pain.
Incensed by the unintentional low blow Tommy continues his forward fighting and it is Jamie now on the ropes looking for position and looking a little less comfortable.
At last a mini breakthrough, Tommy lands a hard right hand that looks to have Jamie in trouble and sensing his mans distress Tommy fires of hard punch combination that has jamie in more trouble and looking on heavy legs.
Tommy however lets his man off the hook and allows him to move his way out of trouble until the end of the round. First round of the fight to Tommy but still behind on the scorecards.

Round 4

In between the 3rd and 4th round Tommy signalled to the USKA corner that the low blow he had received to his thigh in the last round had deadened his leg and he was having difficulty kicking. Tommy was told to work around his boxing and dig deep as he needed the next two rounds to take the decision on the scorecards.
Tommy started the 4th round with the same thing in mind, back his man up and trap him on the ropes to let rip with his punch combinations.
Jamie to his credit seemed to anticipate this and was trying to hold Tommy off with the jab and when that didn't work apply lateral movement to get out of trouble.
Tommy leading with the side kick for the first time kicked Jamie back onto the ropes and landed into the jab that had Jamie wanting to hold.
Tommy could feel he was making his impression felt and was finding his target easier than in previous rounds. After a punch combination that loosened the headguard of Jamie Tommy landed a left hook to the body that again seemed to momentarily wind him.
Unluckily for Tommy the ref stopped the action for adjustments to be made to the headguard that gave Jamie time to recover.
Jamie starting to look tired now was loosening his footing on the inside and Tommy looked to be coming on strong as the fight went on.
Laying back on the ropes Jamie was using his lead leg to keep Tommy off and to grab a much needed breather to compose himself.
Jamie's experience once again had got him out of trouble but nevertheless it was still another good round for Tommy in our eyes evening up the bout at two rounds each.

Round 5

All to play for in the last round and both fighters had probably been told the same thing in their corner that it was crucial that they win it. Jamie applying the hit and move tactics from the first two rounds and Tommy stalking trying to close him down.
Tommy although walking his man down was landing nothing of significance and the feeling from the corner was that unless he could land something big he was letting the fight slip away. An unintentional low kick this time from Tommy had Jamie shaking off his leg and was given time from the referee to fully recover.
moments later Jamie lands another low blow that sees Tommy appeal to the referee but unluckily for him the referee missed it maybe due to it being on his blind side.
Jamie in fairness acknowledges the blow and holds his hands up to it as both fighters touch gloves and resume the fight.
The bell sounds to end the last round and the feeling is that Jamie has hustled his way through the last segment to win the round and in turn win the fight.
Both fighters ring centre for the result and suspicions confirmed when the MC announces the winner from the Red corner Jamie Bates.
On speaking to two of the three ringside judges and the referee after the fight they had it to Jamie by one round but our feeling was that Jamie had won his rounds a little more convincingly than Tommy had won his.
Opinion however was divided in the crowd as we were approached by many neutral spectators after the fight feeling the more compact work from Tommy should have got it.

So not the result that we had hoped for but a positive one nevertheless in terms of you always learn much more from a loss than you ever could from a win.
Tommy was in good spirits after the bout and felt although he under performed he would do better in the rematch that has been touted to happen on the Fran Zuccala world title defence against Daniel Nordas at the Walsall Town Hall on the 28th October.
Lets hope Jamie and his team fancy the prospect of doing it all again and give Tommy a chance to reverse the only loss on his full contact ledger.

So a mixed set of the results for the USKA boys but one thing is for sure and that is that they provided real entertainment and quality to the knowledgeable Leicester crowd.
Promoter Jag Johal was very happy with the USKA contribution and said he would be more than happy to have our fighters back on his show sometime in the future.