A dual event of the WFK Midland Championship and BLCC gym
show event was hosted on the 24th June by Newark Martial Arts
Centre under the guidance of former WKA World Champion Dean
Sugden.
The best fighting clubs from across the Midlands were invited
to attend in an attempt to qualify and then move on to Challenge
at the WFK National Championships later in the year. The winners
from the Nationals event would then have the option of representing
Great Britain at the World Games in Bangkok Thailand early
next year.
For the less experienced competitors the BLCC would accommodate
them in the usual brand of light, controlled competition to
build confidence and character.
Another great day was had by all as the WFK and BLCC worked
together to promote Junior kickboxing in the UK. It was very
evident that the Midlands is getting stronger and stronger
as the BLCC is now starting to spread wider and wider. This
initiative showed that it is giving the kids a real platform
to develop their skills and are all making great progress
in between shows.
USKA Kickboxing under the tutelage of cornermen Neil Kelly,
Sean Quinn and Qasim Nisar were in attendance with a team
of 7 fighters in tow. Haroon Khan, Stacey Richards, Zak Rahman,
Mark Sedgwick and Jake Richards entered in the WFK Championships
and Noor Muhammed and Megan Kelly in the BLCC gym show segment
of the event.
First into the ring for USKA was Haroon
Khan in his WFK elimination bout against
the experienced Sam Taylor
from Panthers kickboxing in Derby. Haroon
showed moments of brilliance in this fight with probably the
best performance of his career so far. Holding the centre
of the ring for most of the bout and looking very strong with
the better balance of the two fighters knocking Sam off balance
and to the canvas on many occasions. Skilfully picking his
shots and piling up the points for a unanimous points win.
It makes you think what this guy could be capable of if he
knuckled down and got his act together in the gym with some
hard training. Great win for the newly named 'Hurricane'.
Next up in the ring we had the ever improving Zakir
Rahman giving away 3kg in weight and
a year in age to the former BLCC Midland area title challenger
and current WFK British Champion Danny
Swanwick from Newark. Both fighters had
automatically qualified in their respective categories but
were matched up being the nearest in age and weight available
on the day.
This was a tough ask for Zak on paper but one that his coach
Neil Kelly jumped at the chance at in the hope that Zak could
pull off the upset and add to his already growing reputation.
Zak showed that he is a complete fighter mixing his punches
and kicks together excellently and using great ring craft
to stay out of trouble as Danny tried to close to gap and
make his weight advantage count.
Zak having the final word after every combination and breaking
away on the score cards scoring excellent head and body round
kicks that had the USKA supporters on their feet.
A somewhat surprising majority decision with one of the judges
seeing it as a draw and the other two to a very worthy winner
and a definite star of the future Zak 'Attack' Rahman.
Another bout now where both fighters already qualified in
their own divisions but were matched at a catch age fight
on the day. Stacey Richards
matched in a rematch against the very talented Laurie
Pearson from Newark Martial arts. Stacey
pulled off the upset last time out and pressure fought Laurie
to a hard fought points decision and the question was could
the USKA girl who was the younger of the two by two years
do the same again on Laurie's backyard of Newark.
This fight turned out to be a battle from start to finish.
Stacey constantly pressing forward to try and negate the technical
skills and range of the Newark girl. The first round saw Laurie
fight well going backwards picking her shots with accuracy
and doing the cleaner work. The second round saw Stacey close
the gap quicker and keep constant pressure on seemingly tiring
out Laurie to gain the round. All to play for in the third
it was back and forth action with both girls having their
moments. The turning point in the fight coming when Stacey
ran onto an excellently timed front kick to the face from
Laurie that bloodied her nose and broke her rhythm. Stacey
nose cleaned up she valiantly continued to press forward but
visible bothered with blood freely flowing from her damaged
nose.
The bell sounds to end three closely contested rounds.
The decision a close one this time in favour of the Newark
girl Laurie Pearson.
Another rematch now with
Mark Sedgwick giving away a massive 6kg
in weight against an opponent he had previously beaten in
Newark's Kyle Kerry.
Kyle had shown much improvement in recent outings and looked
confident with the big weight advantage of reversing the loss.
Both fighters already qualified in their divisions it was
more of a question of pride with this fight to see who would
be victorious.
A fast and furious pace from the opening bell saw none stop
action from both fighters, Mark predominantly relying on his
kicking with Kyle trying to match him with boxing skills.
Kyle after receiving multiple body straight legs from Mark
drops to the canvas and cracks start to appear from the Newark
lad.
Mark stayed with the body attack in the second and Kyle for
the first half of the round looked fazed.
Near to the end of the round as the pace started to drop Kyle
seemed to get a second wind and started to press home the
6kg weight advantage pushing Mark back for the first time
in the contest.
The third round saw the high kick rate from Mark in the first
two catch up on him looking tired now and having to force
his work out, his punches and kicks looking somewhat laboured.
Kyle looking the fresher of the two now pushed forward and
again used his weight advantage to the fullest.
Mark with a fighters heart though was not done and although
conceding the round came back well with good push kicks to
the body and round kicks to the head.
The final bell sounded and the decision read...the winner
by two rounds to one Mark Sedgwick.
The USKA fighter with the age advantage now with
Jake Richards stepping in to do business
with Newark's Lewis Fallon.
Jake the heavier fighter by a massive 10kg but Lewis possessing
skills that would always make him a worthy opponent. Both
had nothing to lose having already receiving automatic qualification
in their divisions and were ready to put on a show of skill.
The pattern was set from the first to the last bell in this
one. Jake controlling the action with his usual brand of high
workrate and volume of technique. It seemed like there was
not a second in the three rounds that he was not throwing
hands and feet. Lewis to his credit was doing everything he
could do given his 10kg weight disadvantage but it was a bridge
too far to gap and all three rounds and a unanimous points
decision winner was awarded to Jake 'The Rattlesnake' at the
end of the action.
The first up of the USKA fighters in the BLCC side of the
event was Megan Kelly
matched up with Newark's
Sophie Webb.
Not the fastest of starts from Megan saw Sophie pressing the
action and although not over accurate on workrate alone pushing
herself in front.
The second round a tale of two half's with Megan doing the
better of the work managing to push Sophie back in the first
half and Sophie turning the tables and doing the same to Megan
in the second half to end a pretty even round.
The third saw Sophie continue where she had left off in the
second pushing forward from the first bell and making it difficult
for Megan to get anything off. Megan giving up ground was
mainly fighting on the defensive and again although Sophie
not the most accurate her workrate and pressure had seemingly
been enough to earn her the round. The three judges however
had seen it a different way, one to Megan, one to Sophie and
one even so the result was announced as a draw.
Not a result we were going to complain about of course but
a performance that Megan will need to improve on if she is
to fight Sophie again in the future
Next up it was time for Noor
Muhammed to take on and old foe in Force
1's Chelsea Moss.
Chelsea a very talented fighter and multiple British Champion
finds it increasingly difficult to get meaningful matches
against female opposition and often has to fight boys to get
a fight. It makes no difference to her though as she adopts
an aggressive forward fighting style. Noor giving away 4 years
in age had his hands full again in what we think to be their
3rd or possibly even 4th match with each other.
The first round saw a very accurate left jab from Noor working
well for him pushing Chelsea back for much of the round. Chelsea
throwing lots but mostly out of range with her technique.
The second round saw a more assertive Noor press forward and
put Chelsea on the back foot. Noor's straight punches catching
Chelsea cleanly and doing more than enough to win the round.
The third round saw Noor again on the attack but Chelsea responding
showing her fighting heart.
Chelsea being put of balance and slowed down by Noor's jab
was struggling to pick up any real momentum and again it looked
like Noor had done enough to claim the round.
Although it seemed like Noor had done enough to win the judges
saw it differently and declared the bout a draw unable to
split the two. Despite the decision it was a good performance
from Noor and an improving one so no complaints. Sometimes
as in Megan's fight earlier the judges do you a favour and
sometimes as in Noor's fight they do your opponent a favour.
Very much swings and roundabouts.
The final fight for USKA on the day was WFK final between
Haroon Khan
and Liam Firth
from Jesters kickboxing. Liam is the current I.S.K.A British
and European Champion and Haroon and the USKA corner knew
they would have to be at their very best if he was going to
pull off the upset and defeat him.
The fight started with a very measured approach from both
fighters using good skills.
First blood so to speak came from Haroon landing a sweet axe
kick to the front of Liam's face as he moved forward. Liam
dropped down seemingly in shock more than anything but one
thing was for sure, it was enough to push Haroon ahead and
helped build his confidence. Liam's on the other hand looked
to have been dented big time. Haroon for the rest of the round
kept Liam at bay using his lead leg push kick and things were
looking good for the Birmingham lad at the end of the first
rounds action.
A less eventful second round saw Haroon looking a little more
tired but Liam looking reluctant to take the chance and force
the action. The end of the round had Haroon land some nice
straight punch combinations and the feeling was from the USKA
corner that he had just nicked the round and was two rounds
zip going into the third and final round of the contest.
Both fighters went straight into 5th gear in the final round
with a renewed hunger to win.
Again Liam let his frustrations show after running onto a
jab and it looked like emotionally he was once again losing
his grip on the round. Shortly after Haroon drops an axe kick
that hooks around the back of Liam's neck and again he looks
in distress and turning to his corner. It is clear now at
this point that Haroon has won the war of wills and is well
on his way to being crowned WFK Midland champ.
The bell sounds and the USKA corner are happy with their boys
work.
Referee Dean Sugden calls both fighters to the centre and
commends both fighters on a fantastic final.
The winner by unanimous decision.......... Haroon 'Hurricane'
Khan
An excellent win for Haroon over British Champion Liam Firth
that surely can't help but encourage him to get serious about
his sport and start clocking up some titles of his own.
So a productive day for USKA and a show that showed some
real quality across the board. This type of event is getting
more and more popular now and it cannot help but bring on
the standard of competitor and in turn the sport as a whole
across the country. Well done to everyone involved in making
it such an enjoyable day.
