Victory for Qasim and Sean

 

Fresh after his victory for the English title over Richard Sidwell in Oct U.S.K.A. Starlet Qasim "The Dream" Nisar took to ring once again on Feb 6th at the Emerald Club in Small Heath Birmingham this time in quest of the British title, this time his opponent was local rival and also a F.i.s.t. English Champion Nadeem Mohammed from Baggi Singh's I.F.A. The fight received plenty of pre-match coverage in the Birmingham press acknowledging the importance of the this fight being the panicle of these two fighters Jnr career so far. Labelled the Battle of Birmingham Qasim took not only the hopes of many into the ring, but also the burden of high expectation of all that have witnessed this extremely talented young kickboxer in action. Along with Qasim on the night and jointly representing U.S.K.A. was Mr Cool himself Sean "The Mighty" Quinn making his second full contact appearance. Sean who's sheer dedication to his training, like Qasim had prepared himself well for a bout with a dangerous unknown quantity in Wragsters fighter Richard Kelly. The evenings event followed an incredibly successful light continuous show run throughout the day and in time honoured tradition, those all important first impressions came to the fore with the all new M.A.G.B. organisation (Martial Arts Great Britain ) hosting their first and very impressive Pro- Am kickboxing event. The emphasis of the organisation differing that which has preceded it, being firmly on the furtherment of the sport of Full Contact kickboxing, and showcasing the young hitherto unseen and yet abundant talent that has currently been so far untapped. This in mind the show consisted of many debut fighters but boy was the capacity crowd in for a treat with regard to the quality of which they were to witness. Along with toe to toe battles and spectacular knock outs the standard of bouts was extremely high with the overriding impression leaving a distinct and lasting admiration for both the quality and the technical ability of the young gladiators, and the overall professional presentation of the show. Jointly topping the bill was rising star Birmingham’s B.M.A.C. British Pro-am Champion Rob “Diesel” Stevens defending his title he won in October of last year, against English .W.K.A. Pro Champion Simon Hillier from Wolverhampton’s Featherstone K.B. gym, this and the Jnr British title up for grabs made for a very entertaining nights kickboxing.With a sell out crowd, great fights, and a very professional presentation of each fight the resounding message was one of exciting proportions concerning not only the new opportunities for up and coming talented fighters, but the expectation of future show’s providing a thoroughly entertaining spectacle and value for money for the watching public, from a very competent and forward thinking organisation with the well being of the sport at heart.

First to take to the ring was Aaron Seera (Kash Gill's I.F.A.) Vs Robert Sidwell (Sidwells Kickboxing) Oldham This was a good balanced fight with Sidwell clinching the decision by notably finishing as the strongest in the last round. These two youngsters are a good example of novice 16 year olds coming through from light continuous showing excellent sportsmanship and certainly setting a good level of standard for the rest of the show.

The next bout produced victory for the I.F.A. camp Aitsham Rauf (Baggie Singh's I.F.A) Vs Darren Clouds (Mark Gibb's P.K.A) with a unanimous decision given to Autsham Rauf who displayed strong kicks, good combinations and excellent body movement, finishing by far the more forward fighter.

Fight three, Sam Wainwright (Paul Wainwright's Heathens) Vs Richard Sidwell (Sidwell’s Kickboxing) The second of the young Sidwell twins competing on the night was overwhelmed and fell victim to quality kick and punch combinations from a more experienced Wainwright. leaving Sidwells camp no option but to pull him out at the end of round one. By now the crowd and warmed to the occasion and the next fight saw Kieran Taylor (Paul Sutton's Pythons) Vs showman Ivor Price (Paul Whitehouse's Featherstone Kickboxing) Another showman’s entrance from Price and a determined Taylor gave the audience their money’s worth with excellent exchange's. Price is maturing into a composed strong opponent who found his range well with kick and punch combinations. Kieran Taylor struggled with his kicks comparatively but wasn’t fazed, not backing off at any point. Ivor deservedly took the decision by his display of boxing and kicking but in credit to Kieran who really made Ivor fight for it!. If Price before him had been the showman, then Daniel Phipps (‘H' Willock's Birmingham Martial Arts Centre) was definitely the show stopper up against Ricky Massey (Rob's Black Country Combat) it was a case of Ding Ding Round 1, one round kick GAME OVER! in an awesome demonstration of power kicking and 5 second knockout for Daniel Phipps in his ring debut brought the crowd to their feet. Massey after being caught cold had no chance of showing the crowd what he had. We look forward to Massey being back and able to demonstrate what he is capable of in the near future. Fight six saw Steve Jevons (Lee Wragg's Wraggsters) Vs Phil Betteridge (Paul Wainwright's Heathens) Jevons with the stronger boxing scored a standing eight count over his equally matched opponent Betteridge in a very close fight. Jevons takes the win by majority points decision verdict.

Phil Baccus (Baggie Singh's I.F.A) Vs Otis Treasure (Colin Treasure's Aero kick)

A well deserved unanimous points decision to Treasure after both fighters gave it their all in a very entertaining fight. Treasure found his range well managing to land strong blows to the very fit, strong Baccus. Andrew Wragg (Lee Wragg's Wraggsters) Vs Chad Brown (‘H’ Willock's Birmingham Martial Arts Centre) provided fight eight and After 3 rounds, of dominating Wragg, Brown won a unanimous points decision. Dave Aston (Rob's Black Country Combat) Vs Jim Buchannan (Pete O’hara's Gladiators) In a toe to toe battle, Aston won a well deserved unanimous decision with the cleaner techniques scored.

Richard Kelly (Lee Wragg's Wraggsters) Vs Sean ‘The Mighty” Quinn’ (Neil Kelly's USKA)

43 year old U.S.K.A. veteran Quinn wasted no time at all and showing poise and technique and a completely professional approach to his bout to score an impressive 1st round straight right hand stoppage over outclassed Richard Kelly which again had Sean’s army of supporters out of their chairs. His pre fight training paying big dividends in a fight in which he never looked rushed or impatient The U.S.K.A man had yet again stated his intentions with a very business like win. Sean's after fight comments reflecting the calm laid back demeanour of a fighter quickly proving himself a very tough opponent for anyone.

Andrew Reed (Garth Porter's Ying Yang) Vs 'Mighty' Mark Haynes (Colin Treasure's Aero Kick)

Precise right, left combinations from Reed caused last round stoppage with a knockout, a bout which Reed confidently dominated from start to finish. Excellent debut from the Ying yang fighter. Next up was the eagerly awaited contest between Joel Phipps (Baggie Singh's I.F.A) Vs Sam Lawlor (‘H’ Willock's Birmingham Martial Arts Centre) In a highly anticipated under card bout, an emotional crowd got behind both fighters to see an explosive battle with Lawlor getting the better of the exchange with more precise technique. After Phipps missed with a power straight leg round kick – Lawlor timed a beautiful straight right hand counter sending Phipps heavily to the canvass. The final bell came shortly after leaving Lawlor a unanimous points winner. Graham Carlos (Pete O’Hara's Gladiators) Vs Daniel Curl (Rob's Black Country Combat) The technically superior kicker Curl forced the majority of the action through 3 rounds, scoring a unanimous points decision from the judges with a varied display of technique

By now the atmosphere was inside the venue was akin to some of kickboxing great and more illustrious nights and when Qasim 'The Dream' Nisar (Neil Kelly's U.S.K.A.) was introduced, the roof almost came off. Matched in the nights penultimate fight against the talented 'Prince' Nadeem Mohammed (Baggie Singh's I.F.A) This fight the much anticipated co main event for the F.I.S.T British light continuous title at 58kg. The two combatants were Nisar from the U.S.K.A gym holder of the F.I.S.T 58kg English title and his opponent Mohammed who is the current F.I.S.T 54kg English Champion.

Both being from Birmingham and both already being champions brought a tremendous amount of people to the show on the strength of this one fight. An excited crowd waited in anticipation for the sound of the first bell.

The bout started with very little between the two young fighters. Qasim was scoring the cleaner shots but Nadeem was pushing forward with a strong work rate. The more precise kicks of Nisar seemed to be scoring better in the second round but he was having to fight on the back foot due to Khan's constant forward pressure. The third round was too close to call as both fighters stood toe to toe and exchanged combinations. The general feeling was that this was a close fight and something had to give. The heat went up in round four as Qasim tried to impose himself and start to press the fight forward. Khan did not give up ground easily but had to concede the round on all the judges scorecards because of Qasim's cleaner more precise shots.

Both lads knew going into the last round that the whole fight could be resting on it.

A very intense exchange saw again toe to toe action throughout with very little let up over the final session.

The bell sounded with both fighters and corners feeling that they had done enough to secure the victory.

The atmosphere was electric as both fighters were called to the ring centre by referee Cecil Rose for the decision. An unanimous decision with card totals of 49/47 49/46 50/49 was awarded to the winner and new F.I.S.T British 58kg champion Qasim 'the dream' Nisar. So it was business as usual for the U.S.K.A gym taking two out of two wins on the night and in the process adding to the growing list of Championship titles currently held by an on form U.S.K.A. stable of fighters

When it comes to fight nights nothing beats the sound of a partisan crowd greeting their favoured warrior and in Rob ‘Diesel’ Stevens (‘H’ Willock's Birmingham Martial Arts Centre) there is a real crowd pleaser. With a fast growing reputation for being definitely one to watch out for, British Amateur champion Stevens was pitched in at late notice to fight the very dangerous WKA Pro English Champion, Simon Hillier (Paul Whitehouse's Featherstone Kickboxing) ‘Diesel’, the younger fighter gave away 4kg in weight and conceded all the natural physical attributes against his more experienced counterpart.

Round 1 opened with some good exchanges with ‘Diesel’ landing the sharper more fluent techniques. ‘Diesel’ on the counter caught Hillier with a straight left hand, sending Hillier to the canvas leaving ref Cecil Rose to administer the count of eight. ‘Diesel sensing his man was in trouble pressed the attack, only to run onto a short left hook, counter dropping him for a flash knockdown, the crowds thirst already having been quenched and this was only the first round! An erratic 2nd round saw not much to separate the two, ‘Diesel’ consistently remaining fluid and clean. The opening seconds of the 3rd round saw ‘Diesel’ land a peach perfect left right combo, dropping Hillier heavily. An unfazed Hillier resumed his stance, ‘Diesel’ however seizing the round. He out worked and out scored Hillier comfortably winning his most convincing round so far.

After the success of round 3 round 4 saw ‘Diesel’ become over anxious and disorganised loosing his way at times in the excitement of having his man down. As fatigue set in ‘Diesel’ left himself open for heavy counter hooks as Hillier took advantage. Hillier edging this round. Round 5 starts with the same tone as round 4 ended. ‘Diesel’ making an effort to elevate his game, the battle hardened Hillier weathered the storm, showing his experience, remaining completely composed and focused, finishing this round as the stronger man.

Nerves on edge the fighters were called to the centre of the ring for the judge’s decision. To the disappointment of the home crowd, a decision that split the room - resulted in a draw in what was a tough and gruelling fight

MAGB would like to thank all the coaches and fighters for outstanding performances, setting the standard for the amateur circuit 2005 to be a high one. Credit to the judges and referees for remaining unbiased and as ever professional and last but not least to the spectators who showed inspired support and appreciation to the sport.

The next MAGB event will be…………………(will confirm)