WALSALL
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP KICKBOXING
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2006

On the 28th October on the Undercard of I.S.K.A Light Middleweight World Champion Fran Zuccala's title defence against French Champion Willy Borrel four of USKA's fighters were back in action at the Walsall town hall.
Originally only three were scheduled in Tyler Shakespeare, Azad Khan and Qasim Nisar but due to an opponent back stage from Wales failing to show we were asked if we had anybody who would stand in to face a young 38kg fighter from the MASAC gym in County Durham.
Ever ready and always never 5 minutes away from his kit bag USKA faithful Mark Sedgwick was ready and willing to step up to the challenge and step in at literally five minutes notice to make it a foursome of USKA fighters on this already exciting undercard.

After the quickest of quick warm ups and stretch out's Mark made his way to the ring second to meet his opponent 10 year old Taylor Hunt from the MASAC gym under instruction of Goff Bates. Mark had a two and a half year age advantage over his opponent but both fighters were scaling in at the same weight.
Mark 'The Killer Kicker' Sedgwick (USKA) Vs Taylor Hunt (MASAC)

ROUND 1

Gloves touched both fighters come out to meet each other in the middle of the ring in opposite stances, Taylor orthodox and Mark southpaw.
Both lads are trying to establish their kicking technique but one is cancelling out the other.
Mark starts to back up his legs with his hands and has Taylor covering up with a high guard.
Mark backing Taylor up to the neutral corner scores with his first meaningful kick, a lovely right leg axe kick to the chest.
Taylor presses forward and cockily Mark retreats with his hands down and chin out as he easily evades the oncoming attacks.
Marks volume of technique seems to be overwhelming Taylor slightly and he is no longer coming forward instead opting to try and remain at distance.
Mark trapping his man in the USKA corner lands a combination of hands to the head and head to body round kicks that catches Taylor to the soft of his belly as he doubles up and signals to the referee that he is in distress.
The referee steps in to give Taylor time to recover but Taylor has had enough.
Unable to convince the referee that he was in a position to continue the referee ushers him back to his corner and the bout is declared over in favour of Mark by first round stoppage win with the referee feeling it was not a case of excess power just poor conditioning.

Mark fires in the Cobra shortly before the stoppage

So a quick finish for USKA's first fighter of the night in just under a minute and it was back to the spectator seats for Mark to enjoy the rest of the evenings action.
Next up for USKA was the always impressive Azad 'The Wrath Of' Khan who also would be taking on an opponent from the County Durham MASAC gym this time of the same age but a couple of kg heavier.
Azad 'The Wrath Of' Khan (USKA) Vs Andrew Harris (MASAC)

ROUND 1

The bout starts with Azad landing one of his trademark rear leg push kicks to the face that straight away stamps his authority on the fight.
Andrew shows a good guard but is fighting on the defensive. Azad with no pressure to worry about increases his stronghold landing another kick to the face this time in the form of a rear leg axe kick that bloodies the nose of the Durham fighter.
Andrew looks technically quite good but does not seem to be able to deal with Azads variety and accuracy, dropping short with his own technique and getting caught
on the counter attack.
Azad is also intimidating Andrew moving laterally just out of range with his hands down and confident defence.
A straight side kick fires in to the chest of Andrew pushing him back and showing him that it is not just the head kicks that he has to concern himself with.
Azad still easily evading Andrews single shot attacks is punishing him on the counter with jabs and right hands that are making Andrew's bloody nose worst.
Azad looks very much like the boss in there and as the bell rings to end the first round Azad has won it very comfortably indeed.

ROUND 2

Andrew starts the second round like a man on a mission. Ploughing forward and pinning Azad against the ropes trying to neutralise Azad's advantage on the outside.
These tactics are working well and Azad is not having the same success on the counter.
Andrew's continues to press and his dog fight tactics are making things more uncomfortable for Azad but nether man is landing any clean shots.
The referee unhappy with the scrappiness of the work calls both fighters together in a request for them to tidy things up a touch.
The action is stopped shortly after this again this time for Andrew to have the blood from his nose wiped away from his face.
Andrew continues to push forward but it looks as though Azad knows what to expect from him stepping back and intercepting his forward movement with straight line technique.
It is one of these straight line techniques, Azad's right hand that earns him a warning from the referee on a power infringement.
Azad opts for fast hands on the counter now and as Andrew comes forward he is met by flurries instead of singles keeping his scoring shots up.
The round ends and although a much better round for Andrew than the first it is Azad who is ahead and going into the third round with the objective of protecting his lead.

ROUND 3

Azad opens up the third round with a spin kick that falls short of it's mark.
Azad is standing his ground more and not allowing Andrew to push him back like in the last round. This is making both fighters meet in the middle and getting into a clench that sees the referee once again intervene this time to publicly warn Andrew for holding.
This was good for Azad but a little unfair we felt as both fighters were as much to blame as each other for the clinching.
Andrew goes back on the attack, Azad negotiation the distance and trying again to work the counter hands. Hardly anything to split the lads Azad breaks away with a scoring lead round kick to the head on the counter attack.
Again Andrew receives a second warning for clinching when both fighters fall in close to the disapproval of the MASAC corner team.
The work from both fighters is laboured now but both are still working hard to score in an attempt to take the final round.
A somewhat messy round draws to a close and the bloody face of Andrew tells the story of a physically tough fight for both young lads.
Andrew tactically did well to change his strategy from the first round that he lost big but pressure alone was not enough to subdue the stronger Azad and he classy counter fighting.
The MC announces the decision with all three judges unanimously in agreement that it is Azad who is the worthy winner.

Andrew's nose feels 'The Wrath Of' Khan

Azad's counter was the key against strong MASAC gym opponent Andrew Harris


Two out of two for USKA and a really good start to the evenings proceedings.
The third USKA fighter to the ring would be Tyler 'the Steppin Razor' Shakespeare who would take on Solihull Combat Sport Centre's Tom Carroll. The Paul Gilmore trained fighter to his credit had taken the fight on the morning of the event after original opponents for Tyler had fallen through and although having a 4kg weight advantage would be giving away a mountain of experience against the talented USKA combatant.
Tyler 'Steppin Razor' Shakespeare (USKA) Vs Tom Carroll (Solihull Combat Centre)

ROUND 1

Round one starts and straight away it looks like it is going to be a battle fought at range and a contest of skill and technique.
With daylight between the two this looks like it is going to be a nice fight for the referee not having to get involved after every exchange and every couple of seconds.
Tyler's legs are looking sharp and fast flicking out to body and head but Tom to his credit does not look overwhelmed or fazed by the occasion of fighting on his first big card.
Mid way through the round Tom starts to wait a little too long allowing Tyler to move first. In, scoring his shots and back out to a safe range without response from the Solihull man.
Tyler is looking very fluent in his technique and is able to experiment with a few different things that he wouldn't otherwise be able to do in a harder fought more physical fight.
The round ends with Tyler in front but with Tom putting up a good account of himself.

ROUND 2

Round two starts with Tom looking more ambitious. After the corner talk from Paul Gilmore he seems to start the round with a little more belief in the fact that he may be able to upset the apple cart and score an upset win over the named fighter in Tyler.
With Tom fighting more at mid range now Tyler is happy at the fact he doesn't have to work as hard to find his target and is throwing nice combinations at different angels clocking up the points.
Tyler is gradually pushing through the gears still controlling the power but showing his class with his superior arsenal of technique.
An axe kick from Tyler misses and bounces off the top rope and Tom is now just starting to look a little more tired than he was moving out of the way but not looking to counter attack.
The round ends and it is another one for the USKA man.

ROUND 3

The third and final round starts now both fighters open up sharp and with good speed.
Never second guessing the judges both want a good final segment to try and convince them that they are the worthy winner.
Tyler catches Tom coming forward with a nice intercepting lead push kick to the body and again as Tom tries to press he gets caught with another eye catching lead round kick to the head that momentarily stops Tom in his tracks.
Tom again looks tired now and finally it looks like the late notice of the fight and fight nerves have at last caught up with him as Tyler asserts more and more pressure
to see out the round.
No doubt about the decision of this one but credit where credit is due to Tom Carroll and his team for taking a difficult fight at short notice and putting up a very good account of himself.
A unanimous decision to Tyler is the verdict reached by all three judges.

Tyler and Tom showing a true Light Continuous display in their match up


Three down, one to go and that one is probably USKA's strongest fighter in the form of Qasim 'The Dream' Nisar!
Qasim was matched against yet another MASAC fighter named John Paul. John at two years older and 1kg heavier and from such an established gym was on paper to prove a tough test for the young USKA man and as per usual Qasim was excited about the challenge and eager to get out and show the knowledgeable Walsall crowd what he could do.
Qasim 'The Dream' Nisar (USKA) Vs John Paul (MASAC)

ROUND 1

Ding Ding.....Round one and it is Qasim straight o the centre of the ring in an attempt to claim it. John looks a little apprehensive throwing kicks short and out of range.
Qasim lands a hard jab that knocks Paul's headguard up and off and follows with a hard straight leg round kick to his body.
The referee giving him time to sort his headguard out calls time and sends him back to his corner while sending Qasim to the neutral corner to wait for him.
Time back on and Qasim is straight back into the mix. Anytime Qasim is getting into close range John seems to be panicking and holding him around the back of the head with both arms in an attempt to stop him working his hands. These tactics however are spotted by the referee and earns him a warning for holding and hitting.
Qasim is relentless in his attack, and although he is not landing as cleanly as he would like he is stalking his man and putting him under pressure looking for position in the ring.
With the constant pressure fighting Qasim is now finding his target a little easier and lands two clubbing right hands that seem to take effect and again have John looking to put some distance between himself and Qas.
The bell sounds to end the round and once again John is warned for his holding as he makes his way back to his corner.
He is also sporting a badly bleeding nose that his corner team will have to take care of in the one minute rest interval.

ROUND 2

Round two and Qasim gets straight down to business making the distance up across the ring with a cobra right hand, left leg straight leg to the body and clubbing right hand to the side of John's head.
John tries to fire back but he just can't find his target and as soon as Qasim opens up again he is looking to hold and clench to keep from taking anymore clean shots.
John's nose is again bleeding heavily and it is causing him distress as he is rubbing his gloves against his face in discomfort.
Qasim uses this to his advantage and lands a big right hand to the side of John's head that buckles his legs and leaves him looking disorganised stumbling back into his corner.
Qasim is on him sensing victory throwing hard punches and strong kicks
not giving John time to recover.
The referee looks in close but the decision to stop it is taken out of his hands as MASAC chief cornerman Master Goff Bates waves the towel to signal saviour for his man.
The winner by TKO 39 seconds into the second round.


A bloodied John Paul feels Qasim's power in the first round.

And is taken out 39 seconds into the second.

New World Champ Willy Borrel meets future World Champ Qasim 'The Dream'


So another clean sheet and once again the USKA crew shine.
Not such a happy story for home fighter and defending World Champion Fran Zuccala who dropped a debatable points decision losing his crown in a fight that had the room split straight down the middle on opinion on who had done enough to win.
Result aside it was a cracking fight that showed full contact kickboxing at it's very best.
I've said it before, I''ll say it again...... The futures bright!