Friday Night Fights 9/24/10

Written by:
The Arbiter

A chatty crowd filed into the Broad Street Ballroom this Friday night, as if the local happy hours emptied right into the venue. Announcer "Diamond" Dave Diamante was looking sharp in a shiny silver suit, and the ring girls were dazzling. The crowd was looking forward to a night of equally shining and dazzling Muay Thai action, featuring a lot of local favorites and tough out of town challengers.

Fight 1 matched Tariq Ismail (Siam #1, Ottawa, Canada) with Carlos Nunez (C3, Stamford, CT). I should say mismatched Tariq and Carlos. Although a tough kid with a solid chin, Carlos never seems to be “turned on” – he moped into and around the ring with little fighting spirit or enthusiasm. Tariq, in contrast shows his love for Muay Thai and enthusiasm and confidence in his gear, his intricate and aggressive Wai Kru, and his fighting style. From the opening bell to the closing bell, Tariq threw left hooks to Carlos head that landed well, knocking Carlos around the ring and swelling up his face. Nunez was game, however, returning fire as often as he could. But he was no match for Ismail’s power and defensive finesse. The accumulated left hooks and leg kicks and throws earned Tariq a UNANIMOUS DECISION.

Fight 2 featured the long and lean Osvaldo June Dominguez (Sitan Gym, Philly, PA) and from Las Vegas, Mark Sayer (Master Toddy’s Gym, Las Vegas, NV). I was intrigued to see what the “World Famous Master Toddy’s” product would bring to the ring against the local favorite. Sayer showed very good technique, but I don’t think was quite ring-ready. Dominguez won the first round on the strength of his straight right hand. He snapped Sayer’s head back several times and used it well to set up his kicks. The second round was more even, but sloppy on both sides. Sayer tried to keep close, inside June’s long punches and kicks, but was not very effective in the clinch. Dominguez meantime, when not in the clinch would still misjudge the range and jam many of his kicks and punches. The third round saw Sayer take the worst of the exchanges and his head snap back a few times from the right cross. He was further hampered by a somewhat questionable standing 8 count given by the referee. I must take a second here to reinforce the fact that if a count given is controversial or questionable, one must always remember that the referee's primary intention is to ALWAYS PROTECT THE FIGHTER FIRST, so that if a mistake happens it is usually in the best interest of the fighter. In this case, while the standing 8 may have hurt Sayer on the judges’ cards, he was not winning anyway and it saved him from more physical injury. In the end Dominguez took a UNANIMOUS DECISION.

Fight 3 pitted John Wright (Total Performance Sports, Everett, MA) against Ian Hastings (American Top Team, Franklin Square, NY). Ian proved to be a tough but unpolished fighter, who looked good in the 1st 2 rounds and scored a knockdown of Jon in the 3rd round to take a UNANIMOUS DECISION.

Fight 4 brought girl power into the ring, as Angela Hill (Evolution, Muay Thai, NYC) took on Heather Maguire. This was the fight of the night to this point, as the well matched opponents kept up a blistering pace for 3 rounds. In each round, both fighters scored well with punches to the head, and strong clinch games. Each round was won on the strength of a momentum swing in the last 30 seconds, and a very close Decision went to Angela Hill.

Fight 5 saw Alvin Chan (North Jersey Muay Thai, Lodi, NJ) and Tom Ni (Church Street Boxing, NYC) climb into the ring to face-off. This was a great match-up at the 132 lb. level and was even through the first two rounds until Alvin injured his left elbow/forearm. The injury was sever enough that Chan couldn’t answer the bell for the third round, and was in obvious pain as the seconds removed his glove and the doctor examined him.

Fight 6 showcased local favorite Kingsly Opaku (Sitan Gym, NYC) against Jason Park (Cool Hearts MT, Hermosa Beach CA). Opaku had a clear advantage in musculature and physique, but that doesn’t always translate into a victory in the fight. As it turns out Park was very game, and very resilient. However, he did not maintain as steady a flow of offense as Opaku, who squeaked out 4 of the 5 two minute rounds. They were even in knees and kicks, but Kings’ flow of punches gave him the advantage and the UNANIMOUS DECISION.

Fight 7 called out the big boys, as Amilcar Aviles (Team Thunder, Puerto Rico) took the trip up to take on “Big Country” Simon Camaj (Church Street Boxing, NYC). Camaj usually starts strong and fast, and tries to maintain his pace throughout, but tonight, Amilcar frustrated him and slowed him down in the first round, matching his power and technique. The second round was very close, as Big Country began to land his punch combos and some kicks. Aviles kept up the second round and the fight was anyone’s going into the third round. However, at some point early in the third round, Aviles had sustained an in jury to his forearm/wrist. This injury slowed him down and put him on the defensive, giving Camaj a UNANIMOUS DECISION.

Fight 8 started the professional portion of the event, as veteran MMA fighter Rick Screeton (C3 Gym, Stamford, CT) stepped into the ring to take on recent pro Turan “The Tornado” Hasanov (Church St. Boxing, NYC). Turan has had some ups and downs as a professional, including a dazzling elbow KO in Thailand, and 2 tough losses that left his already injured legs further beaten and near useless. Tonight was another story however, as Turan was totally healed, and looked fresh and focused. Again, Turan started the fight slowly, probing and pawing at Screeton, who took advantage with a nice punch and knee combination that scored well. It also woke Turan up and got his motor started. (I was reminded of the scene in “The Great White Hype” when Terry Conklin hit James “The Grim Reaper” Roper, and ended the fight for himself). Turan responded with vicious flurries of effective hands and knees. He let himself go and really allowed the offense to flow better that I had seen him in the 8 years I’ve been watching. Still in the first round, Screeton ate a knee to the solar plexus that dropped him for an 8 count. He never had the time to recover from that initial trauma as “The Tornado” moved in for the kill, smothering Screeton with more punches and knees, until Screeton succumbed to the accumulation and went down again. He beat the 10 count, but referee Chris Wagner saw his eyes still rolling back in his head, and protected him from further damage, waiving off the fight at 1:58 of the 1st. Turan had finally lived up to his early potential as a fighter on US soil, let’s see if he can build on this success and take his career to the next level.

Fight 9, the Main Event, brought Javier Perez (Team Thunder, Puerto Rico) up the coast to take on Chris “The Polish Punisher” Kwiatkowski (Church St. Boxing, NYC). Chris was coming off a recent disappointing showing and wanted to really assert himself and let the home crowd know that the last fight was just a fluke – and assert himself he did. I have two words to describe this fight: RIGHT CROSS. And how! The Punisher came across the ring at the bell, landed a solid right cross to Javier’s face. Javier landed his butt on the mat for an 8 count. Physically, he was fine... neurologically, it seemed like he couldn’t shake out the cobwebs fast enough, because when the referee stepped back to continue the fight, Javier had no defense to speak of. He got hit with a solid left hook, right cross combination and was back on the mat in a heap with the referee standing over him waiving off the fight and protecting him from more head trauma. It was a good stoppage, giving Kwiatkowski the TKO victory at only 35 seconds into the 1st round.

The Friday Night Fight series at the Broad Street Ballroom continues to impress in many ways, including high level of talent and the professional, smooth running of the show itself. Other promoters could take a lesson on how it's done from Justin Blair and the FNF Team. Another great job to all involved especially the referees Chris Wagner and Wayne Spinola, and the other officials of the WKA who kept the fighters safe and the decisions uncontroversial.