Warrior's Cup XII

I walked in to the R.J. Collins Arena a little after 9 o’clock and was immediately impressed by the event. A great layout, use of space, 360 degree view of the ring, and effect gave the event a great atmosphere. I was already geeked up, looking forward to see some elbows flying on this historic occasion, and I thought the whole Tri-State area would be there, feeling the same… THAT was the only disappointment, that the crowd was not as big as it should have been. But now, my faithful reader let us turn our attention to the action itself. It was another long card, so I will limit my coverage to the Amateur Title and Professional fights only.

Rudolpho Felix’s Amateur Title shot against Junaid Hamid started with a quick teep as Rudy was still touching gloves, and the action didn’t stop from there till the bell. The techniques were flying from both fighters, but Hamid’s well timed teeps put Rudy down twice and may have given him the 1st round. A high paced start to the 2nd was punctuated by Rudy landing a spinning back-kick to Hamid’s chest. This gave Hamid pause and turned Rudy 'on'. He went on to land several combos and place a solid claim to round 2. An already tired Hamid started the 3rd off-pace and slowed to a crawl from there. Conversely, Rudy had a last burst of energy to begin the 3d, jumping around with flying kicks and punches to lay claim to the 3rd round, the fight, and the WMC Amateur Title Belt. As Rudy strapped on the new belt, he let flow a torrent of emotions, tears of joy about his latest accomplishment.

Now, oh faithful reader, we push on to the professionals, the “Full Rules” Muay Thai fights, meaning that elbows to the head are legal as well as all other Muay Thai techniques. I was giddy, expecting to see nak muays come flying out of their corners elbows ablaze like Bruce from Tekken. I may have expected too much, but I was definitely content with what I got. First up, Canadian Tony Manorahan added to his frequent flyer miles with another trip to the Tri-State, this time to face local Jersey favorite, Ognjen Topic. Topic entered the ring in his usual manner, nonplussed. Tony looked confident as well, both men are ring veterans. Round 1 started with Ognjen trying to establish his outside game, using his long legs to teep and jab Tony, who was trying to close the distance and punch from the inside. Both fighters scored well occasionally, but Tony would add a low kick to the end of his combos that did real damage – the round could have gone either way. It took about 4 minutes from the opening bell for the first elbow to be thrown, short, in the clinch, glancing off of Ognjen’s head, but heard all over the East Coast. Topic responded with his own elbows shortly after, another round that could have gone either way. Tony started the 3rd round with a string of punch/kick combinations. Just as Tony was building momentum and confidence, Topic got aggressive. He clinched Tony, pinning him against the ropes and driving knees into his ribcage until Tony went down for an 8-count. He survived the count only to be picked apart by Topic’s knees, kicks, punches and elbows. Tony took another 8-count. When he stood up, referee (and Muay Thai legend) Coban Lookchaomaesaithong saw a bad cut by his eyes and referred to the doctor, who decided the cut was bad enough to end the fight at 3:00 of round 3. This was a great start to the professional card, and a big win for Topic whose career continues its upswing.

The second pro fight featured two faces familiar to the NYC Tri-state area, Marcus Fisher, out of Pittsburgh and Brett Hlavacek fighting out of NYC’s The Wat. Both fighters had a demeanor calmer than their short pro tenures would normally lead to, a good sign for both. Marcus started pawing at Brett’s lead leg right away. Brett answered more directly, kicking to the head and then throwing Marcus to the mat soon after. Not much else separated the two in the first round, a traditional slow feeling out period. Both fighters showed a few good strikes and a couple of good throws. Another slow round in the 2nd was broken up now and then by a fluid Hlavacek combination. These combinations, however, were answered by a solid right to Brett’s head in response. The difference in the round may have been Hlavacek’s ability to sweep Marcus to the mat consistently. Fisher started the 3rd with 2 solid dumps of Hlavacek. Brett countered by sinking nasty hooks and knees into the midsection of Marcus. Another round that could have gone either way. Brett began to dominate in the clinch in the 4th round. He really asserted himself, pinning Marcus’ back to the ropes for almost the whole round. Fisher barely avoided a beautiful spinning back elbow thrown by Brett that may have ended the fight right there, had it connected. Advantage: Hlavacek. In the 5th round, after an accidental illegal blow to the back of the head (and a good show of sportsmanship after), the pace really picked up. Punches and elbows were flying in all directions. The bell rang with Marcus again back to the ropes in Brett’s clinch. One judge had it 48-48, the other two ruled in favor of Hlavacek, for a Majority Decision.

The third professional fight of the night pitted Rami Ibrahim against Mark DeLuca. It appeared that Rami had taken this fight very seriously, as he entered looking lean and ready. Mark looked thicker than I’d seen him in prior fights, but in a muscular way, not fatty. The 1st was a back and forth round. Rami’s left hook did well as did his low-kick. In both the 1st and 2nd rounds Rami employed his clinch game well, smothering DeLuca’s offense against the ropes, sometimes with the aid of grabbing the ropes with both arms around Mark. This is a crafty, veteran move, but an illegal one that should have been stopped by the referee. But if he’s not going to stop you, keep doing it, right? Mark was game, as always, answering with a few brilliant flashes. These included some nice left round kicks to Rami’s head and chest, but I don’t think they were enough to take either of the first two rounds. Rami let the leather fly in the 3rd round, landing lots of left hooks and a few straight rights. DeLuca answered by dumping him to the canvas several times, but Rami controlled the action and caused more damage, claiming a three-rounds-to-none lead on my unofficial scorecard. Rami’s building confidence showed clearly between rounds as he stood in the corner, dancing to the music between rounds. Then, he went back to his smothering clinching game when the 4th started, pinning DeLuca against the ropes. Mark landed a clean left hook to Rami’s jaw but it had no effect. He continued to land sporadic kicks and punches when he snuck out of Rami’s clinch, but Ibrahim’s volume of work and smothering clinch overshadowed them. The 5th was more of the same. Rami’s clinch and left hook stifled Mark, keeping him off-balance enough to take the round and an obvious Unanimous Decision.

In the Main Event of the night, Liam Harrison brought his passport and his #1 U.K. ranking across the pond to pick a fight with the always tough, Philadelphia fighter, Justin Greskiewicz. A quick start in round 1 found Justin jabbing sharply, while Liam went to work chopping down Justin’s lead leg. It was a close round that Liam may have pulled out with the repeated leg kicks and a nice 4-punch combination in the last few moments. In the 2nd, Greskiewicz’ lead leg was already reddened and sensitive. He was having problems putting weight on it to throw punches and Harrison noticed quickly and went to work chopping at the same spot. Liam tagged Justin’s leg again and again at every opportunity, and when Greskiewicz lifted his left to block or relieve the pain, Liam would sweep the one good leg out from under him. It was textbook Muay Thai strategy. When not attacking the legs, or more precisely, when setting up his leg attacks, Liam would land punches and elbows to Justin’s head, bringing his guard up. As the round drew to a close, Harrison landed a sharp leg kick followed by a right hook that put Justin down right at the bell. At first the referee looked unsure for a second of what to do, neither counting, nor ruling it a slip, nor waiving off the fight. He seemed to actually try to help Justin to his feet and to his corner, when Justin stumbled, his leg giving way and sending him back to the mat. Coban reassessed the situation and waived off the fight, declaring a TKO victory for the Brit, Harrison. I feel that this may have been an error on the referee’s part — perhaps he should’ve given Greskiewicz a count and the chance to get up under his own power before waiving the fight off? But at that point, Justin’s leg could really take no more and the ref did the right thing by sparing him more punishment and damage.

A great show and well organized, my only disappointment on the night was the lack of crowd throughout the night, and especially how the crowd shrank as the night wore on to the main event. I want to congratulate Chris Tran, the WMC and everyone involved for bringing Full Rules Muay Thai into a distance drivable from NYC, and I eagerly await their next offering!

Chok Dee!!!