Opening the show infront of nearly 600 hundred fight fans, was the award winning TTA dance with a great show case for the crowd to sit back and enjoy, with a well-received performance, it was a nice way to open the show.
First up for HKA was Carrie, and a new Carrie is born, from the start she was a different women, with some barbaric head kicks Tori Coe from Taoist arts was on the back foot from the start after a standing 8 count in the first round, Carrie carried the onslaught on in the second leaving the ref no choice but to stop the fight.
Mark Crawley had a war with Justin Bridger (HKA), Mark 10 years his junior and with a few fights under his belt, this was Justin’s first ever time in the ring, Justin age 44 Battle hard for all 3 rounds and was still there at the final bell, although we didn’t win the fight I feel it was a moral victory for Justin.
Nick Lelliott had a tough fight with Elvis cooper, Elvis from the start came out hard and strong, taking Nick by surprise, Nick not finding his feet and very difficult to find his rhythm and Elvis duly winning the fight, I’m no doubt in my mind Nick will bounce back from this even stronger.
Gavin Broomfield stepped back into the ring after a year out, Gavin dropped 10 kgs for this fight over a good few months. Fighting James McCray from PWKA, Gavin was fired up and come out like freight train with some immensely powerful shots, in the second round carried on with the unstoppable force, James corner man making a safe decision to stop the bout saving his man for any danger
Dan Wright boxed in a white collar match as his original fighter pulled out a few weeks before, for all 3 rounds Dan and Steve was toe to toe, both winning a round each, at the final bell the judges where split in a majority decision, Steve Daiken from PWKA was the man to take the victory.
Nathan Smith in a rematch with Jay Taylor, in yet again another battle both men wanted the win, Nathan managed to score a standing 8 count in the second round, although Jay came back strong in the 3rd it wasn’t enough and Nathan won the bout. Nathan smith agreed by the compare, Ref and all 3 judges was named fighter of the night.
Last up for HKA in their 7th fight of the evening, Dave warren fought the very strong and seasoned fighter Sean Baxter, Sean has fought some of the strongest fighters in the country and also some think he’s not that strong but Sean has the balls to step into the ring with some of the best around and he loves a challenge, Dave warren dusted off his gloves after 5 years out and fought in memory of his dad, Dave lost his dad last year and found it hard to take, I took Dave under my wing, brought him back to the gym where he could focus and channel his thoughts, after getting the foundations set back into place, it was only a matter of time before he would be ready, 6 months of trough training and Dave is in the best shape of his life.
In a war the men showed some of the best skills in the ring, both men respected each other and allowed to work their skills showing the crowd what kickboxing should be like, and letting the better man win. In a close fight Dave started to pull ahead on the second round, with some great body kicks, slowing Sean down and putting him on the back foot, this allowed Dave to step it up a gear landing some great kicks even finishing with a great spinning kick to Sean’s head, but this is not to say Sean was still there and never gave up..
Last fight of the evening was no disappointment Gareth Evens from Falcon Gym vs Dillon Moss fighting for Force one, both men knew they had to dig deep as they were looking at a 5 round war, to take home the ICO Super Welterweight British Title belt. I didn’t see the whole fight but from what I was told it was one to watch, Gareth being the stronger man with the extra pressure that was needed to be crowned British champion.
Dillon put on a great fight and was still there in the 5th round, but just didn’t quite have the edge on the night.
From a personal THANK YOU to all the coaches and fighters and everyone involved behind the scenes helping the night run so smoothly.
I think it’s safe to say that HKA has the leading Fight Night series in the town, The feedback I received from everyone and what I had back from all my staff.
I can’t put into words how happy I am of the night and Fight team alike,
I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved in the fight night series,
Watch out for details of Fight Night 4…..
For more details on HKA please visit www.hastings-kicboxing.co.uk
