Hastings Kickboxing Academy’s Fight Night 2 event on Saturday became a triumph for the club as all its fighters that entered the ring – Gee Denne. Josh Simmonds and Nick Lelliot- won their fights, while HKA’s three Moroccan guests staged awesome performances against tough opponents and received fierce backing from the audience of a full house at the Hastings Centre.
Fight seven of the night but first up for HKA, saw Dheyan Khan of Ehsan Shaolin take on Gee Denne of HKA in one of the most anticipated fights of the night. If the audience had great expectations about the skills of the fighters, they were certainly not left disappointed. The first round started with fierce action and Gee staged well placed spinning kicks to keep his opponent at a bay. Both fighters showed great skill throughout the fight and in the second round, Gee served some of the highest kicks of the night. The momentum was maintained throughout the third round. The judges awarded Gee the victory by unanimous decision, a victory well deserved as Gee had put his awesome skills to a better use than in most of his previous fights by attacking more.
In the ninth fight of the night, was the first of our friends from Morocco in the ring,
Khaled Khan of Ehsan Shaolin took on Mustapha Souban of Assouar, the first of the three Moroccans to enter the ring. Khaled started very strongly the first round and kept Mustapha on the defensive side for most of it, but in the second round, he found his fighting spirit and responded to Khaled’s attacks by a series of spinning kicks. The rest of the fight soon settled to a pattern whereby Khaled perhaps attacked more, but Mustapha showed superior skill by a wider range of moves that included many well executed spinning kicks. He was awarded victory by unanimous decision and clearly moved, he knelt on the canvas, wrapped in the Moroccan flag to the tunes of roaring applause of the audience.
Second up for HKA was Josh Taberer-Simmonds against Elvis Cooper of Freestyle in the tenth fight of the night. Elvis started well, with a series of spinning kicks in his arsenal, but Josh escaped serious damage and as the fight moved to the second round, Josh started to attack more. He sent Elvis to the ropes both in the second and the third round, and staged a number of impressive spinning kicks and axe kicks in the third round. The judges awarded victory to Josh by unanimous verdict, Josh’s debut fight, a well deserved victory as it was Josh that in the end attacked more and used a wider range of moves to gain control of the fight.
3rd in the ring for HKA, Nick Lelliott of HKA met Lee Troubridge of TKO in the twelth fight of the night. Lee started with strong legwork, while Nick responded by good spinning kicks and roundhouses. Lee managed to send Nick to the ropes towards the end of the first round, but in the second round, Nick resorted to well executed spinning kicks and roundhouses that started to tilt the fight in his favour. The third round produced more fierce action, in which Nick retained control of the fight despite Lee’s strong attempts to gain the upper hand. Nick won the fight with unanimous decision, well justified thanks to his skill and high rate of attacks.
Fight thirteen put Liam Walsh of Falcon against Outmane Samih of Assouar, the second Moroccan fighter in the ring that night. Liam a much more experienced fighter than Outamne. This was to be a fierce fight from the outset, with both fighters showing great skills and willingness to attack. However, it emerged that Liam would be the stronger of the two as he gradually dominated the fight. The Moroccan put up stiff resistance and fought well. However, Liam won the fight with unanimous decision that he did deserve.
The final fight of the night brought Steve Keane of Namxang to the ring to face Azddine Dachiche of Assouar. Again Steve having a much stronger record than Azddine with a great KO record, Steve started the fight on a strong note and kept Azzdine on the defensive for most of the time. The Moroccan did not allow Steve to have an easy fight as he showed great fighting spirit, but it was Steve that attacked more and who won the fight by unanimous decision.
HKA continues to grow and produce great competitors.
Winning 3 out of 3 fights, The Academy continues to promote anti bulling and healthy living. For more information on kickboxing and how we can help you at our brand new gym,
Please contact Carl on 07949 221946. Or visit our new website at www.hastings-kickboxing.co.uk
