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Mari's Minute California Muay Thai Championship Recap
December 1, 2007 Upland Arena 1721 West 11th Street Upland, California
The Upland Arena was host to the California Muay Thai Championships this past Saturday night with nine Muay Thai bouts that gave the hundreds of fans in attendance their monies worth. Every single fight was great - many ending in the coveted knockout. It was a war all night long. Familiar faces in attendance included Tito Ortiz, Tiki, "Razor" Rob McCullough, Kendall Grove, Justin McCauley, and Malaipet Team Diamond.
Here is how the action went down:
The first fight of the night had Mike Frazier taking a three round unanimous decision win over Mike Ellison. While Ellison was able to connect to the body with some punches and kicks that appeared to slow Frazier just a bit, it was not enough as Frazier connected with better shots to the head and used combinations with more frequency and power.
Next came the first knockout of the night by Kohei Kawashima who defeated Chet Bowyer at 33 seconds of round two. The first round saw some great back and forth action. But in round two, Kawashima was able to connect with a powerful right hook on the inside that sent Bowyer down for an eight count. Bowyer stood back up and after a close look, the referee allowed the fight to continue. Kawashima came in with a strong left hook that knocked Bowyer out - impressive knock out win.
Then came the knockout of the night from Jessie Magusen who defeated Sumpan Boonsook at 1:36 of the second round. Magusen took control of the fight late in round one with right and left hook combinations to the face - Boonsook went down for an eight count but was able to recover and continue on to the second round. A refreshed Boonsook pressed early in round two, connecting with low kicks and body kicks but Magusen was able to counter with his powerful jabs and combined it with a clean, right high kick to the chin that knocked Boonsook down and out. The referee immediately stepped in to protect a downed Boonsook and stopped the fight.
The great battles continued as Jose Mena went up against Jordan Betts. Betts got off to a bad start with the fans when his opponent was circling the ropes for the traditional Wai Khru - Betts didn’t move from his corner when he was asked to and the fans booed him. From the start, both fighters connected with great shots. Betts was able to slow Mena down a bit with body shots but Mena was able to dominate with his jabs and hook combinations. Although Betts appeared to be more active with his hands, Mena was able to control the fight and block most of Betts shots - taking the split decision.
And Gil Ramos got a unanimous decision win over Patrick Chinita in a pretty good three round battle.
Another fantastic knockout came from Sebastian Lopez, who after a great back and forth battle in round one, was able to come in stronger in round two and finish off Jason Rzepka. While Rzepka was able to connect with great body shots in round one, Lopez came out with a flurry of strikes to the top and bottom in round two - all of them connected and that sent Rzepka down for an eight count. When the fight continued, Lopez didn’t let up and continued to punish Rzepka with head and body shots that took its toll and Rzepka went down for the second time and the ref took a good look and stopped the fight.. Lopez wins at 32 seconds of round two.
As for the final three bouts, all were won by unanimous decision. Damien Negrete defeated Nicholas Nguyen after five rounds and becomes the new CMT Super Middleweight Champ. A powerful (and crowd favorite) Suzie Castaneda defeated Nolani Brown. A slow start from Castaneda but once she let her hands go, she was able to connect with powerful hooks and jabbed her way to the win. David Huerta finished off the night defeating Ryan Ratcliff after five rounds of action.
Until next time, Mari
(12/3/07) |
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