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Fight Report: Docherty Stops Kelly to Secure WBU Crown as McEwan, Allan and Robb take Victory Laurels
Report by Gianluca Di Caro
Photos courtesy of Armando Ferrari
Scottish Promoter Thomas Melville made his intentions clear for all to see with his debut event Rau hnub Saturday hmo ntuj, even with seriously major dramas leading up to the event, including losing one of his big draws, former WBO Featherweight King Scott Harrison, from the card just a few weeks before, and two further match-ups dropping out in the days leading up to the show, yet the canny Scotsman still managed to produce an excellent, albeit it smaller, event.
Heading up the show was Glasgow’s former Commonwealth Champion Craig Docherty against Dundalk, Ireland’s Michael Kelly for the vacant World Boxing Union (WBU) World Super Welterweight title.
The atmosphere was electric as the two protagonists made their entrance into the arena, the Scottish fans sure do know how to make an occasion like this really special.
Right from the opening bell both boxers made their intention crystal clear and within seconds the toe to toe battle for centre ring began in earnest.
When I say toe to toe I mean toe to toe, whilst much of the action was at close quarters, at times they were that close to one another that you couldn’t have wedged a cigarette paper between them, so much so that referee Lee Murtagh had no option but to warn them about head clashes on numerous occasions.
Now even though they were that close neither man went defensive, both showcasing their exceptional tools of the trade to great effect, with slick hooks and upper cuts coming from all angles.
Docherty managed to just about secure the first couple of rounds, only just as they were so evenly matched, but in the third Kelly stepped it up, making himself a little space he really got into a flow and was letting rip with scintillating shots from every single conceivable angle.
Docherty responded in similar vein, however the slickness of Kelly’s work made it an upward battle for the Glaswegian.
Round four see Docherty change tactics, using his jab to great effect to set up the openings in order to let rip with some vicious body shots, however the Irishman seemed quite happy to soak these up before countering with powerful rights and the occasional double handed flurry.
Round five was a spectacular round, both protagonists raised the pace even further, which ultimately led to some fearsome exchanges. It was really hard to decide who fared the best or if either outfought or outworked the other, yes it was that close.
More of the same in the sixth, boy oh boy did they go at it hammer and tongs for the first couple of minutes or so of the round.
As the clock moved into the final minute of the round Docherty began to back Kelly up, before letting rip with a lightning quick right that dropped Kelly like a sack of potatoes.
In an instant Referee Lee Murtagh went to the Irishman’s assistance and waved the fight off, which sent Docherty, his team and fans into a joyous frenzy.
Have to say what an appreciative crowd in attendance, as the cheers of joy for Docherty were outweighed by the magnificent reception they gave Michael Kelly as he rose to his feet, these were genuine fans, their man won but they were equally appreciative of the magnificent performance of the Irishman.
Just before Docherty was crowned the new WBU Super Welterweight Champion the official time of the stoppage was announced, as two minutes and nine seconds of the sixth.
Main support for the Docherty-Kelly title fight was set to be Edinburgh’s Craig McEwan against Newport’s Lee Churcher, however this was not to be due to a weight discrepancy that was unable to be resolved in time, so some quick negotiations led to Nottingham based Czech fighter Vaclav Skromach being drafted in as a very late replacement.
McEwan started strong, taking the fight to the Czech lad, Skromach though is no mug and a nice tidy fighter himself and soon started letting rip with shots of his own.
McEwan started to target the body, coming in from some unbelievable angles to land some fearsome exocets, Skromach adjusted his defenses but clearly some were having the desired effect.
Skromach held his own well for the first couple of minutes but as the round entered into the final minute McEwan stepped up the punishment to the body, culminating with an awesome hook that landed right on the button to send Skromach to take to one knee.
It was a seriously vicious shot, so nobody was surprised that Skromach was unable to continue, again as with the main event the Scottish fans celebrated their man’s victory as well as applauded Skromach as he rose to his feet.
The official time of the stoppage was announced as two minutes and twenty nine seconds of the first round.
Prior to McEwan-Skromach was another six rounder, between Nairn’s Sandy Robb and Scunthorpe’s Jody Meikle.
Robb started fast, utilizing a good stiff jab and big rights that kept the highly entertaining Meikle in check and on the back foot for the first minute or so, but then the Scunthorpe lad began coming forward more, picking off Robb with some cracking right hands.
As the round went on Robb started to become even more forceful, leaving Meikle no option but to utilize hit and move tactics, most of the time he got these spot on but occasionally the Scotsman preempted these and was able to land a big right as Meikle attempted to slip out of range.
More of the same in the second, but in the third Meikle began to play to the crowd, especially when backed on to the ropes, cheekily winking at the ring card girls whilst avoiding shots.
Normal service resumed in the fourth, Robb began cutting off the ring to prevent Meikle utilizing his hit and run tactics, this was highly effective for the Scotsman as with nowhere to move to the Englishman had no option but to box his way out from the ropes, which he did in style.
As the fight settled into the final third, Meikle again began to play to the crowd, but in dong so ensured that this time he had judged the distance adequately to prevent the big looping rights from the Scotsman landing.
The final round was a cracker, whilst still in a similar vein as the previous round, with Robb backing the Englishman onto the ropes as Meikle played to the crowd, there was some excellent and highly entertaining boxing from both parties.
After six interesting, entertaining rounds Referee Lee Murtagh scored the bout 60-54 in favour of Robb.
The opening bout of the night see Rivals Gym’s former unified World Kickboxing Champion Sam Allan in action against Downpatrick, Ireland’s returning Marty Kayes.
Have to say this really was a cracking fight, both protagonists giving their all for every single second of every round, it was a true non-stop battle royale.
After four excellent rounds of boxing Referee Lee Murtagh scored the bout 40-37 in favour of Allan, much to the local fans delight.
Congratulations to Thomas Melville and his team, not only did they overcome the adversity of losing their co-headline bout as well as a few of the scheduled bouts, but still managed to put on an excellent event.
Congratulations are in order for Craig Docherty, who joins the likes of Ricky Hatton, Graham Earl, Kevin Lear, Shea Neary, Tony Oakey, Wayne Elcock, Wayne Alexander and other British legends of the past in becoming crowned the WBU World Champion.
Miguel ‘Zurdo’ Sanchez returns this Friday
FIGHT NETWORK MMA, JUDO & KICKBOXING PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE (Aug. 17-23, 2015)
TUA NETWORK BOXING PROGRAMMING CAIJ NYOOG (Aug. 17-23, 2015)
BELLATOR MMA LOS BOLSTER ROSTER RAU NTAWM ISAO KOBAYASHI TSEEM & THIAGO JAMBO GONCALVES
MONICA RAUG, Calif. (Lub yim hli ntuj 17, 2015) -Yog txaus siab ncha moo lub signings ntawm hawj Bellator MMA Isao Kobayashi (18-2-4) thiab Thiago Jambo Goncalves (18-4, 1 NC) rau tej xyoo, tej kev sib ntaus sib cog lus.
Kobayashi thiab Goncalves koom ib roster uas muaj tsis ntev los no ntxiv npe rau yam koj nyiam uas: Josh Thomson, Josh Koscheck, Melvin Guillard, Lorenzo Hood, Phil Davis, thiab Ed Ruth – nrad lwm tus.
Ntawm 26-xyoo-laus, Kobayashi tuas cov txim hluav taws xob los yog ib tus "King of Pancrase,"ua haujlwm tau nyiaj tus Japanese qib lub npe hnav ua ntej ua rau kev hloov mus featherweight. Ib tug Sakaguchi Dojo Ichizoku, "Isao" yog tab tom caij ib ob-sib ntaus winning mus ceev, qhuav defeating Will Chope hauv ib lub caij Pancrase rau lub yim hli ntuj 9.
Goncalves yog ib tug menyuam kawm ntawv uas tau tau zus ib Featherweight Bellator MMA Patricio "Pitbull" Freire thiab nws cov kwv tij Patricky Freire nyob Pitbull kwv tij Academy hauv Brazil. Tus 34 xyoo welterweight muaj competed tso lawm 2004 thiab muaj xya lub yeej loj heev nyob hauv txoj kev tsub nqe zuj zus. Ib tug khiav ntawm yim tawm hauv nws lub 10 tilts, "Jambo" joins faib uas nyuam qhuav crowned ib tug tshiab tau zus ib nyob rau hauv Andrey Koreshkov "Spartan".
Hnub tim debut thiab tw yuav tsum tshaj tawm rau cov ob fighters near yav tom ntej.
Irish Olympic nyiaj puav pheej khiav John Joe Nevin rau tsim NYC debut ntawm Brooklyn Brawl rau Aug 25
Hnub qub Irish ntxiv rau daim card loaded nyob MCU Park hauv Coney Island
BROOKLYN, NY (Lub yim hli ntuj 17, 2015) – Coney Island attracts neeg ntawm txhua fab lub ntiaj teb tsoo New York yam kua ntau hom tshuaj lom ze thiab aura ntawm ntug hiav txwv. Muaj ntau qhov muag Irish yuav tsum ntxhi hmo Tuesday, Lub yim hli ntuj 25 nyob Coney Island, Thaum tus neeg tau sij hawm mus saib two-time Olympian John Joe Nevin hauv tes hauj lwm hauv MCU Park.
Promoter tau muab tso ua ke ib daim ntawv saum-tier sib ntaus, nrog ib dav array uas tuav hitters npaj yuav ua yeeb yam thaum lub so lo lus uas peb featuring dej das, tshav, tsev kho mob loj xuab zeb thiab carnival…thiab tam sim no lub qab zib kev kawm.
A 2012 nyiaj medalist rau lub Olympics, Yog Nevin 3-0 (2 KOs) thaum muaj kev, thiab yog pumped mus yuav tau ib feem ntawm nws lub npe “Brooklyn Brawl.
“Kuv pog mus yuav boxing nyob New York thawj zaug puas,” tus 26 xyoo Mullingar, Ireland neeg hais. “Kuv twb fought puv ntiaj teb tab sis kuv twb npau suav ntawm boxing nyob New York. Kuv paub hais tias muaj ntau ntau Irish kiv cua nyob rau sab thiab hopefully peb yuav coj ib co.”
Kiv cua yuav zoo siab nws two-fisted fury, nws qhov aggression thiab muaj siab mus cuag ib tug KO; nws yuav Nevin tus thawj tangle hauv 2015: “Kuv tsis tau fought txij xyoo tas los no ces peb nyob nraum saib tom ntej nqis cov xeb thiab uas qhia kuv yuav ua li cas.”
Nevin promises rau hauv daim ntawv uas zoo thiab muaj dabtsi prep haujlwm yuav tsum tau qhia tawm saum toj nws ntaus ntawv. “Cov boxing kuv mus nyob rau Philly gyms no yog vim li cas koj xav tau, ua hauj lwm rau ntiaj teb kawm boxers hauv lub tshav kub lub caij ntuj sov. Kuv yog npaj rau cov kev sib tw. Kuv yuav tos kom tau rov qab rau lub nplhaib thiab tau hauj lwm kuv tsiv dua.”
Yog txaus siab ntxiv no Irish prospect rau ib daim ntawv topped los Salita 25-3-1 featherweight contender Alexander Miskirtchian, yug hauv lub koom pheej Georgia. “John Joe Nevin yog ib tug poj prospect thiab kuv zoo siab heev tias nws yuav ua nws American debut ntawm NYC rau cov “Brooklyn Brawl” Series,” Hais Salita. “Irish zej zog muaj heev li keeb kwm los hauv droves pom ntau boxing champions thiab kuv ntseeg hais tias John Nevin muaj tag nrho cov cuab yeej kom ua raws li nyob rau hauv tus nplua nuj lineage thiab impress tus kiv cua boxing, kev cai txhua, nyob rau hauv NYC! John Joe yog tswj los yog ib qhov zoo tshaj plaws tswj nyob rau hauv cov kev ua si nawv, Cameron Dunkin, leej twg muaj lub zoo qhov muag rau cov neeg tseem ceeb txuj ci, kom peb cov me tus deal tiag tiag yog nws. Ua ib cov kiv cua, Rau kuv pog hais txog kev sib ntaus John Joe Nevin rau lub yim hli ntuj 25 Coney Island, hauv MCU Park!”
Nyob rau hauv cov kev tshwm sim loj, ntiaj teb qub npe challenger Alex Miskirtchian (25-3-1, 9 KOs) tops slate tus tiv thaiv tsis tau kom paub Brooklyn battler Cornelius xauv (22-7-2, 14 KOs) nyob hauv lub featherweight clash teem tau rau 10 muab suav. Neeg khiav dej num NYPD Niyazov (7-0-3, 5KOs) raws li Ariel “Fuego” Duran (8-7-1, 5KOs) ntawm tus poj vaj nyob hauv ib co-ntseg hnav bout teem rau yim rounds. Salita no kuj yog tshwj xeeb yog tus pog txog muaj 6-kab tshaj welterweight clash ntawm Treysean “Txhais” Wiggins (6-1, 5KOs) ntawm Newburgh, N.Y. thiab Francisco “EL Gato” Figueroa (20-7-1, 13 KOs) ntawm qhov Bronx.
Rooj vag qheb rau 6 p.m. nrog tus thawj bout teem tau rau 7 p.m. raws li “Brooklyn Brawl: Boxing ntawm lub puam” theem pro boxing rau lub Coney Island boardwalk thawj zaug hauv 14 xyoo. Dhau kev boxing kev tshwm sim ntawm tus Brooklyn Cyclones’ venue tshwm sim rau lub Xya hli ntuj 8, 2001, Thaum ❏ Jr ❏ Camacho Hector. swb lawm Jesse James Leija ntawm ib controversial, referee-halted TKO.
Snag koj daim pib mus “Boxing ntawm lub puam” hnub no, kom koj poob mus rau lub caij ntuj nrog ib pob zeb em thaum raug txim, thom khwm em hmo ntawm pugilism.
Qhov rooj qhib thaum 6 PM. Teev rau BrooklynCyclones.com yuav tau koj daim pib los sis hu rau 718-507-TIXX (718-507-8499).
Lus tshaj tawm hauv xov yuav tsum tshaj tawm rau ib hnub tom ntej. Nyiam neeg nrog ib tug neeg yuav tsum tiv tauj Mark Fratto atmfratto@linacremedia.com
Daim pib mus qhia thiab tshiab rau “Brooklyn Brawl: Boxing ntawm lub puam,” Thov teev rau ntawm toBrooklynCyclones.com thiab SalitaPromotions.com. Ua raws li qhov txiav txim tag nrho ntawm kev ua rau cov kev tshwm sim tawm – thiab nyob rau hmo ntuj sib ntaus – nyob @BrooklynBrawlNY hauv Twitter thiab tom @BrooklynBrawl nyob Instagram, los yog los ntawm tus txheejtxheem qhov cim npe #BrooklynBrawl thiab #BoxingAtTheBeach.
CROWSNECK BOUTIN: “IT’S ALWAYS FUN TO KNOCK PEOPLE OUT”
Lewiston, Maine (Lub yim hli ntuj 17, 2015) – New England Fights (NEF), America’s number-one regional fight promotion, will hold its nineteenth mixed-martial-arts (MMA) event, “NEF XIX: HOMECOMING,” Rau hnub Saturday, September 12, 2015 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine. Featured on the professional portion of the card will be a light-heavyweight matchup between Crowsneck Boutin (1-0) thiab Mike “The Mustache” Hansen (2-2). Both men are competing under NEF developmental deals.
Recently, Boutin was NEF co-owner and matchmaker Matt Peterson’s guest on the NEF Podcast. Boutin discussed, among other topics, growing up in Lubec, Maine, the upcoming bout with Hansen, and his recent signing to a multi-fight NEF development deal. Boutin and Peterson touched on their first meeting some three-and-a-half years ago, shortly before Boutin made his amateur debut at “NEF III.”
“I was hanging out with a few buddies who got tickets to your (NEF) first event, so I went to that and it was the greatest thing,” recalled Boutin. “I remember talking with people and then contacting you. I really wasn’t doing anything at that time. I was feeling kind of lost. I was kind of clinging to the feeling of want. I just wanted to do something. Ntxiv, I liked to fight and scrap. I always watched the sport. I guess it just all came together at that time.”
With no formal training, Boutin would lose his first bout. Shortly thereafter, Peterson put Boutin in contact with coach Jon Pinette of the Choi Institute in Portland, Maine. It is there that Boutin found his footing in the martial arts while, at the same time, forging strong friendships and relationships with teammates.
“It’s a pretty awesome atmosphere,” said Boutin of the Choi Institute. “I’ve never stayed in one place very long my whole life, except for this place. I don’t see myself leaving. It’s a great atmosphere over here. I called Jon. I remember being really nervous to call Jon, I was thinking about this earlier, but he was really inviting… Everyone here has been really inviting, really supporting. There’s a really good mix of people here. We have young to old. We have everything in between. It’s a very accepting place to be. It’s a great place to train. Everyone gets along inside and outside the gym.”
Boutin made the decision to turn professional earlier this year after having competed in a total of 13 amateur fights. He would defeat MMA Athletix head coach Ryan Cowette (2-3) in his debut. In doing so, Boutin gained a measure of revenge as it had been Cowette’s protégé Brent Dillingham (1-1) who had handed Boutin his first loss in Boutin’s amateur debut at “NEF III.” Boutin says that there really was no animosity between himself and Cowette, but the post-fight exchange between Boutin and Dillingham at “NEF III” nyob rau hauv 2012 is still in the back of his mind. He admits that he would love a rematch with Dillingham in the near future.
“As far as Brent Dillingham goes, he’s somebody I’d really like to fight soon at 205 if he can get in shape and meet me there,” Boutin declared. “I’d love to have that fight sometime soon.”
Boutin will have his work cut out for him with Hansen on September 12 in Lewiston. Hansen is an accomplished wrestler, having won a state championship for Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Maine in 2004. Boutin, however, is confident in his own abilities both standing and on the mat.
“I feel ready for wherever the fight goes,” said Boutin. “If it stays on the feet, eventually over three rounds, I’m gonna try to knock him out. It’s always fun to knock people out. If it goes to the ground, I’ll prevail there.”
You can listen to the entire NEF Podcast interview atwww.NewEnglandFights.com/Podcasts/
For more information on the Choi Institute, please visit their websitewww.choishindo.com.
New hais Fights’ next event, “NEF XIX: HOMECOMING,” takes place onHnub vas xaum, September 12, 2015 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine. Daim pib mus “NEF XIX: HOMECOMING” start at just $25 and are on sale now at www.TheColisee.com or by calling the Colisée box office at 207.783.2009 x 525. For more information on the event and fight card updates, please visit the promotion’s website at www.NewEnglandFights.com. tsis tas li ntawd, you can watch NEF videos at www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, follow them on Twitter @nefights and join the official Facebook group “New England Fights.”
About New England Fights
New hais Fights (“NEF”) is a fight events promotions company. NEF’s mission is to create the highest quality events for Maine’s fighters and fans alike. NEF’s executive team has extensive experience in combat sports management, events production, media relations, marketing, legal and advertising.
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